Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is a well kept secret. It is unimaginably lush and vibrant, both above and below the water.  It boasts the only tropical rainforest in the U.S which we, of course, drove up into the mountains to see.

On the way up we passed this beautiful multi-colored little town nestled against the hillside.

The higher we drove, the more rich and dense the flora and fauna...

Then we happened upon this spectacular waterfall, OH MY!

And gigantic palm fronds... (WTFR WE?!, am I dreaming?)

And as we finally descended the mountain we were treated to this spectacular sunset (of course!)...

Another day, after being "directed" on where NOT to park, we enjoyed the town of Ponce, Puerto Rico...

In the square they had about twenty stately lion statues all the same but all painted in very different styles and all very artistically rendered. It was very cool. Peter, if you have more lion photos please email!

These mannequins outside a retail store, reflect the "curvier" features of the local female population.

Me in front of a quaint old firehouse we toured.

"Ponce Square" nighttime entertainment.

When we were about an hour or so out from Turks and Caicos, on our way to the Dominican Republic, we realized our center dodger panel was missing. We had removed it the prior evening to get more airflow into the cockpit and left it sitting on top of the companionway overnight. I'll tell ya', we really appreciated the benefits of the mid-dodger panel after that trip!  Rough seas had waves crashing into the cockpit for fifteen hours... not fun (even Jeff agreed)! 

Anyway, when we arrived in the Dominican Republic, Peter contacted the marina owner on the very slim chance it would be found. And amazingly after several days, it was found in the bushes on shore!  How it got there is still a mystery. But even more amazing was that Bob, the marina owner, gave our panel to a couple that had just arrived, Trish and John, as they were heading out for the Domincan Republic. They just missed us in DR as we had already left for Puerto Rico however a few days later, they arrived in Puerto Rico. We met up with them for lunch had a great time and continued to have a great time with them throughout our stay in Puerto Rico. 

Trish and John

We left Ponce together with Trish and John to continue our Puerto Rican exploration. Our first island destination was, "Coffin" island.  There are a couple of stories as to how it got it's name. One being that a wayfaring sea captain buried the love of his life in a glass coffin on the island and would come back every year to gaze on his true love's remains... The other being that the island in profile looks like a corpse in repose in a coffin. I'm going with the first story.

We took a long hike up to the lighthouse.

The cactus grew to dizzying heights and had tree-like bark. Who would have thunk it... giant cactus on an island!

On our way up the lighthouse tower.

After "Coffin" island,  "Grace and Mariah" stopped at Punta Salinas for the evening located on the south coast of Puerto Rico. Notice the languidly rolling arid mountains.Quite a difference from the lush green tropics just about 15 miles west!

Trish and John's boat "Mariah" heading into Punta Salinas

From here we sailed to the island of Vieques to see the famous bioluminescent "Mosquito Bay". This bay apparently is the best example of bioluminescence in the United States. There is a very high concentration of organisms nicknamed "dinos".  When the "dinos" come into contact with another organism, they produce a bright burst of blue light.

There is understandably no anchoring or motor craft allowed in Mosquito bay, so the "Grace" and "Mariah" crews dinghyed out to the bay in the evening, cut our engines, rowed out into the middle of the bay and enjoyed the ethereal blue light show which seemed to intensify the longer we stayed. We were able to draw dazzlingly magical displays in the water with our oars.

We continued to "buddy" sail with Trish and John on to the islands of Culebra and Culebrita.

We spent several awe inspiring days exploring and snorkeling.These islands were garnished with quiet,white fine-sand beaches, a natural jacuzzi, pristine live coral and a multitude of fish species. 

Relying on local knowledge, we hiked right past this sign to a  beach. 

It doesn't get much better than this!

A wondrous journey to all,

Pam