If a doctor gives you a month to live - mortgage everything, grab your loved ones, and head to Culebra

I blush when I admit that I fancy myself an amateur travel writer. It stems from a love of travel and a love of books. So, please forgive that most of my posts seem positive and make you want to go there.  Isn't that the point of a travel blog?

And then there was Culebra.

I remember the gasp I let out when I turned the corner and saw Teotihuacan.  Or the beauty of Manawaiopuna Falls in Kuai. The Grand Cayon, the Buchardt Gardens in Victoria Canada, and the red fall leaves in New England...

And then there was Culebra.

Perfection

Once I arrived, I fully intended to walk about the Island. Its pretty small, and I like walking. But the lady in the airport kindly suggested I consider a golf cart.  GLAD I DID.  I could have walked, but the cart gave me the chance to REALLY see the whole Island. And it is a GEM!

Octopus Salad - YUM

End of the day~

I decided that I would never wash the magical sand of Culebra from my feet. So that I might carry this day forever (Ok, I actually already showered, but it sounds like a travel writer - huh?)

Tinker Belle's Hot Tub

I am going to work backwards tonight. I just can't start anywhere other than the most amazing spectacle I just witnessed.

The BioBay in Vieques PR (more specifically just outside Esperanza) cannot readily be described.  It is a bay with the highest concentration of biolumiensence in the world. These tine critters emit light in a complicated process - when they are disturbed.  You should see the rain.

The water glows, but it doesn't just glow. And it only glows when disturbed.  It also sparkles and flashed when a school of fish scatter as the boat disrupts a night time feeding. It was too dark to capture on film - but put this on your bucket list. It is the northern lights IN a lake.

The boat to bio-bay

But I had to travel, by car, the boat, then taxi, then foot just to get to the bio bay.  Here is that journey... And before you envision some remote back woods shack - I watched most of the Broncos home opener on satellite TV and texted Marci.  Technology...

Ferry Boats

Puerto Ricans LOVE their meat. These are both roadside stands.

Chicken BBQ

Lechon ()Roasted pig)

The bay coming into Viewues 

Hurricane victim

The lighthouse in Isabella II

And people.  I met this couple at the Ferry terminal heading to Vieques. We got to chatting, and ended up on the same tour of the bio bay.  They are very cute and were so fun to talk to. Their marriage was "arranged" four years ago - and they are happy as can be.  They made me want to go to INDIA so bad!

Ruta Panoramica (Panoramic Route)

Guidebooks about Puerto Rico mention a small series of roads which traverse across the heart (and mountains) of the country.  Since the whole island is less than 200 miles across, I figured, 'How hard could it be.'

Ruta Panoramica owned me.

Slapped me like an angry step dad.

Made my GPS look like a Fisher Price toy...


(This was when I still had service and the road was like a highway. See that mountain ahead of me - GULP- yup, went over it)

 But there is a story to be told first.

OBSERVATIONS - PUERTO RICO 

Now that I have been driving all over the country, I feel like I have a good feel for things.  And I have noticed that while some things look very much like the USA I left behind:

Other things look more like Latin America:

OH, and I noticed things seemed different and couldn't put my finger on it - till I realized THERE ARE NO PEOPLE BEGGING FOR CHANGE at intersections (or anywhere else).  But there are plenty of poor folks to be had...

So I decided to wander across the interior of the Island.  I drove to the East side (I have now been to the North, West, South, and Eastern shores). I started in the Southeast corner.

As I worked my way up the mountains a few things struck me,

1. There are a LOT of people in Puerto Rico. The guide book says that it is MUCH more dense than we are used to, and all day I turned corners and saw houses.  And I mean ALL DAY.  (there was one stretch where I was on a road I had no business traversing where there were no houses, people, or anything else). But that was probably only forty five minutes).
2. This is a REALLY pretty place
3. It is easy to get lost when your GPS doesn't get a signal any more
4. I will drive in circles SEVERAL times for roasted pig.

This is what the road looked like BEFORE I hit the stretch where the fauna was hitting both sides of my car (thank God there was no oncoming traffic). 

I also saw a lot of Bamboo and pretty green valleys

At least forty feet high

I went through a SERIOUS downpour 

and FINALLY found the holy grail of pig (called the Pork Highway and featured on Bizarre Foods.

Roast Pig, Rice and Beans & Blood Sausage

I sipped a homemade Pina Colada (con Rum). And meandered back to San Juan satisfied.

I still have 2/3 (and reportedly the hardest section) of the Ruta to finish before I die...

STILL UNDAUNTED!

To the edge, and back, and to the edge again...

So it turns out that I woke up a bit sore from my 13.9 mile hike up and down the forts of San Juan.  No worries, I planned a drive across the Island to Ponce.  The trip is a pretty one, first lush tropical mountains, then arid plains (think Bakersfield California) and finally the Southern (and then Western) tip of Puerto Rico.

This journey is best told through pictures....

Catederal de Nuestra Senora Guadalupe (1670)

Cafe Cafe - One of the best meals I've ever eaten!

Fruit salesman

Vice Pays (Don Q Castle - Rum Kingpin)

Tail for sale in Market

Bombas Museum (Ponce)

Human remains from an archaeological dig north of Ponce

Saw this tree while travelling, looks like love

Stopped at a roadside stand for fresh Pina Colada

Southwestern tip of Puerto Rico

Lighthouse stairs

LOVED this lighthouse!

Fishing village on Western tip of Puerto Rico

El Bohio Restaurant - I ate her and watched the sun set

The place that makes Mexico City seem new

Remember the "ditty"? 'In 1492, Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue'? Well, guess where he sailed?

San Juan Bautista - 1520

Ok, it was the Dominican Republic (known as Hispaniola by Chris and the boys), but THEN he went to Puerto Rico. Which is why the SECOND oldest church in the Western hemisphere is in San Juan (the Catedral de San Juan - built in 1520).  Think about that, 1520!

And the old just keeps on coming.

The Spanish quickly realized the strategic importance of Puerto Rico. It was a base to fight the "New World Wars" with the French and English in the Western Hemisphere.

It was so important that they fortified the entire harbor with enormous thick walled forts and a giant wall surrounding what is now known as "Old San Juan".

A colonial town sprung up inside, and it is now a world heritage site (for good reason).

Overlooking the bay from a guard tower in the city wall

The first fort - a man can stand upright in the small portals near the top

Once fearsome to enemy ships

Clear turquoise Caribbean waters below the City Wall

Beautiful cemetery inside the fort

The Colonial Jail

Cobblestone Streets

Finally, there were some modern things I thought were worth sharing:

Cool statue over a fountain

The 'old' cigar factory

Sunning on the City Wall

And did I mention the colorful end to the days here?