Puerto Rico (Part 2)

The weather was glorious. It was windy, but Puerto Rico always seem to provide breezes. I was surprised by the mountainous areas, too, but literally anywhere you were, you were minutes away from a beach. We encountered rain, downright downpours, but thankfully, those occurred mostly at night for us. It was not uncommon to see folks with umbrellas on sunny days, however, to provide shade, which proved very smart. It was almost like we couldn’t get cool enough in the place we rented, but we figured out a way to make it work. When we were in the rental car, the AC was cranked! Then, we’d get out, and my glasses fogged! In other words, treat it like you’re in the tropics. Go with it. Don’t be frustrated.

We did one excursion while we visited Puerto Rico through Kayaking Puerto Rico. I highly recommend this. The staff worked with us all from about 9 AM until about 7 PM. We met at the ferry and rode a choppy ride to Culebra. There, we snorkeled first at Playa Tamarindo. I’m not a good swimmer, especially in open water. In fact, just getting my flippers on nearly caused me to just quit. I was panicking. A staff, Adrian, helped me get sorted and provided an addition floatation device that i could hold onto with my hands. It took me a bit to get comfortable. At first, I felt like I was playing catch-up, which meant I was not really seeing anything we hoped to see.

You know what, though? Once I got it, it was a blast. We saw coral, rays, sea turtles, and colorful fish. The great thing about that excursion is they had someone take pictures of the things seen and emailed them ALL to us. We had a group photo along with wildlife photos and photos of families. If you’re not a swimmer, I’d encourage you to give a try. You have a floatation device in or around your belly. If you’re like me, you can get another for your hands. One tip is just put your face, not your whole head, into the water. The staff explain everything well and are available for assistance and support.

After snorkeling, we rode in a van through very narrow and crowded streets and were told interesting pieces of information about Culebra. Then, we arrived at Flamenco Beach. I can’t imagine a more beautiful beach, and this is coming from a guy who’s not a beach fan. We were left to ourselves for several hours. There were huts selling treats and food items. I had a Fresa Frape, and it was yummy! The guy truly was an artist.

We had some time near port to eat. We basically grabbed some pizza. Interestingly, a chicken roamed freely throughout the restaurant. Chickens and cats were common, even hanging out near one another. Neither seemed skittish, and the few cats we interacted with were sweet. We rejoined the group and rode a cargo ferry back, basking in the sun and enjoying the sunset. The cargo ride, by the way, was much smoother. All told, we were together about 10 hours that day.

We began the drive back, and I felt some stomach distress (thanks to lactose intolerance and not packing OTC meds). We stopped at Fajardo to get some Lactaid at Walmart. You can find pretty much anything you need. You may pay a little more, but it’s not that difficult. Most people spoke English or understood enough. As I mentioned, Google Translate worked well, too.

Fast food restaurants common in America were present in PR. Outlet malls were common and an occasional large mall like in San Juan are there as well. You might notice pharmaceutical industries as you explore. Several restaurants we visited were open-air. Birds flew around. Chickens roamed. None of that was uncommon or bothersome, truth be told. While food was costlier, good deals could be had in clothing and shoes. Even though foods at typical fast food restaurants common in America cost more, I found them to be better. For example, I never had Krystal’s without bread sogginess…until PR! It was super important to me to tip well and express gratitude. We tried to do that everywhere we went. Puerto Ricans really seemed to take pride in their work; it seemed evident to us.

I will wrap this one up here and finish out our summary of PR in the next one. We miss it. We’ve talked about going back. Here’s hoping we make it some day soon.

#PuertoRico #Culture #History #God #Jesus #Christ #JesuCristo #travel #PR #USA #shopping #pride