As I’m writing this we’ve just crossed the equator. When the announcement came on to inform us of this navigational milestone, people actually jumped out of their seats in the dining room and ran towards the windows to look out and see the “green line.” Yeah, that kind of describes many of the people on this ship in a nutshell. I’m wondering how many will survive in Brazil? Anyways…my recap of Puerto Rico last week.
PUERTO RICO: DAY 1
We had a pre-port briefing the night before we arrived. It felt good to speak some Spanish again. In the morning I woke up and was surprised to witness land after three days at sea. The landscape of Puerto Rico is beautiful, and the wonderful views definitely got me excited for the three days spent in this port.
The governor of Puerto Rico boarded the ship with media and camera crews following, and he spoke for about ten minutes to us in the union. Afterwards I stood in line for roughly thirty minutes in order to get my passport stamped.
Around 11 a.m. I left the ship and joined a small group of people and walked to Old San Juan, which was only about 30 minutes or so from the ship. We witnessed the small streets, colorful buildings, and the hot, glaring sun of Puerto Rico. I unfortunately had to disband from the group because I had my first field trip at 1 o’clock.
Basically one can sign up for trips that Semester at Sea sets up OR one can roam the country independently and do whatever he/she wishes. I’m not signed up for too many field trips, but I chose this one because it looked really interesting…it was a trip to the Puerto Rican rainforest.
We met at the front dock, and a bus picked about fifteen of us up. The bus driver’s name was Manny, and he was the tour guide for our trip…Manny was the one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. He apparently has a Masters degree and owns a few different businesses around the country, but he works for this tour company on the side in order to meet new people. This guy was incredibly smart and definitely made the trip more fascinating than it would have been otherwise. The rainforest was about 80 or so minutes from the ship, high up on the mountains surrounding the island.
The “hike” was simply a 2-hour walking tour through a part of the rainforest (I was honestly hoping for a crazy jungle trek with some insane explorer with a machete and a wild thirst for elephant blood…but I was sadly disappointed). We saw various small lizards, numerous species of plants/trees, and a refreshing waterfall (see the picture below). Unfortunately I didn’t bring my swimming trunks, but that was ok. Honestly after spending over 30 minutes at the waterfall I was beginning to get slightly bored of the whole rainforest thing (I have a short attention span). The only animals we saw were these tiny lizards, some snails, and a dog…yes, dogs now occupy rainforests it seems. I CAN now say that I’ve been to a rainforest though!
Afterwards Manny took us to a few sites off of the tour, and then enthusiastically informed us that he’s going to show us “the REAL Puerto Rico.” He drove our group to the middle of nowhere where this dirty, outdoor, Puerto Rican roadside restaurant lay. He began yelling to the cooks in Spanish, and then a man came out and demonstrated how they create and cook the food. Afterwards we each ordered whatever we chose (I had a little bit of everything and split the cost with someone else), but the food was INCREDIBLE. I stole a copy of the menu, just so I can remember the delicious dishes served to us that fateful day.
We made it back to the boat by 7 or so, but unfortunately I forgot to sign up for the Puerto Rican welcome reception, so two of us just took a taxi into town and hit up a bar or two (since the ship was literally empty).
PUERTO RICO: DAY 2
My second day in Puerto Rico consisted of another walk into Old San Juan, a visit to many of the antique/craft shops, a delicious (and cheap) meal at this place called Genesis, and then a ferry ride across the water for a visit to the Bacardi factory. By the time we left the Bacardi factory, the four of us had consumed at least 3 or 4 mixed drinks each, and also a possessed a wealth of knowledge about the history of the Bacardi Company AND Puerto Rico. I enjoyed it.
My second field trip in Puerto Rico was the Bioluminescent Bay. Check out THIS website for more information on bioluminescence. We left the ship at 7 o’clock, and took an hour and a half bus ride to this lake. We then formed partners and chose kayaks. Me and my friend Jeff rowed through this deep, dark, jungle-esque area, and halfway through we realized that whenever an object made contact with the water, it glowed green. We eventually were able jump in and swim through this insane environment. My whole body glowed underwater…yes, it was interesting.
I arrived back at the ship around midnight or so, but did I go to sleep? NO! A group of us sat out on the seventh deck (near the pool) for a few hours and chatted until I was forced to retreat to my cabin.
PUERTO RICO: DAY 3
The third day began early as we made our way to another motor coach, for we were going cave exploring! The caves were interesting; I took a few good pictures and some decent video, but the day consisted mostly of standing in line and waiting (there were some school field trips there at the same time we were).
Following the hour or so in the caves we were promised food…and boy did they keep their promise. We ate out in a picnic area near the cave sight, and the food was EXCELLENT; definitely homemade (I LOVE Puerto Rican food). After the long bus ride home, we still had a few hours before leaving Puerto Rico, so one last walk to Old San Juan was in order. Just a quick stop at a Walgreens to pick up supplies and a stop in Starbucks was on the agenda, but it was cool.
After dinner a few of us played some cards, and then watched the ship sail away from Puerto Rico until we were surrounded by darkness again. The ship’s outside lights were off on the seventh deck, so we were able to gaze up at the bright stars; it was definitely a peaceful moment that I enjoyed immensely…until someone realized it was after midnight, which meant that my birthday had arrived. I hate my birthday. After a few “happy birthdays” I decided to retreat to my room for a good nights sleep, because we literally have 6 or so days of classes after Puerto Rico.
That was Puerto Rico in a nutshell. Our next port is Salvador, Brazil, and it will surely be an interesting one. I’ll update soon with more tales of shipboard life and more stories of roaming the world.
Thanks for reading,
rick
