Background to the trip: Fred had just retired as a professor from Martin Luther College in June. Our summer was free and we wished to visit Annette’s niece Kristen Paap who was doing research in Puerto Rico as part of her graduate studies. Since we had Northwest Perk Miles and Fred could find bargains for lodging we took off.
Saturday, August 1
We planned our trip so that we could first attend the Harper/Kelm wedding. Fred had taught both Jenny Harper and Paul Kelm when they attended Martin Luther College. Jenny had also taken Fred’s month long European Study Tour of 10 countries in Europe. Annette accompanied Fred on that tour (even earning graduate college credits from the University of Washington in the process) and became very good friends with Jenny. Attending the wedding was a must. Both bride and groom were serving as missionaries to the the Czech Republic where they met and became engaged.
They were to be in the States only a short time before returning, but decided this was the time for the wedding. Wonderful wedding! We left for Minneapolis after the wedding, stayed overnight at our daughter’s house, and then headed for the airport.
Sunday, August 2
We left the Minneapolis International airport on Northwest Airlines at 6 am and arrived in San Juan (via Detroit) that afternoon, around 2 pm. San Juan Airport Tower on right.
We prearranged with Thrifty to rent a Mitsubishi, unlimited mileage, for a week at the low price of $221.
We took hwy 26 to Hotel Days Inn, Condado Lagoon. See hotel location on right side of map. Historic Old San Juan is the peninsula reaching out into the Atlantic Ocean. The hotel had 48 units on 7 floors. We booked 4 nights at $62.10 per night.
We had a nice view of Condado Lagoon and the ocean beach was only a block away.
Annette and I relaxed at the hotel and showered before walking around the beach area. Then we headed over to Chilis for dinner and an exotic rum drink.
Monday, August 3
We ate our included breakfast at the hotel and headed over to the pier (right) in Old San Juan for a ferry boat to Catano across the San Jaun Bay. Round trip tickets were only 50 cents.
Our goal was the Bacardi Rum plant not far from the docking area. See map at right.
The Bacardi story actually starts in Cuba when Don Facundo Bacardi Masso, a Spanish wine merchant, made his way to Cuba to sell his product. There he discovered rum and found that it was largely considered to be cheap drink that was not sold in upscale taverns. So, after a little bit of experimentation, Don Facundo was able to produce the first ‘white’ rum in the world. With this fabulous new product he and his brother Jose were able to establish a small distillery where they could produce a reasonable amount of white rum on a daily basis.
The rafters of this first distillery were home to many fruit bats and so the bat was incorporated into the Bacardi logo. That was in 1862 and Don Facundo probably never imagined the massive, multi-million dollar empire that his early efforts would eventually grow to become. Today the Bacardi Rum Plant in Puerto Rico is renowned for being the largest rum distillery in the world. It processes approximately 100,000 gallons of rum every day.
Those of us who took the tour were able to view the distillery, the bottling plant and a museum dedicated to this drink. We were also able to sample one or two glasses of free Bacardi rum. Admission to the plant was also free.
In the afternoon we took our rental car for a drive on hwy 26 to hwy 3 to El Yunque, a national park consisting of a rain forest.
We saw Coco Falls (right) from the roadway, but we had to take a “short walk” on a rugged trail to see El Mino Fals (below).
The walk was much more than we anticipated. We thought we’d never get there -- and then we still had the walk back to the parking lot.
That evening we had our dinner at the Red Snapper. Naturally we ordered rum drinks and toasted the bats.
Tuesday, August 4
The whole day was dedicated to San Juan Old City. The city had a free on/off trolly that stopped for all the major sites. We had a walking tour figured out so we left the trolley at the El Morro Castile de San Felipe del Morro.
This fortification was bombarded by Francis Drake in 1595. It was also repeatedly attacked by the Dutch.
We had a beautiful view from the ramparts of both the harbor and the ocean. Annette (right)
We walked past the School of Fine Arts (upper left on map) where I taped a fountain sculpture.
I took video at the Plaza de San Hose with its statue of Ponce de Leon. This monument was made from canons captured in 1797 from British forces. In 1508 Ponce de Leon founded the original settlement, Caparra, now known as Pueblo Vejo. A year later the settlement was abandoned and moved to what is now called Old San Juan.
Close by was the Iglesia San Jose which was begun in 1532. At one time it was closed (in 1838) and later was turned military barracks. Jesuits restored the badly damaged church. Conquistador Ponce de Leon was interred here until his body was moved to the Cathedral in 1908.
The Cathedral of San Juan de Bautista dates back to 1521. As such, it is one of the oldest buildings in Puerto Rico and the second oldest cathedral in the Western Hemisphere. It's not very big, but to show its historic and cultural importance, the remains of Juan Ponce de Leon, the first Governor of Puerto Rico who died while allegedly searching for the Fountain of Youth in Florida, are buried in the cathedral's crypt.
We walked down Christo Street with its charming colorful buildings. This motivated us to stop in at a shop to purchase a wall plague of a yellow ornate building. The artist there personalized our purchase with the words “Casa de Wulffs.”
We made a restroom stop at the Parque de las Pelomas (Park of Pigeons) and to watch children feed the hundreds of pigeons. The next stop was at the Governor’s residence, the Mansion Ejecutive (on right).
Other sights we took in included the Columbus Monument (right)
And Fort Cristobal, It was built by Spain to protect against land based attacks on the city of San Juan.
We ate our evening meal again at the Red Snapper in Concodo.
Wednesday, August 5
Annette and I started out with our complimentary breakfast at the Days Inn and set out for hwy 52. This wide express toll road linked us to Coamo on the other side of the island. We stopped off the Bano de Coamo where, as legend has it, the Fountain of Youth sought by Ponce de Leon was located. The geothermal springs were just a five minute walk from the Parador. Annette soaked her legs here trusting the healing powers of the warm water.
From here we headed westward towards Ponce. With a population of about 200,000, it is the second largest city in Puerto Rico. The city was founded in 1692 by the great grandson of Ponce de Leon.
The centrally located Plaza Las Delicias ("Plaza of Delights") is the heart of Ponce's restored historic district.
Marketplace of Ponce
Originally built in the 1830s the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe was founded in 1660.
Fuente de Leones (Fountain of Lions), a monument originating from the 1939 World's Fair in New York.
Parque de Bombas, long the iconic symbol of the city, was the first fire station in Puerto Rico. The fire house was originally erected as an exhibit for the 1882 Trade Fair.
We drove on to Mayagüez, the 3rd largest city in Puerto Rico.
For our evening lodging we had selected the Sol Parador. For $66 per night the price included breakfast, parking and all taxes.
We ate dinner at a small family cafe across the street.
Fred ventured out for an evening walk in search of the Plaza del Mercado and the Plaza de Colon.
The center of attention at Plaza de Colon is still the Christopher Columbus bronze statue proudly standing at the center of the plaza facing "La Alcaldía," the mayor's office. He is situated atop a metallic globe of the world. Columbus discovered Puerto Rico in 1493.
Thursday, August 6
We checked out of our hotel because we thought we could never find it again with all the tortuous unmarked narrow streets in Mayagüez. We spend the next night elsewhere. Before leaving town, I drove over to Plaza de Colon so annette could see it (above).
Our plans now were to meet Kristen and John at the McDonalds near the San German exit of hwy 2 (see map below). From here we made phone reservations for the evening at the Casa Blanca in the coastal city of Parguera (bottom left of map).
Kristen served as our tour guide and started us off at the coastal city of Guanica, bottom right on this map,
At the shoreline we observed a large rock marker commemorating the landing site of American forces during the Spanish-American War.
Up on a hill overlooking the bay are the ruins of a fort that the Spanish used as a defensive works against the American forces. Picture to the right depicts the Americans landing at Guanica.
We drove along the coast with its scenic beaches and forests of cacti that flourish in this unusually dry region.
This small town is the home of Guanica Dry Forest Reserve, largest remaining tract of tropical dry coastal forest in the world and an International Biosphere Reserve. The dry forest has 700 plant species of which 48 are endangered and 16 exist nowhere else. Its forest along the coast and on low-lying hills
host the greatest number of bird species on the island. The Forest was declared an International Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO because of its biological diversity.
As we walked along an observation trail our personal guides (Kristen and John) pointed out the various vegetation as well as their critters of specialization -- termites and lizards.
After our little hike, we stopped at Kristen’s apartment for lunch. A nice breeze came in through the walkway of the second story dwelling. That is Kristen and John on the porch of the apartment.
Our group of four piled into the car and headed for German via narrow roads winding roads and good directions from Kristen. San Germán is the second oldest city of Puerto Rico, after San Juan. The island of Puerto Rico was once split between the San Juan and the San Germán municipalities.
At the center of the town was a narrow plaza with churches at either end.
The most important of the two was Iglesia Porta Coeli. Porta Coeli translates to doorway to heaven. This church is the most famous attraction in this town. Porta Coeli is the oldest church in the New World and under the United States jurisdiction. We toured the museum of religious art in the building.
From here we took more winding roads to Cabo Rojo Lighthouse at the end of route 301. See previous map. This landmark, on an im posing promontory, was built by the Spanish over a century ago.
Los Morrillos Lighthouse, known by locals as El Faro, was built in 1881 over limestone cliffs that rise 200 feet above sea level.
The scenery out here was fantastic. Some guidebooks day that best scenery in Puerto Rico may be found here.
And we needed the exercise.
Time to move on, we headed to our hotel Casa Blanca in Parguera. See previous map, lower left hand side. A nice restaurant called Villa Parguera, provided a tasty seafood dinner.
Our “guides” wanted to show us the main attraction in this part of Puerto Rico -- Phosphorescent Bay La Parguera Phosphores cent Bay glows with the millions of micro scopic organisms known as dinoflagellates that sparkle when disturbed. This phenomenon occurs only in the tropics, typically in mangrove-protected bays like this one. These half-plant, half-animal organisms emit a flash of bluish light when agitated at night. The high concentration of these creatures (Pyrodimiumbahamense) can create enough light to read a book from.
Kristin and John had worn swimsuits under their street clothes, so that when our chartered boat reached the desired location, they could shed clothes and plunge in. Really remarkable how everything lighted up.
We had put in a full and rewarding day.
Today we had to head eastward toward San Juan. We thought we’d be adventurous and take the Panoramica Route of the high lands — the central mountain range. Our first drive would take us north to mountains. The Panoramica is highlighted in yellow on the map to the right.
The views were spectacular.
Once on the eastern end of the island we took in Guayama, and the coastal cities of Humacao and Fajardo.
Our ultimate goal was Luquillo Beach. We visited one of the kiosk and treated ourselves to seafood and cold beer.
Then we relaxed and watched the sunset over the water. Luquillo's offshore reefs keep the waters calm and tranquil.
A late night trip took us back to our hotel at Condado Lagoon’
Saturday, August 8
After our included breakfast at the hotel, we ventured out to Isla Verde out by the airport. Here along the beach we found shade in a little sun screen cabana. Our young neighbors in the next cabana were dancing and singing, like live entertainment.
About lunchtime we left for lunch.
Our car rental pickup station was nearby and from there we were shuttled to the airport.
Our plane left at 2:45 pm. Grrrrreat trip!
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