San Juan
Coffee Plantation
We start the day with a tour of the Hacienda Munoz Coffee Plantation. It’s about 1 hour away and the bus ride allows us to see nearby cities and where they are in the restoration of their particular city. Our guide is Luis and there’s nothing you can ask him about coffee that he doesn’t know. He’s maybe 25 and loves coffee. Do NOT talk to Luis about Starbucks!! This is a working plantation, on a 20-acre hillside farm in San Lorenzo. We are kind of coffee snobs and find all 4 hours extremely informative. One thing learned was it’s okay to add sugar or milk to coffee that’s either acidic or bitter. However; NEVER, never add anything without first tasting the coffee. We had the most delicious lunch of either pork or chicken breast along with rice and pigeon peas. Dessert was called tres leches (3 milks) cake or cheese flan, both of which were to die for.
We head back to San Juan and walk the city. The people are genuinely nice. It was interesting talking with them about what it was like during Maria. They shared stories about what happened to their families, their animals, their homes. Our favorite thing was to strike up conversations with the locals. We’d go from a café to a bakery and later back to a café just to talk. They’ve done an amazing job of bringing this city back to life. We were in awe of their accomplishments.
Everyday around noon, there’s a downpour and everyone runs to storefronts with awnings until it passes; maybe 30-40 minutes. Today, we were lucky, we were in a café when it hit and we were the only customers so our waitress filled us in on life in Puerto Rico. Many of the people leave, most looking for a better job; however, most seem to return. She had a boyfriend who one day told her he was breaking up with her because he was leaving. He was now calling her saying he was coming back and she didn’t want anything to do with him. We encouraged her to stand her ground.
We headed back to the ship and found a restaurant across from where we were docked called La Casita and sat on the back patio with a couple of cold drinks. We were so hot and there was a slight breeze and it was perfect. Again, our waitress wanted to talk with us as much as we wanted to talk with her. We were there over an hour when we see the lines on our ship go slack and then being pulled in. It was frightening for about 10 seconds thinking that our ship was going to leave without us. At the end of the patio were two gals who worked in the spa so we asked if they knew what was going on. The Sun was just moving to the other side of the dock so a bigger ship could come in the next day. Announcements were made early in the morning but we left even earlier for our excursion and didn’t hear it. There were also signs around the ship but after our excursion, we never came back so didn’t see the signs. We had a good laugh as we watched the Sun back up, turn around and dock on the opposite side. But just for a moment, we were not smiling.
Day #2 – We had all day since our excursion wasn’t until 6pm so we explored more of Old San Juan starting with El Morro fortress. It’s been standing watch over San Juan Bay since the 16th century with its 20-foot thick walls rising straight up from the sea and its cannons peering out from the fortress.
Next, we go to a Museum to view an exhibit of the First Female Mayor of San Juan, Felisa Rincom de Gautier. Under her leadership she established the first preschool centers (Head Start), she renovated the public health system and was responsible for the establishment of the School of Medicine and the Civil Defense System. She was loved by all of San Juan. Upon retiring, she served as the American Goodwill Ambassador for four US Presidents. She died at age 97, and was given the burial honors of a head of state.
Our excursion this evening is called Bioluminescent Kayak Adventure. We were a small group of 14. We were in 2-man kayaks and happy being a small group. We all agreed none of us wanted to end up in the water. We put on life jackets, spray on mosquito repellant and find out we are being mingled with a group of 14 more kayaks filled with a young group of loud partyers. It’s pitch black. The only light is as big as a quarter on the back of each kayak and it’s blue. We have a lead guide, a rear guide and one more who roams. We are to paddle in a single line along the edge of the mangrove forest at Laguna Grande. This is a narrow canal and you must stay to the right so people returning can get by. Off we go and all of a sudden our peaceful paddle has become a free-for-all with yelling, screaming and people going in the water. The single line has at times become 3 abreast. We can’t hear and we can’t see. After about 45 minutes, we finally reach the Cabezas de San Juan Reserve which is wide open and we are left to put our hands and paddles in the water to see the magical sparkling swirls of waters that glow with bioluminescent microorganisms. The stars are magnificent, the lightening is far away and it’s finally quiet. Unfortunately, we had to paddle another 45 minutes to get back; how we made it I’ll never know, but I was so very grateful to get out of that kayak and onto solid ground. The bus ride back to the ship was very, very quiet.
Day #3 – We were with an excellent female guide who had a Master’s Degree in Puerto Rican history and walked us all over Old San Juan. All of the guides in Puerto Rico are required to take so many classes per year or they will not be allowed to guide. We started by entering the San Juan Gate to Fort Cristobel, which was the largest fortress built in the New World. We spent a little over an hour hearing about what life was like for the soldiers who lived in this Fort; it was enlightening.
Then she took us to the Barrio where the poor people resided. Oddly, this neighborhood was situated right on the coast in a beautiful location. The city was trying to assimilate these people into the mainstream by helping them to set up public vegetable gardens, good water, electricity and help with the building or modernizing of their homes.
We ended at the San Juan Bautista Cathedral and just as were preparing to leave, the afternoon downpour begins. After about 30 minutes, some of the folks stayed in the church, some went with the guide, we dropped off and headed to a coffee shop. We did some more walking, and enjoyed our last afternoon in Puerto Rico. We both agreed that Puerto Rico and its people are definitely worth another visit.