December 8, 2012

Saturday in the Rainforest
We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning, ready for a full-day excursion to El Yunque rainforest (the only rainforest in the US National Parks system!). We pre-booked the rainforest and kayaking combo tour through Kayaking Puerto Rico for $109 per person (warning!: they add tax to the price of the excursion when you pay at the bio bay, so make sure not to bring exactly $109! I think it came out to $116 per person, plus we each tipped the guide on top of that). We left the hotel around 9:30am and walked around the corner to Fefo’s Deli. 

The restaurant was clean, and most of the patrons were locals so we thought that was a good sign. We each ordered eggs, potatoes, and toast, and when we placed our order, there was only one other couple at the restaurant, so we thought our food would come out quickly. After a very long wait, the waitress finally came over and told us that they had cooked our eggs with extra ingredients which we had not ordered, so they needed to re-cook them. Eventually, she came back with our breakfasts, and wow were we disappointed! This is a photo of my breakfast… I had only taken one bite of the bread before taking this photo. Clearly this would not be enough food to hold me until the 3pm lunch break on our excursion!

We finished eating in less than 5 minutes. For what it’s worth, the potatoes and toast tasted good, although the eggs were very greasy. The breakfasts cost about $5 each, so we paid our bill and headed back to the street in search of something more filling. A few doors down the street from Hotel Milano (going to the left when you exit the hotel), we found a fantastic restaurant called Siglo’s XX with a blue tile awning outside. We ended up eating 3 meals here in the next 24 hours haha I ordered a grilled cheese (since I didn’t want MORE eggs), and it was delicious- they used Pam spray instead of butter, so I didn’t even feel unhealthy while eating it 🙂 

After breakfast #2, we walked down the street a little further to Plaza Colon to meet our bus for the excursion. The excursion company called my cell phone on Friday afternoon to say they would pick us up at 10:40am from Plaza Colon because the bus couldn’t drive down Fortaleza Street since it was closed off to traffic. At 10:38am, my cell phone rang and it was our tour guide saying he was sitting in traffic and would be there in about 5 minutes. It was very professional of him to make that phone call, but totally unnecessary as we probably wouldn’t have thought anything of it if they had pulled up at 10:45. The bus already had several people onboard when it arrived, so we took our seats and headed out of OSJ towards the rainforest. We had 16 people on our tour, and the guide named Flor told us we would be using the same air-conditioned bus all day so it was okay to leave bags on the bus so we didn’t have to carry our clothes during the hikes and kayaking. Flor gave us a brief description of our agenda for the day, and then put on the radio so we could hear some music on the hour-long drive to our first destination. Here is a photo of Flor and the bus:

Just before entering the rainforst, we stopped by the side of the road to pick up 3 more passengers who were staying at a hotel out there. Flor also gave us some time to get off the bus and buy snacks from a lady by the side of the road. Beth and I had just eaten breakfast (twice), so we didn’t buy anything, but it looked like she was selling some tacos and fried dough, and it smelled really good! 

Once everyone was back onboard, we went to the visitor’s center at the rainforest. We had a few minutes to walk around and use the restrooms, and then we went to watch a 15-minute long movie about the rainforest. It was informative, but somewhat weird that when the movie ran in Spanish, they used Spanish subtitles, and when the movie ran in English, they used English subtitles. Perhaps the subtitles were to benefit those who are hard of hearing, but it probably made more sense to use subtitles in the opposite language of what was spoken aloud. 

Anyway, after that, we got back on the bus and rode up the hill to the entrance to the trail which lead to the waterfall. The hike to the waterfall was just under a mile in each direction, and it had a paved trail for most of the way, with lots of stairs. Once we reached the waterfalls, Flor gave us about a half hour to go in the water. It was very crowded with people on other tours, the water was cold, and the rocks were very slippery, so we decided not to go in the water.

We took a different trail on the way back up, which lead us past some interesting trees, birds, and lizards. Once back on the bus, we drove to the tower to see the views from the top. There were about 100 stairs to climb to get to the top, but it was worth it for the views.

Our next stop was at another waterfall, but this time we only had about 10 minutes so we just took a few photos and left.

The next stop was for lunch at a restaurant inside the rainforest (literally 3 minutes down the road from the last waterfall). 

The restaurant:

The menu:

Breadfruit:

They had a wide variety of food for such a small restaurant, including chicken or pork shish kabobs for $6, and a few different local food items. The food was not included in the cost of the excursion, so be sure to either bring money to buy lunch, or bring some food with you on the bus (as Beth and I did, since we didn’t want to risk not liking the food options and being starved all day! haha) We had about an hour to eat, and then got back on the bus to drive out to the bioluminescent bay for the kayaking portion of our trip. The drive took about 45 minutes, and when we arrived, they gave us some time to get changed into bathing suits, put on lots of bug spray, and pay for the excursion with either cash or a credit card. Then they handed out the life vests and helped us put them on, and they gave us a brief explanation on where we would be going through the mangrove canal out to the bay.

The map of where we kayaked on the tour:

We had 4 different instructors to help us throughout the excursion, and one of them had a camera to take photos of us along the way. I also brought along my waterproof camera, which came in handy later in the night!

We paired up and the instructors helped us get into our kayaks, and then we paddled across the marina to enter the canal. Our tour left the docks around 6:30pm, so it was still somewhat light out, but by the time we got through the canal, it was totally dark. Paddling inside the canal was a bit scary because the branches from the mangroves came out into the water, and it was hard to see where they were so we kept crashing into the branches! Also, we often heard the sound of something plopping into the water, and we later found out that we were kayaking passed some flying fish! The kayaks had lights hanging off the front and back, so we used that light to guide us through the canal, and eventually we made it out into the bio bay. 

The instructors gathered us up and explained that the bioluminescence occurs when the phytoplankton in the water get stirred up, and they give off a glow. It was a pretty, sparkling effect, and you could especially see it if you dropped some water on your dark bathing suit. With all the research I did, I anticipated that the entire bay would be glowing, but the effect wasn’t nearly that bright. Nonetheless, it was still interesting to see, especially considering how rare this plankton is and how few places in the world have it. Here is a photo of us in the kayaks as taken by the instructors:

After a few minutes kayaking around the bay, it was time to head back into the canal. Unlike our trip out, it was now pitch black outside and impossible to see where the mangroves were. Also, there were now other kayakers entering the bay on their tours, so we had to make space for two-directional traffic in the alraedy-too-narrow canal! It was seriously like kamikaze kayaking! Every man for himself! We kept crashing into the mangroves and into the other boats, and then there would be a pile up of multiple boats! I even got hit with an oar a few times! Fortunately, no one fell in the water, but even if we did, it wouldn’t have mattered much because the water is only 2 feet deep in the canal. The instructors told us that if we fell in, we should just stand up instead of splashing around and freaking out that we might drown haha This is where my underwater camera came in handy… I used the flash from the camera to see where we were going! Here is a great photo to capture the moment as we crashed into a tree:

Overall, it was a great experience and looking back on it, it was a lot of fun, but while I was in the canal, I was definitely freaking out a bit! We wore our aqua socks and bathing suits under the life vest. I would recommend only wearing things that can get wet because we were SOAKED by the time we finished. Also, I would recommend doing the 6pm tour instead of the 8pm tour because at least we had some daylight on the way out to the bay. I can’t imagine going both directions in the pitch black! Here is the group photo from after the tour:

After we got out of the kayaks, they gave us about 10 minutes to change into dry clothes, and then we rode for an hour and a half back to OSJ and were dropped off at our hotels. Beth and I were dropped off at Plaza Colon at 9:30pm, and we were starving! The big festival was going strong at that point, so we had to squeeze through all the people to get down the street and back to our hotel. We dropped off our bags and wet towels, and headed back downstairs in search of something for dinner. After checking out all of our options, we ended up back at Siglo’s restaurant (the place we had our second breakfast that morning). Outside the restaurant, they had a huge thing of paella mariscos which they were serving for $5 per plate. I had actually wanted paella the previous evening at Barrachina, so this really hit the spot, and you can’t beat the price for the size serving they gave me! I didn’t even finish it!

After dinner, we went back to the hotel to rest up for embarkation day on Sunday!

December 7, 2012

Now I will get into the day-by-day review of my trip. I am currently living in Tucson for work, so I had a very long journey to get to Puerto Rico. I left Tucson at 4pm on Thursday afternoon to head up to Phoenix, where I boarded my JetBlue red-eye flight to JFK airport in NY. The flight was uneventful, although my tv set didn’t work and I was unable to fall asleep, so it seemed like a very long flight. Then at 8am on Friday morning, I flew from NY to Puerto Rico, landing at about 1pm. Luckily, I was able to drift in and out of sleep throughout this flight, although I doubt I slept more than 2 hours total. 

I took this vacation with my friend Beth, and we met up at the airport in PR to share a taxi to Old San Juan. The taxi cost $21, plus $1 per suitcase, and that is the government regulated price for the entire taxi, not per person. We stayed at Hotel Milano in Old San Juan for the two nights prior to the cruise. The hotel was a small boutique hotel, but the rooms were clean and air-conditioned, and the hotel had an elevator (unlike most of the other hotels in OSJ) and a mini-fridge in the room. Here are some photos of the hotel room and bathroom:

Luckily, our room was ready for check in when we arrived at about 2pm. After quickly dropping off our luggage and changing into shorts, we headed out to explore OSJ. The man sitting at the hotel front desk was very helpful with giving us directions on how to get to El Morro. It took us about 20 minutes to walk there, but we are relatively fast walkers. It was a fairly easy walk, with a few parts that are uphill, and there were sidewalks the entire way. Here are a few photos from our walk:

Of note, when you leave the Hotel Milano and go to the right, just passed the first side street there is a dollar store on the left side of the road. This store was a great find! They have tons of things you might need for your cruise and either accidentally left behind or didn’t have space to pack… shampoo/conditioner, razors/shaving cream, toothpaste, but no suntan lotion. Not everything cost only $1, but the other items were very inexpensive. Beth forgot her water bottle, so she got one from here for $1.50. And I was able to pick up a towel for $3 to bring along for Saturday’s excursion and a souvenir shot glass for $1.

We got to the fort around 2:30pm and paid the $3 per person entrance fee. It was fun to walk around and explore all the different rooms in the fort, and the views were beautiful, despite the cloudy and windy weather. 

We covered the entire fort in a little over an hour. There were lots of stairs to walk up and down, but they were not steep and many of them hand hand railings. After we left the fort, we walked along the water to see the big red gate to OSJ and some of the other views of the original outer walls of the fort.

Our original plan was to walk around the forts and OSJ until our 6:15pm dinner reservation, but we finished the fort earlier than expected so we decided to grab a few things at CVS before dinner. The CVS across the street from the piers stocks the same things as a regular CVS at home, but it was EXTREMELY crowded when we were there! Also, it is located across the street from pier #2, but the Victory docks down the block at pier #4. It isn’t a far walk, but be aware that it’s not as close as I had anticipated (so we were glad we got our shopping out of the way on Friday and didn’t wait until Sunday morning when we boarded the ship). I bought a large bottle of CVS brand suntan lotion with SPF 70 for $10, a bottle of Sutter Home wine for $8, a small bottle of aloe for $2, and a box of Natures Valley trail mix bars for $4 (in case I needed a snack during one of my excursions). Next, we walked across the street to pick up some Subway sandwiches for our excursion on Saturday (the mini-fridge in the hotel room came in handy so we didn’t have to leave time on Saturday morning to buy the sandwiches then). I ordered the cold cut trio because I saw so many commercials at home about how they are on special this month for $2… well apparently Puerto Rico does not participate in the same specials that the mainland US does because they charged me the regular full price. Oh well! With our CVS purchases and Subway sandwiches in tow, we headed back to the hotel to drop everything off and wash up for dinner.

A few weeks before the trip, we used Open Table to make dinner reservations at Barrachina for 6:15pm. We originally wanted 7pm reservations, but the system wouldn’t let us book at that time (possibly due to the flamenco dancers??). We were seated immediately at an inside table. We both ordered pina coladas (Beth’s was a virgin, and mine had the mid-level rum). 

For dinner, I ordered the chicken caribeno and thought it was very tasty with a light pineapple almond sauce which was not too gingery despite the menu description. It also included rice, veggies, fried plantains, and a bean sauce on the side.

After dinner, we walked around OSJ a bit more. There was a huge festival that ran up and down our street, which meant the street was closed to traffic. It was a lot of fun to see all the locals outside enjoying the festival. All of the bars had their doors opened and were blasting music into the streets, and the restaurants all set up booths outside selling samples of their food. Fortunately, our hotel room was in the back, not facing the street, so we couldn’t hear any noise in our room, but I imagine it would have been a bit loud in one of the street-facing rooms. We walked around the festival for a bit, and then headed back to the hotel to get some sleep.

Up next, a day in the rain forest!!