THE LITTLE MERMAID

Isabella, Puerto Rico

(July 25^th, 2011)

Whenever I go on vacation, I tend to wake up fairly early in the morning, anxious to go out and see the world I’m visiting. It’s a rare day when I sleep in while vacationing, and this day was no exception. My travel companions were not of the same ilk, especially after our late night stargazing, so I folded up my bed and ventured out on the terrace for some yoga. A little Sun Salutation at sunrise, you might say…

Spuddy Buddy expecting me to rub lotion on his shoulders.

I was soon joined by my Egyptian travel companion, Spuddy Buddy (my couch potato), who decided it was time to get a tan. At this point I also realized I was quite hungry and very thankful for the previous day’s stop at the grocery store. I then spent the rest of the morning crafting a personalized stick-figure card for Laura’s birthday. My stick-figure cards are becoming well known in my circle of friends and family, as I make a comic strip about something that I’ve shared with the person I’m making it for. Case in point, Laura’s card was all about how this whole Puerto Rican trip came about and what we had experienced so far. It was an entertaining little thing that took me over an hour to complete, and, luckily, the birthday girl had a leisurely morning sleeping in and was not witness to my card making.

As soon as Laura was out of bed, her swimsuit was on, and she claimed it was time to hit the beach! Her goal to bring in the monumental birthday (her 6^th 25^th birthday) was to spend the entire day at the beach, so off the three of us went. Rick and Sara were still in the process of waking up and planned on meeting us down there.

We stopped by the guest relations counter to see if any snorkeling gear had been returned and if there were any beach towels available (the day before we had been told that all the snorkeling gear was already checked out by other guests and that something had happened with the washer/dryer so that no beach towels were available…right…). Luckily, two sets of snorkeling gear had been returned so we scooped them up. No such luck on the towel front. They claimed they were in the dryer that instant and that they would come find us on the beach to deliver the towels to us, personally…right…

Because it was still early and a lot of people were checking out that morning, we had our pick of beach chairs. As Miriam and Laura prepared to go snorkeling, Laura’s parents came down to visit, so I chatted with her mother while watching M&L’s pooch, Thor, giving them the chance to swim out to the reef.

Miriam, Laura, and Laura's dad, heading to the reef

Spuddy Buddy enjoying the beach

Laura’s parents went off to run errands, so Thor and I sat and watched the surf (he’s afraid of the water) until the girls came back. They had an amazing time at the reef, but one of the fins in the snorkeling gear was broken, making it difficult to propel. Laura, being irritated by the hotel’s lack of usable gear and wanting us all to be able to snorkel together, decided we had to purchase our own snorkeling gear. 

By this time Rick and Sara had joined us, having acquired their own snorkeling gear from the front desk, as well as beach towels (so much for the staff coming to deliver towels to us…).  Miriam and Laura decided to leave on their shopping excursion right away before all the stores closed for the day, it being a holiday in Puerto Rico. They prepared to take Thor to Laura’s parents, but Sara insisted we would keep an eye on him, so off they went.

As I was about to take my first dip of the day in the water, Rick and Sara headed off for a walk along the beach, so I sat back down with Thor (the little man couldn’t take being left alone at the chairs—panic attacks would ensue). Once they got back from their walk, they decided to go grab lunch. Alas, it looked like it was my duty to sit and watch Thor instead of playing in the water…

My home for most of the day

Thor waiting patiently for his mommies

Two hours later I was still alone and still looking longingly at the beach and the water, wishing I could go play, wishing that Sara hadn’t insisted that we would watch Thor (as it translated into me watching Thor), and really wishing I had my gal, Miriam (remember her?), along to keep me company.

Laura and (the other) Miriam finally came back after a harrowing hunt for groceries and snorkeling gear, having gotten lost and then found and going to a store that wouldn’t take their credit cards because they didn’t have photo IDs with them, spending a half hour convincing the manager they were who they said they were, and then finding snorkeling gear at Wal-Mart (that’s right, they have Wal-Mart in Puerto Rico), only to have me point out that the snorkeling packs were all kids’ sizes. Whoops.

The kiddie flippers

After Laura found out how long I had been stranded in my beach chair watching Thor, she sent me off on a much needed walk along the beach, apologizing profusely and saying repeatedly that she would have taken him to her parents had she known.

I went on a short walk along the mostly deserted beach with my camera in hand and enjoyed every second of the peaceful sound of the waves crashing, then I headed back to the girls, grabbed a bite to eat from the snacks they purchased on their journey, and suited up to go snorkeling!

Waves crashing on the rocks

View of the beach on my walk

I'm ready for snorkeling!

Laura squeezed her feet into the kids’ sized fins (no chance of my gigantic feet fitting in them) and used the kids’ sized mask (which actually fit all of us), while I used the one good set of the hotel’s snorkeling gear. 

By this time it was late afternoon and the tide was starting to come in. The trail to the beach where the reef was located was now under water, which meant we had to wade through the water to get to our destination. The water was lovely, though, so that wasn’t a problem.

Laura instructed me on how to use the snorkeling gear, breathing techniques, and what to pay attention to while at the reef. The most important rule: DO NOT TOUCH THE REEF. One, it’s a living creature. Stepping on it kills it and the plants living on it. Two, there are sea urchins all over it, and those little suckers are spiky and will give a person a nasty, painful puncture wound if touched.

The water was a bit rougher than it had been in the morning because of the tide, so we struggled a bit to swim out to the reef. But it was so worth the struggle. The reef was so beautiful! There was so much color and life under the water, and you would never know by looking at the surface. Everywhere I turned there were plants moving in the currents, practically waving at us, and fish swimming in and out of little caves, feeding. I caught a glimpse of a sea urchin, and then another one, and another one. I was a little scared of accidentally running into one, but their coloring was so alluring that I couldn’t stop looking for them. They all had a deep, deep, blood red coloring to them. Gorgeous!

At one point I thought I saw an octopus hiding in an alcove of the reef, but when I turned to gesture to Laura to come look, it disappeared. There were, also, plenty of little Dory fish (as in, Dory from Finding Nemo. Just keep swimming!).

It was so exciting, and I didn’t want to stop snorkeling, but the water was getting so rough that we were fighting to keep from being swept right on top of the reef, and I started to get sea sick from all the jostling by the waves. We finally decided to head back to the beach but made a stop at the reef the hotel had suggested to us…only to find out it was dead. Thanks, hotel. I’m glad we had Laura there to tell us where the good reef was!

Back at our chairs, enjoying the last of the sunshine

The fun palm tree shadows

The sun was beginning its descent, so I grabbed a Piña Colada and a beach chair along with the rest of the gang, and we all relaxed and appreciated the view we were seeing. I love watching sunsets on a beach.

Time for the birthday dinner! We ran back to our rooms to rinse off and get dressed and then made our way back to the outdoor restaurant. Rick insisted on paying for dinner this night and even threw in a lovely bottle of Prosecco so we could toast the birthday girl. The food was just as delicious as the night before, and we all walked away from the table very satisfied.

After saying goodnight to Laura’s family, we went back to our terrace, this time with a bottle of Puerto Rican coconut rum, and sat back to stargaze again. The sky was much cloudier than the night before, and we were mesmerized by how fast they moved across the sky.

Eventually the conversation turned goofy and we spent the rest of the night reminiscing about rotary phones, the 80s, and accents we’ve gotten rid of (mainly, me and my northern Wisconsin accent and Rick and his southern accent…). It was the perfect way to end the day, laughing.

Sunset on the beach

EATEN ALIVE!!!

San Juan, Puerto Rico - Isabella, Puerto Rico

(July 24th, 2011)

Today we packed up the car to prepare for our drive to Isabela on the west coast of Puerto Rico, where we would be staying at a beautiful coastal resort in honor of Laura’s birthday.

Our first stop, after picking up Rick and Sara, was to the grocery store. What I have learned in my increased travels is that I never know when my next meal will be and that I never seem to eat enough fruit and vegetables while away from home. Those dietary changes tend to upset my stomach, so I asked nicely if we might stop so I could stock up on some healthy snacks for our stay. Miriam came with me but was off getting her own things, so I wandered through the store on my own, which ended up being a little intimidating. Puerto Rico may be a US territory, but English is not the first language. Usually I do my homework when traveling to a foreign speaking land and learn my numbers and important phrases, but knowing I would be traveling with Laura and Miriam, who both speak Spanish, I slacked off. Yes, Miriam may have been standing at the end of my check-out line as I paid, but it was still the cashier, me, and the deer-in-the-headlights look I had when she started talking to me. Don’t worry, though. I survived.

So, loaded with a plethora of fruit options, off we went! Upon learning the day before how car sick I get on some of the windy roads that are prevalent in Puerto Rico, the other three passengers graciously let me sit in the front seat while they squeezed into the back together. I still love them for it.

Isabela is located on the far northwest corner of Puerto Rico, so we had a couple hours in the car. Luckily for my tummy, most of it was highway driving.

We hadn’t eaten much for breakfast, which gave us plenty of excuses to stop roadside and try all the delicious Puerto Rican food along the way. Our first stop led to the purchase of quenepas, also known as Spanish limes, queso de hoja, a semi-soft white cheese, fresh bread, pork rinds, and a couple of piraguas.

The quenepas were an entertaining distraction. They are cherry-size, rind-covered fruit that grows in bunches. We used our teeth to break through the thin rind and sucked the fruit out of the rest of the rind. The meat of the fruit surrounds a very large seed, and I spent quite a bit of time trying to scrape the meat off the seed.

I had a tamarindo-flavored piragua but was told it was not an authentic piragua, as the guy cheated whilst making it. A piragua is very similar to a sno-cone, but instead of having pre-crushed ice, they shave it off by hand from a large block of ice, then pour on your flavored syrup of choice. Our guy took chunks of the ice and put it in a machine to crush it instead of shaving it by hand. Cheater! Whatever. It was still refreshing. I wanted to make sure to try a flavor I was not familiar with, so I tried tamarind. I enjoyed it—it was different. I’m not sure if I’ll return to that flavor in the future, but I’m glad I tried it.

I have never really tried pork rinds before, as the very idea of them kind of grosses me out, but I’m always more willing to try things while I’m on vacation. I figure, what’s the point in venturing to other places if you aren’t willing to leave your comfort zone? It could mean you miss out on a lot. So I took a small piece and gave it a try…and promptly spit it out. Not. A. Fan. I quickly traded it in for some queso and bread to try to rid my mouth of the flavor.

Not long after this venture, we pulled over again to try some fried delicacies being made on the side of the road. Simply watching the process was entertainment enough. Let me set the stage: a woman who obviously eats a bit of her own cooking but does not purchase larger clothes as her body expands was deep frying various fritters on a make-shift wood-burning stove for the long line of cars and the picnic tables filled with people. We counted ourselves among the many.

For a dollar each she was serving up alcapurria, fritters made of plantains and stuffed with meat, and bacalaíto, fritters mixed with minced codfish. 

There was quite a long line, so we had a bit of a wait, and she was so busy that her fire kept dying down, at which point she would spray it with lighter fluid, sending flames soaring as she ducked out of the way. She’d obviously done this before…

(Bacalaíto)

(Our cook and her wood-burning stove)

When we finally got our order, its cost was around $4.00. Can’t beat that! The only problem we had was that she was in such a hurry to serve everyone that she didn’t let the fritters fully fry, so they were still a bit on the doughy side instead of crispy like we were expecting. They were still tasty, though—I’ll just have to go back and try them a little crispier someday. Twist my arm.

We finally made it to Isabela in the early afternoon, our drive to the resort surrounded by walls of beautiful limestone rock and mangroves. We drove to what felt like the farthest corner of the island before turning in to the private beach resort, Villa Montaña.

Check in wasn’t for a couple hours, but we were allowed to use the resort’s private beach until then, so we grabbed our swimsuits and sunscreen and headed to the beach.

The resort’s grounds were gorgeous. Lush trees and flowering bushes bordered all the villas, and giant slabs of limestone dominated large parts of the lawns. The path to the beach led to an outdoor bar/restaurant/pool with amazing décor and a beautiful view of the beach.

(The beachside restaurant/bar)

We were able to find a couple available beach chairs, threw down our stuff, and headed in to the water. Laura pointed out the dark shadows off the shore, explaining it was the coral reef that we would be snorkeling over the next day.

The water was lovely. Our only complaint was that the ground had very large, slippery slabs of rock on the bottom instead of sand, which made it a little difficult to walk and made us nervous, as we wouldn’t be able to tell what was rock and what might be coral reef. But that didn’t stop us from swimming!

We discovered that there was an odd number of very friendly stray dogs roaming the resort, and they were extremely fascinated in our party, due largely in part to Miriam and Laura's miniature schnauzer, Thor. One dog in particular, a Jack Russell terrier, decided he belonged to us for a while, camping out with us at our chairs. We decided to name him Hector Spot.

Eventually, Laura’s parents and grandmother arrived and joined us at the beach. We grabbed some liquid refreshment from the bar (strawberry daiquiris), let the sun dry us off, grabbed the key to our villa, and headed up to our own rooms.

We had the top floor of a villa set a ways from the beach area, but still within walking distance. We climbed up the three flights, unlocked the door, and allowed our jaws to hit the floor.

The villa that Miriam, Laura, and I would be sharing was about twice the size of my current apartment (granted, I live in NYC, but my apartment is still a decent size). There was a HUGE living and dining area, a kitchen complete with a washer and dryer, a gigantic private terrace, beautiful vaulted ceilings, and a master bedroom.

(The living and dining area)

(The master bedroom)

(The giant, private terrace)

(The vaulted ceilings)

The only issue I had with the place was that the one and only bathroom was located in the master bedroom, meaning that if I had to go in the middle of the night, I would have to try not to disturb Miriam and Laura as they slept. Awkward...

We didn’t have much time to take in our surroundings, as we had to hurry to get ready for dinner, so we quickly rinsed off the salt water and rushed down to the beachside, open-air restaurant to meet up with Laura’s family.

It was lovely taking in the sunset from our table, as well as eating AMAZING food. The only problem that Miriam and I were facing were the ravenous mosquitoes that were eating us alive! It was getting so bad that the restaurant gave us their bug spray to use. By the end of the evening I had around 60 bites on my legs. Yowch!

(One of the bar tables, poolside)

(An example of our amazing food)

(The pool and bar area after sunset)

After we said goodnight to Laura’s family, we headed back to our villa, and the five of us pulled up chairs on the giant terrace and started star-gazing. Living in a big city like New York, we don’t really get to see the stars, so we enjoyed every second, marveling at the fast moving clouds and counting the many shooting stars. 

All in all, it was a beautiful evening with fabulous company. We eventually called it a night, and I pulled out my surprisingly comfortable couch-bed and fell asleep, preparing to celebrate Laura’s birthday in the morning.

I'VE GOT YUNQUE IN MY TRUNK-AY!

El Yunque, Puerto Rico

(July 23, 2011)

Our first official day in Puerto Rico! 

We woke up, grabbed a light breakfast, and headed in to San Juan to rendezvous with Sara and Rick, preparing to spend the day in El Yunque (JOON-kay), Puerto Rico’s rainforest. We stocked up on water and hit the road!

(Our 45 minute drive to the finger point!)

El Yunque National Forest is on the eastern end of the main island and is the only rainforest within US territory (yes, people, Puerto Rico is part of the United States), and along with the luscious greenery, it also boasts plenty of waterfalls and coquís.

I was really looking forward to our trek as I’ve never been to a rainforest, and we seemed to have picked the perfect day. It was overcast and would rain intermittently on the drive over-- one would expect to get wet in a rainforest, so we were all prepared for the rain! Bring it on! Better to have it rain while in a rainforest than while on a beach, right?

El Yunque was originally named yuque after the Taíno god, Yuquiyu, but the Spanish conquistadores confused this word with yunque, the word for anvil, which was fitting because the tallest peak in El Yunque resembles an anvil, so the name stuck.

According to Laura, thunder heard from El Yunque was once believed to be the wrath of  Yuquiyu, and she would yell out, “Yuquiyu!” every time thunder clapped overhead.

(Miriam walking along the road in El Yunque)

As we drove into El Yunque it was as though someone saturated our surroundings with green coloring. Suddenly various shades of green were exploding around us. It was some of the most spectacular colors I have ever seen, and the overcast day only aided in bringing out the colors. It was amazing! 

It was also as though we were transported into Jurassic Park, as the size of the plants, trees, and even the snails, increased exponentially to a prehistoric size. Crazy!

(One of the many giant snails we saw)

(Laura with a giant palm leaf)

(My hand in comparison with a leaf)

Our first stop was Cascada La Coca (The Cocaine Waterfalls). It descended from far above us and continued underneath the bridge we were on, traveling off down the mountain, turning into various smaller waterfalls on its descent. It was a stunning photo op, and Rick and Sara even braved the slippery rocks to get a closer look.

(Cascada La Coca)

(The waterfall traveling farther down the hill)

(Rick and Sara getting up close to the waterfall)

(DOG-ON-A-ROOF!)

At this point we decided it would be wise to have lunch before starting our hike up the mountain. As we searched out various road-side eateries, we came across DOG-ON-A-ROOF! Apparently, Puerto Ricans like to put their dogs on the roof. Still not sure why. Maybe it keeps them out of the way and keeps them from running off? If anyone knows the real reason for this, please feel free to enlighten me...This dog was certainly the first we saw but definitely not the last. 

We quickly settled on a place that had a place for us to park and a great view. Miriam went up to the window and ordered our food for us (in Spanish-- her classes certainly paid off well!), including a couple of fresh, chilled coconuts for Rick and Sara. One of the guys grabbed his machete and chopped off the tops, handing them over to us with straws. Nothing cooler than that!

(Miriam and Sara placing their order, road-side)

Something I learned very early on in my Puerto Rican travels: Road-side food in Puerto Rico is THE BEST and extremely inexpensive. Great food AND inexpensive?? Count me in!

We grabbed our food and coconuts and grabbed a coveted spot over by a large window overlooking the hillside. It was such a gorgeous view.

(Fresh coconuts and our lunch time view)

After reviving ourselves with sustenance, we drove up the mountain, stopping at the Yokahu Tower observation point, to grab a map and take in another spectacular view. Climbing to the top of the tower, Laura pointed out Cerro El Toro, the highest point of El Yunque, and the reason behind the “anvil” name. She also pointed out the peaks buried in cloud-cover and explained that our goal was to hike to the top so that we could sit in our very own cloud.

(Yokahu tower)

(The cloud covered peaks)

The map showed us various trails of various levels of expertise, and we decided on the Caimitillo/El Yunque trail, as it lead to the cloud-covered peaks and was a medium level of expertise. We were hoping it wouldn’t completely kick our butts!

(Miriam and Laura pointing our way on the trail map)

(Me crossing one of the many little bridges)

At this point it really started to rain, so we covered ourselves, wrapped our cameras in Ziplock bags and started hiking. It’s really a good thing I’ve been getting in better shape this year after having injured my back two years ago because that trail was not at all easy! Thank you yoga instructors and the free pool for making me stronger!

We were quickly soaked all the way through but loving every minute of it. When it wasn’t raining, we were wading through run-off from the little waterfalls we kept coming across. We also got covered in the wet clay all over the ground and our shoes started to look like they had been dipped in baby poop...just sayin’.

Laura couldn’t wait to get wet, so every opportunity she had, she would get in the little pools of water and splash around. Most of the time we stood off to the side and shook our heads...although I really wanted to join her...I wasn’t wearing the appropriate footwear that would allow me to do that.

(Laura splashing around in one of the little streams)

After hiking for over an hour we still hadn’t made it to the top, and it was starting to get dark (the sun sets much earlier when you have a rainforest canopy overhead). We ran into a couple on their way back down the hill who said they hadn’t made it to the top either but were turning around so they wouldn’t get stuck in the forest after sunset.

We decided to follow their lead and make our way back down. So much for sitting in our own clouds! A trek for another trip. We decided to switch up our hiking trail when it intersected with the Baño de Oro trail not far from where we were-- why stick to the same trail if we had already seen that scenery, right?

The Baño de Oro was once said to be healing waters and a popular swimming area. It is now no longer in use, but the trail follows the river and you can see where the land is reclaiming what used to be old fish hatchery tanks and other stone pools along the way.

(One of the stone pools being reclaimed by nature)

(Miriam on the Baño de Oro trail)

(Posing for a photo op around the pool of water)

(Rick on the bridge)

(The whole gang at the end of our hike)

We finally made it back down the hill, happily exhausted, said good-bye to El Yunque, and went in search of food. It was time to eat!

Laura’s mother told us of a fabulous ceviche place off one of the popular beaches, aptly named Ceviche Hut, and just the word “ceviche” had almost everyone in our party drooling. I had never had ceviche so it did not trigger a Pavlovian response from me. So off we went to the Ceviche Hut, where we grabbed a table outside in the back, looking out at what seemed to be a tree graveyard. No joke. Strangely, the grassy area right before the beach had tons of tree stumps, the trees having been cut down some time before. And as we were giving notice to the tree graveyard we discovered that even our chairs were stumps; two of them actually still rooted in the ground. And here we also took notice of another DOG-ON-A-ROOF! Seriously! What is the deal??

(Sitting on our tree stumps. Behind the fence is the tree graveyard)

(2nd DOG-ON-A-ROOF!)

Having never had ceviche, I opted to order my own meal and try the ceviche plates when they arrived. For those of you who have never had ceviche, it is raw seafood (in this case, fish) chopped up with tomato, onion, and cilantro, and marinated in citrus juices, which basically pickles the fish, giving it the taste of being cooked while also killing off the bacteria.

(Ceviche)

Along with the order of ceviche, we ordered tostones, or fried plantains, which ended up being one gigantic tostón.

(One giant tostón)

After perusing the menu for a while, I decided to order the Tacu Tacu Mamposteados, fried beans and rice with a fried egg on top. I have two words for you: Yu. Mmy. It was so delicious I sang about it. I’m not even kidding. I found religion with this dish.

(Tacu Tacu Mamposteados)

We stuffed ourselves silly and started to make our way back to San Juan. It started raining once again, at which point we were introduced to another side of island life: flash flooding. Puerto Ricans are used to it, so it just meant we had a slightly longer ride home than usual. So be it. 

We dropped Sara and Rick off at their hotel, and Laura took Miriam and me on a quick drive through Old San Juan at night, pointing out key landmarks and explaining we would come by during the day in order to take a proper look around. By twilight Old San Juan was beautiful. I looked forward to seeing it in the day.

(The cathedral was having a church service, and the doors were open and the cathedral welcoming.)

(The colorful buildings with a hand-made sign)

(One of the street signs)

We then headed back to Laura’s parents’ house and began preparing for our early morning venture to the other side of the island. Villa Montaña, here we come!