Well, well, well. Look who got their hat back in Cabo Rojo! I was thrilled and Brady caught me in the act of putting it on despite the winds best efforts to yank it from me....
This part of the southern coast was very unusual in comparison to most places we'd been - very rocky water, the sea seemed darker and saltier, the wind was more robust and there were lots of vertical drops and crashing waves. It reminded me a good deal of the pacific northwest...
So many lighthouses on this trip! 15 to be exact. This is the Los Morrillos Light and the views were breathtaking up there on those white lime cliffs. Can you see the tiny Brady on the right? He's a daredevil and loves to stand on the very edge and lean over to try to get a good photo. No. Way. In. Hell. Am. I. Doing. That. My fear of heights has improved considerably, although I remain a scaredy cat about many other things, but I draw the line at toeing the edge of a steep 200 foot drop-off to what will be a watery grave. But he loves it so he does it and there is no changing that!
This monument/grave(?) was on the side of short hiking trail near the mangroves on the Cabo Rojo salt flats. I can't find any information about it. Anyone have any clues? It had a name and dates so I'm assuming it might be more of a memorial stone? I'd like to know the story although it seems to have been abandoned for a bit now...
The salt flats! I so, so, so wanted to go here after a saw some outstanding photos on Pinterest but, of course, my camera battery decided to be a jerk and stop doing its job right when we got out there. I took a few fuzzy iPhone photos of the area and of Brady and then I decided to step over a small muddy area to get to the boardwalk and guess what?
I sank to my thighs in quicksand! This yucky, marshy, stinky quicksand stuff. I though my new, poor New Balance shoes were goners but luckily they survived the black mud after a quick dip in the ocean...as did I. What you can't see is that my arms and some of my face were covered too because when I fell I tried to save myself by putting my hands down and, well, that didn't work. It took Brady and two nice Belgium tourists to grab me and the-luckily-unscathed-but-still-not-working camera out of the muck. Talk about being embarrassed! Good god, I was mortified. Then we all started laughing hysterically and couldn't stop and we shook hands (well, Brady and the guys did) and immediately drove to the beach where I walked right into the ocean with all my clothes on. That was an adventure for the record books, eh?
Camera battery still acting up. Bleh. But another lighthouse! Yay! This is the Rincon Punta Higuero Lighthouse and it was very popular with folks if the numbers were any indication the day we were there. Rincon tends to be an expat hangout so we saw more tourists and heard more English than almost anywhere on our entire trip...
Found a little abandoned shack on a beach on the way to Arecibo...and the camera battery came back to life!
Drinking from the 'fountain of youth' at the Rio Camuy Caves...which was just a small waterfall (the 'fountain' not the caves) but it tasted delicious. Haven't seen any changes in my sagging chin line yet but maybe it takes some time?
I am an absolute nerd for National and State Parks, State Forests and the like. Seriously. I stop at any and all that come my way! We had already visited the El Yunque Rainforest over a week prior but nothing prepared me for the caves we toured that day. They are massive! You should really click the link in the paragraph prior and read more on them. AND THERE WERE BATS! Yessss! Brady even got bat guano on his hands at one point. I think I was a little more excited about that than he was...
This is from the Arecibo Observatory...and this radio telescope is massive. Like, take your breath away big. I guess when you have to track objects in space (and listen out for anyone/anything trying to contact us) you have to make sure the dish covers the job. Another tour, another happy Jennifer. Go here to find out more about the observatory...
And that's it for the photos! We spent our last day back in San Juan to be closer to the airport for our departure but we really just slept all day because a) we were exhausted and b) it rained all day. We did play one last mean game of dominoes as well. Which we haven't done since we've been back. Hmmm. That needs to be remedied ASAP!
Thanks for following along. And thanks to everyone who emailed me with support about our job/life changes. Y'all are awesome!
Your Georgia Ghost Town sounds intriguing!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to post about where I'm going soon! :)
DeleteAh, yes, so many memories from Cabo Rojo to Rincon and Arecibo! I spent a lot of time at the Salt Flats (it was in at least one of our trapping grids), but I completely missed that lovely memorial.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you all enjoyed Puerto Rico (despite the challenge of food sickness!) One of my biggest regrets is that I did not get to visit any of the caves and see the bats (I have a large fruit bat tattooed on my arm, so I can say I'm a fan of bats! :) Your travel log and photos have made me really yearn to go back. I love reading about all of your adventures (often they make me wonder what I am missing in my own state of KY). I wish you continued blessings and adventures in the future!
Thank you so much for the well wishes!
DeleteThe salt flats were so different than anything I'd every seen before. It reminded me of Iceland in a way, if they had warm (non-geothermal) beaches. Maybe it was all the grey and white?
I've been wanting to visit your home state for a while now...mainly Mammoth Cave, Cascades Cave & Carters Cave. They all have a thriving bat population but most of the bat areas are off limits due to fear of 'white nose' disease. I'm all about keeping the critters as healthy as possible. :)
On a more serious note, have you been keeping up with the fiscal crisis in Puerto Rico? I know I shared only the more lighthearted aspects of our visit but it broke my heart to see the issues plaguing the country especially in the smaller towns. Before we left I did some research about it and I was able to talk about it with some locals and there are a lot of strong opinions out there. The new Financial Oversight Board isn't a great solution nor is it long-term and Congress loves to push away any Puerto Rico based issues. So, yes, it'll be interesting to see where this goes. I plan to go back again soon to visit friends we made there so I want to stay up-to-date...
Oh, yes, it was the talk even back in spring 2015. I am in touch with my friends there and it seems the population is divided on whether to become a state, stay the same or go independent, but all agree that the fiscal state of things is dismal. Many were talking about the struggle and others are just moving to mainland US to escape it altogether. My PR friends (both those on the island and the ones that have not been back for years) feel it's time for PR to decide one way or the other whether to be a US state (many, including me, work for the US Gov so the consensus among them is to be a US state). Personally, I think it is time for Congress to stop ignoring the issue and treating PR like a colony. I think it's particularly bad that PR citizens cannot vote in US elections, yet US decides so many things for them.
DeleteAlso, you can visit the caves in KY and see the bats. They have stations set up to sterilize shoes. I visited Mammoth last summer and came very close to the bats! I've been keeping tabs on the white nose inoculations they are researching and, so far, results are good. Losing the bats would be an environmental disaster! If you do come up here, make sure to go to Horse Cave (the town) and visit the American Cave Museum and Hidden River Cave. Both are off the beaten path somewhat (and the cave system is part of the same one as Mammoth), but it's a cute town and the museum is interesting.
I hope to visit GA soon as well! I can't wait for your ghost town updates!!
Oooooh, thank you for the update bat information! I'm planning on going to KY for a few days in the fall so I'll be sure to add all this to my list of 'must do'.
DeleteAnd thank you for your PR input. That's very much along the lines of what was discussed when I was there. I find it appalling that we can draft PR citizens for war (if it came to that and it has in the past) but the citizen don't even get to vote on laws/matters that are vital or integral to them. This new change just wiped out what limited self-governance PR had. You're very right with the 'colony' statement.
I found this article interesting and even though I'm not a huge comic fan, I think it is super cool that people are trying to create positive and under-represented figures that deal with real PR issues: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/04/puerto-rico-superhero-borinquena-edgardo-miranda-rodriguez
Wow! Thank you so much for that link! I agree completely that Borinquena is a great superhero for the Puerto Ricans! I find it so amazing that this diverse and beautiful island is so American, yet it is not in the same sense as Kentucky or Georgia. I thought of this yesterday: When I was there working with the PR government, I handled some of the program and was able to get the Feds to purchase some much needed equipment for the project we were working on. My supervisors told me to gift to the PR when I was done. I remember how grateful they all were as money was too tight for them to be able to get their own. I loved working with all of them so much.
DeleteSorry for the typos!
DeleteThis looks like a real adventure! Now I caught the travel bug.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog! I'm glad you enjoyed my travel adventures... :D
DeleteI love these photos, you have such a good eye! The quicksand though, yikes, glad you got out ok. It's not travelling unless something massively embarrassing happens to you though ;) Glad you're keeping on chick.
ReplyDeleteGah, I was so embarrassed but it ended up being such a funny moment and memory. The folks that helped me out ended up staying near us at one point so I was able to buy them a beer to repay for their kindness. A weird way to meet new folks but it worked!
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