Blog 039 – Puerto Rico and The Spanish Virgin Islands-Part 2

El Yunque National Rainforest

El Yunque

Liana and I left Silhouette in the care of John and Bronwen for a couple days and went on a little sight-seeing tour of our own. One of the places we visited was the El Yunque National Rainforest. We hiked a couple miles to a large waterfall and enjoyed the canopy of trees overhead keeping us cool.

El Yunque

The vines and plants and smells and flowers were almost overpowering to our senses. The birds and tree frogs made sounds that were as an orchestra that didn’t end. Then I noticed a lack of other animals, larger ones. Growing up in the mountains of Colorado I would wander through the forest and always see deer, rabbits or other little critters running across a rock or poking their heads from a hole, but not here.

El Yunque

El Yunque

As we made our way along the trail we saw water everywhere, dripping from rocks, pooling in flat areas, trickling down streams, dripping off leaves. It all formed a running network through the forest. The waterfalls dropped hundreds of feet into pools surrounded by lush greenery.

El Yunque

El Yunque

The waterfalls were also a glimpse to the world above where the sunlight gleamed off the water. Occasionally we saw a break in the trees and we’d get a whole new perspective on your surroundings – the immenseness of the jungle. One could easily become lost here.

El Yunque Tower

El Yunque

We loved our foray into this unspoiled world but it was time to meet up with the city of Old San Juan.

Old San Juan

The cruising guide said if you go anywhere on the island a visit to Old San Juan is something not to be missed. It was the highlight of our tour. Two centuries old forts hewn from rock stand guard over the city. The massiveness of these structures build back in the days before the steam ships was incredible. Back when the wooden schooners and square rigged sailing ships carried supplies around the world these massive forts warned would-be invaders that this island would not be easily taken. Huge cannons lined the walls that go hundreds of feet up the hillsides and could blast cannonballs out to anyplace along the coast or into the harbor. It’s still all here today intact and in good condition, a testament to the construction of that era.

Fort at Old San Juan

Fort at Old San Juan

Fort at Old San Juan

Fort at Old San Juan

The city was built on the hillsides with narrow cobblestone streets rolling up and down the hills. Each calle ending with a picturesque view out to the sea. Each home or business front carefully swept up each morning, many with colorful flower in pots contrasting with the pastel colors of the buildings. This city was alive with people walking the streets, going in and out of all the little shops selling clothes, pastries, coffee, food and trinkets. Statues and fountains filled the walk along the waterfront and looking up behind the city were the huge walls of the forts. Lookout posts were stationed high above on every corner.

We loved wandering through the art galleries. Old San Juan has many. Artists painted scenes of the days before colonization when islanders lives were very simple. Some captured the harbor filled with wooden ships or the battles that took place here with great warships filled with cannons. Others took on a more modern approach. The last name of one artist was Diaz – Liana’s maiden name. We found out it is a very common name here in Puerto Rico, like Smith or Jones in the U.S.

Old San Juan

Old San Juan

Old San Juan

Old San Juan

Old San Juan

Old San Juan

Old San Juan

We watched the sunset over the bay and dined in a little restaurant at the top of a hill. We had grilled flank steak that was cooked and seasoned perfectly and dessert was vanilla flan, even Liana liked it and she’s normally not a fan of flan. Our friendly waitress was able to chat with us while we ate since the restaurant was new and business was a bit slow. She pointed to the pictures along the walls and told us about the fishing village of Cabo Rojo. That sparked our interest since we had recently sailed past there. Her family lived off of what they caught from the sea. To this day every morning they load up the boats with nets and fishing traps and take to the sea in the colorful skiffs.

We loved our short visit to Old San Juan. It’s a very romantic place and someday we will return.

Back at the boat after our touring we decided to set sail for Culebra in the Spanish Virgin Islands. All night we sailed through the pass between Vieques Island and the southern coast of mainland Puerto Rico. In the morning we anchored in a little bay filled with power boats spending the holiday in this pretty little secluded spot. By Sunday morning they just disappeared and we had the place all to ourselves. We went paddleboarding, kayaking, snorkeling and in general just had a little vacation of our own. We were waiting on weather and it was Easter Sunday. We had John and Bronwen over for lunch and John smoked a pork shoulder on the grill. That afternoon we watched a few waterspouts in storms that rolled past us in the distance. We were expecting heavy thunderstorms but they all just skirted around us. What a lovely place to spend Easter. A few days later an even stronger storm was predicted so we dropped our moorings and headed back a few miles to the harbor in Culebra for more protection. We also needed fuel and supplies for the passage to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Steve

Liana

Bronwen

John

John, Bronwen, Shaun, Shelley, Liana, Steve

In Culebra we met more people from South Africa, Shaun and Shelley on Maxi Nique II. They sailed across the Atlantic from the Canary Islands. Liana and Bronwen went out snorkeling with them off a reef outside of the harbor. That’s where Bronwen found she had a secret admirer. A little fish joined her while she was swimming and decided to keep her. They swam together for hours. Every picture they took of Bronwen had her pet fish in it. I missed it because I was working on our dingy motor that refused to start. And yes, I was finally able to fix it.

We took a taxi-van to Flamingo Beach across the island and spent the day swimming in the surf until the waves got too large from the approaching storm. During WWII the U.S. prepared for beach invasions here and old tanks are still rusting away in the surf or in the palm trees just off the beach. They seem so out of place on these peaceful shores. To make them less ugly, artists have used them as a canvas and have turned them into beautiful murals. I saw similar scenes of old rusting warships when I lived in Hawaii, relics from the hotly contested islands of the Pacific. It seems the Caribbean has a similar story.

Whatever town or village we’re in we try to find a place where we can have a drink and use wifi. In Culebra, it was The Dinghy Dock Restaurant and Bar. Of course we were able to drive the dinghy right up and hop out. The restaurant staff would toss bits of food to the birds and what the birds missed the tarpon would fight for. A few still had lures hanging from their mouths, a testament to a battle with a fisherman. It was fun to watch tarpon weighing fifty or sixty pounds slip through the water just beside the dock. It was a bit unnerving when they would all swim together looking like a school of sharks but they are harmless.

And then, just like that, our time in the Spanish Virgins ended and it was time to sail on…

Hector the Protector-Legend has it he threw stones at any that would bring harm to the island