buddy boats – Life on Lady

Puerto Rico, part 5b- El Yunque National Forest

Here’s your brief history lesson:

El Yunque National Forest, located in the municipality of Río Grande in the NE portion of Puerto Rico, is one of our smallest forest at around 29,000 acres, but the only tropical rainforest in our National Forest system. It is part of the Sierra Luquillo Mountains. The area was formally set aside as a reserve in 1876 by King Alfonso the XII of Spain, in order to preserve the area against the rapidly growing population, and at the time, poor agricultural practices. The U.S. acquired Puerto Rico in 1898 and in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Luquillo Forest Reserve. It became a National Forest in 1906. It was renamed the Caribbean National Forest in 1935, and renamed El Yunque National Forest in 2007. There was timber and other military use during World Wars I & II, but also reforestation efforts. There has been ongoing scientific and conservation research in several dedicated areas of the forest since 1956. Most of the recreational infrastructure was built in the 1980s. The forest and infrastructure has been assaulted and heavily damaged by hurricanes Hugo (1989), George (1998), and Irma & Maria (2017). It is home to the critically endangered Puerto Rican Parrot (we did not see any). [Wikipedia][Forest Service]

Our day in the forest

The main recreation area along Route 191 is the primary attraction. You drive along the road and make stops at designated parking areas to view the scenery and make hikes of various lengths. As of our visit, there was still damage from the 2017 hurricanes, so some trails are closed, including the one to La Mina Falls, which is typically a popular hike. We arrived around 9am, presented our tickets at the entry point, then drove on in. [Tickets must be booked in advance. If you have more time to read, see my anecdote, and additional information about the park, below the slide show.]

We stopped at several key points. Here are the highlights. Baño Grande was built in the late 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), as part of the New Deal era. It’s formed by a stone and masonry dam and arched bridge with cobblestone path. It even had a restroom at one point (now a ruin). The 18-foot deep pool is fed by the La Mina River watershed. It served as a public swimming pool from 1936-1968 when it was then closed due to safety concerns. Now it’s just a scenic spot.

Our main hike of the day was up to the Mt. Britton Tower. This was another New Deal era construction of stone and masonry, built by the CCC in 1937-38 as an observation tower. The hike took us through a palm forest and cloud forest. The views from the top were marvelous! As we descended and got back to the intersection with the El Yunque Peak Trail, we decided we were pretty hot and tired and opted not to pursue that peak. So we returned to our cars and started to head back down toward the entrance, but with a couple of more stops planned.

La Mina Falls may have been closed, but the Juan Diego falls were open to hikers, and it was only about a half mile, mostly flat. Doable for tired footsies and a tired, hot pooch. We followed the Juan Diego Trail to the falls. We were not prepared for swimming, but Ocean had no qualms about laying down in the water, away from the natural pool formed by the falls, where several people were enjoying the cool, refreshing waters. Next time, I’m packing my swimsuit.

Our final stop on the way down was a the Yokahú Tower. It’s a 69-foot tower that was built by a former Forest Supervisor in the early 1960s. From its top, one can view four forest types in the National Forest area. Wish I’d read about it before hand. I just stood up there and thought, “Great views!”

After the Yokahú Tower, we headed out of the forest in search of lunch in the town of Río Grande. We ended up at a lovely roof-top restaurant for a late lunch. We got back to our apartments around 5pm for rest and showers. Around 7pm we were starting to get hungry, so we all ordered pizza from a place in Old San Juan that delivers and chowed down in Mike & Victoria’s digs. We were all beat, but in that “we’ve been enjoying the outdoors all day” kind of way.

Enjoy the slide show of El Yunque. As you read in my post last week, we returned to Salinas the following day after a ton of shopping. Our next stop would be the Spanish Virgin Islands, which is what I will tell you about next time.

Until then, stay safe and take care of each other!

Additional information about the park:

Entering the main area on route 191 requires a ticket, and those reservations are made online through the Forest Service for just $2/car. They control how many vehicles, private and tour, enter the park each day. If you just showed up, it’s highly likely you’d be turned away. Sometimes tickets are available weeks in advance, but most often they’re made available only 24 hours ahead of time, and they go fast! We did not know this in advance, so it was lucky that Dave decided to book our planned Tuesday excursion early Monday morning before we even left Salinas. He went online around 7:30 am and learned that you need to set up an account first, so he did that. At 8am, tickets for the 8-11am entry time became available. It took Dave only 15 minutes to purchase our tickets and by the time he was done, half the slots were gone. He checked about 15 minutes after that, just out of curiosity; there were only 9 slots left. Phew, that was close!

There’s also an 11am-1pm entry option and those tickets become available at 11am. Regardless of entrance time, once you’re in the park you can stay until it closes at 5pm.
The Visitor Center does not require a reservation to enter, but it does incur a fee of $8/person, payable at the gate. We did not visit this.
There are a couple of other roads that go through lesser traveled parts of the forest and do not require tickets. There are trails and scenic drives/stops, but some are closed, so check the website first.

Puerto Rico, part 5a- Salinas & Road Trip to Old San Juan

We three buddy boats had a lovely cruise from Caja de Muertos to Salinas on April 22^nd. Caretta even put up sails for a while. We were anchored in the spacious bay by 10:30am. Although our boats were anchored in the bay for six nights, we were onboard for only four of those. The other two nights we spent in San Juan.

Salinas Bay is surrounded by lots of small restaurants and local shops, including a small marine store, all within easy walking distance. There are three marinas around the bay, the largest being Marina de Salinas. This area is really the outskirts of the town, which is about 1.5 miles away. Salinas is one of those stops cruisers make because it is a large bay with easy access to provisions and other boating needs. The marina is friendly and for a $50/month “bay membership” from Marina de Salinas, cruisers may receive shipments there, as well as use the facilities (though not the pool). Being centralized along the south coast of an island that is not particularly large, it’s also easy to rent a car to travel to other parts of Puerto Rico while one’s boat remains safely anchored in the bay. The three of us buddy boats took advantage of all of this. We enjoyed use of their showers, dinghy dock and dumpsters. Our friends had their new Starlinks shipped to the marina office. Our last night there, we enjoyed dinner and some fabulous live music at the marina’s restaurant. The live music was the playlist from every middle and high school dance I ever attended. We were all singing along. So much fun!

The best part of our stop in Salinas, however, was that we rented cars for a trip to Old San Juan and El Yunque National Park.

Monday, April 24^th, we all piled into two rental cars and headed north for Old San Juan. The drive was easy and just over an hour long, and the mountainous scenery was beautiful. Once in Old San Juan, it took us 20 minutes to find parking, which we eventually did, three parking garages later. It was past lunch time by then, so we took care of that first. Then we started wandering around the cobblestone streets of the old town enjoying the architecture and lovely colors of the buildings.

lunch
kiss the colorful cow
streets of Old San Juan

Eventually we found our way to the northeast point of San Juan Bay and El Morro (Castillo San Felipe del Morro), which is now a National Park. Dave, Barry, Andrea and I toured inside El Morro, while Mike, Victoria and Ocean explored the substantial grounds; they don’t allow dogs inside. This was the second fort build in what is now Old San Juan, with construction lasting from 1539-1790, resulting in a six-level fortress. It was under Spanish rule until 1898 when the United States won the Spanish-American war and Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the U.S. (along with Cuba, Guam and the Philippines). From then until 1961, El Morro became part of a larger U.S. Army post called Fort Brooke. The U.S. Army retired the fort in 1961, turning it over to the National Park Service to preserve as a museum. In 1983, the Castillo and city walls, many of which are still standing, were declared a World Heritage site. It’s expansive and the views from the highest level are amazing! We didn’t have much time to read placards, so this little history lesson comes from Wikipedia and the National Park Service.

from the grounds outside the main fortress
the lighthouse
the dry moat (it’s a thing)
used to be cannons here
there’s one!
only remaining original section from 1539
stunning views!

We continued our fortress tour by walking over to Castillo San Cristóbal. In 1625 the Dutch took San Juan by land. This takeover only lasted two months before they were driven out, but it prompted the Spanish to construct a fortress for protection of San Juan by land. They constructed a tiny redoubt in 1634, but it wasn’t until 1766 that the current structure was started. This one only took 17 years to build. It was even larger than El Morro, but in 1897 a large portion of it was taken down to allow the city to expand because it had been busting at the seams. We toured what’s left, but even faster than El Morro. This structure had cisterns for water storage; clever. Otherwise, it was like most fortresses we’ve visited from that time period. It was part and parcel of the larger fortress system in San Juan, so its timeline after the Spanish-American War is the same as that of El Morro. [Wikipedia][National Park Service]

Castillo San Cristóbal
plaza de armas
barracks
to the dungeon
water cistern

Tuckered out from walking around in the heat, and being almost 5pm, we decided it was time to check into our hotel. Actually, we had booked in at the San Augustin Apartments about ½ mile from the eastern end of Old San Juan. The apartments were very nice and reasonably priced when booked through bookings.com. There were two bedrooms, one twin bed and one queen bed, plus a pull-out sleep sofa in the living area. The smallish bathroom had a very nice shower. The living/dining area had the pullout sofa, a TV and table/chairs. There was also a kitchenette with a ¾ fridge, 2-burner conduction stove, sink, coffee maker, and everything you’d need to make and eat your own meals if you felt so inclined. Except the food, of course. They even have parking about half a block down the street. The apartments are gated with a code, so it felt safe. It’s in a blue-collar part of town, not pretty, but friendly. Most of the inhabitants work in Old San Juan, where it is too expensive to live. If I ever go back for a longer visit to Old San Juan, I would stay here. At any rate, we showered and rested and then went in search of dinner, which we found about ½ mile away and on the water. It was beautiful and delicious.

San Augustin Apartments
pizza after El Yunque
street art across from the apartments
da crew (couples left to right)- Victoria & Mike (s/v Wild Horses), me & Dave, Andrea & Barry (s/v Caretta)

The following day we went to El Yunque National Park, but that deserves its own blog post, so I’m skipping it for now. Moving on…

Our final morning in San Juan, Wednesday April 26^th, we walked to the edge of the old city to a waffle/tea house. They had waffles topped with anything from eggs benedict to granola and fruit. We ate heartily. Our waitress is a part time singer. When she learned we were staying in Salinas on our boats, she told us about a musician we had to try to listen to if we had the chance. His name is Manolo Mongil. Guess who provided the live music I mentioned above, that we rocked out to our last night in Salinas. None other. Small world.

After breakfast we checked out of the apartments, bundled into the cars, and commenced with the shopping. We hit West Marine, Wal Mart, Costco, Petco, and an auto parts store in a huge shopping plaza just outside of San Juan. With our trunks packed full, we headed back to Salinas to unload our purchases onto our boats. Then we bundled back into the cars and headed to the nearby Econo Supermarket to finish off our provisioning, which for Dave and I was for the final portion of our trip through mid-June. It was already late when we got to the supermarket, and we all smelled the rotisserie chickens they cleverly placed at the front of the store near the checkouts. Guess what we all bought for dinner that night? It was a long, tiring, but productive day for us all.

The following day was low key. Then we went ashore to the marina restaurant for drinks, dinner, trip planning, and that awesome live music by Manolo Mongil. This wrapped our stay in Salinas, as we would depart early the following morning for the Spanish Virgin Islands.

My next post will circle back to our trip to El Yunque. I took so many pictures that I need to sort through first before putting together a slide show, and El Yunque definitely warrants a slide show. So next week El Yunque and after that, the Spanish Virgin Islands.

Until then, stay safe and take care of each other!

Puerto Rico, part 1- Puerto Real

We’ve been in Puerto Rico since April 11^th and enjoying a lot of exploring. Exploring takes up a lot of time, so blogging is taking a back seat. I think at this point I need to do this in smaller chunks so I can keep you all entertained and informed, but so that I don’t spend hours writing an entry.

As I described in my post on April 15^th, we arrived in Puerto Real around 1:30pm on April 11^th. Our friends on Wild Horses and Caretta had arrived that morning, and our friends on Bitty Rose had arrived the day before. Upon our arrival, we pulled up to the fuel dock to fill up, and while Dave was doing that, I ran up the Q-flag and started the check-in procedure on the CBP Roam app. Within an hour we were fueled up and had our call from US Customs to clear us into the country. Easy peasy checking into the US and its territories using the app. We had secured a slip for two nights, which ended up being the far end of the fuel dock. That made it easy to do laundry in the marina facilities. It also meant a short walk for land showers- woo hoo! After our first two nights in Puerto Real, we left the dock and anchored off with our friends for two more nights.

Puerto Real is a cute little village about two-thirds of way down the west coast of Puerto Rico. Being on foot, we only wandered about a mile in each direction, but this was definitely a bigger town than many on the out islands of the Bahamas, though not as big as Luperón. It had a couple of small markets, one even had a bakery. Of course we sampled the local, flaky pastries filled with jam. Yum! We sampled the fish tacos at the little, outdoor marina restaurant our first night there. For lunch one day, we picked up some empanadas from a street vendor a few hundred feed from the marina. Indigo Lady, Wild Horses and Caretta celebrated Barry’s birthday at the restaurant 9 Barrios, also only a few hundred feet from the marina. They had delicious wood-fire pizzas and locally brewed, canned beer. Mike & Victoria surprised Barry with a dessert pizza topped with ice cream for all of us to share. Delicious!

Streets of Puerto Real
Streets of Puerto Real
the birthday boy
Da crew

Our third night in Puerto Real was Bitty Rose’s last. They invited us, Wild Horses, and Caretta over for drinks and “snacks.” We all brought gourmet “snacks” such that nobody needed dinner. That was a good thing, too, because the party didn’t break up until around 9pm! Bitty Rose left early the next morning for La Parguera, while the rest of us stayed another night in Puerto Real before rejoining Bitty Rose.

Sundowners on Biddy Rose, with Wild Horses, Indigo Lady and Caretta

And that’s where I’m going to leave this for now. I’ll pick up in La Parguera next time. FYI- it involves phosphorescence. Until then, stay safe and take care of each other!