Popping Back to Puerto Rico ….. March 2014

19 – 21 March 2014:  Ferry & Land Travel to Puerto Rico

Sojourn to San Juan

Although we have just spent a couple of weeks cruising along the south coast of Puerto Rico we didn’t stop anywhere long enough to do some land travel.  It’s a compact island with an extensive road network but has almost no public transport system.  It is also rumoured to have the highest percentage of cars per population in the world and infamous traffic jams!

Everyone we have spoken to that has been to Puerto Rico’s capital, San Juan, spoke very highly about the old walled town and fort area.  In those days the Spanish Conquistadores led the world in murdering, starving, raping and enslaving the native population in their driven desire for gold but they also built beautiful enduring cities.  As we are fans of Spanish architecture and are always happy to experience a slice of Europe whenever possible we decided to travel back to Puerto Rico by ferry from neighbouring Culebra, and see for ourselves how bad the traffic jams could be and to check out San Juans beauty first hand.

 

In company with Jim and Carola off Koza we caught the 6.30am ferry to Fajardo on Puerto Rico.  Rather an early start for our excursion we thought! Lenny off Aussie boat Feijao was a superstar taking us ashore at 5.45am so we wouldn’t have to leave our dinghies tied ashore for 2 nights, and also kept an eye on Balvenie and Koza in our absence, thanks Lenny and Gina.

We arrived in Fajardo, collected our prebooked car from Island of the World Rentals (after spending quite some time checking all the dents/dings and scratches duly noted on the outgoing contract!!), eventually we found our way to the highway north and in no time at all were in San Juan, not a traffic jam in sight. 

We made our way into the old town without any hiccups, found a parking close to our accommodation at SJ Suites  and were sitting back enjoying an excellent breakfast in a very Spanish cafe before 10am.  It’s amazing what you can achieve if you get up at 5am!!

Snapshots of San Juan

We spent the day sightseeing, it’s just a small old town area and it was a delight just wandering the streets; admiring the architecture - restored grand public buildings,  renovated residential homes, churches and cathedral, plazas and statues and beautiful blue cobblestone streets.

On the periphery is the town wall, several feet deep and extremely high – combined with the 6 storey high impressive El Morro Fort the defences for San Juan town and harbour were second to none and although there were several attacks by the British, Dutch and French over many years the Spanish never lost San Juan and their control over the gateway to the Caribbean.

We explored this massive fort, a warren of rooms, armouries, batteries, lookouts, quarters and dungeons hidden inside it over 6 levels.  Probably the most impressive example we have seen in our travels and possibly the largest.

Compact & Cute

We spent 24 hours in San Juan, but it is very compact so we felt we did it justice.  We covered nearly every street, alleyway and plaza, ate local empanadas in a tree lined plaza for lunch while watching heavily armed policemen patrol nearby government buildings at one end and tourists (yes, that includes Jim) having their photos taken with iguanas at the other end.

We had pina coladas in the bar that invented them, dinner in an “authentic” (touristy but very good) restaurant, walked the cool and shaded empty streets and harbour promenade early morning, just the 4 of us and hundreds of sleepy cats then returned to our previous mornings breakfast find for another excellent meal, bacon and egg toasted rolls and espresso coffees for 4 – US$20,  excellent.

Space … the Final Frontier

We navigated our way out of San Juan with only one wrong turn and headed east towards the Karst Country and the Arecibo Observatory.  The observatory contains the worlds largest radar and radio telescope set above a 20 acre big dish (that’s the dish below us in the photo).  Launched in 1992 the idea is that this technology will allow us to chat with all the aliens out there in space, but has any one told the aliens they need to build one so they can talk back?? At $10 each entrance fee we felt it was overpriced, just a shame we didn’t see the ”buy one get one free voucher” in our tourist book until after we left!!

We drove through the Karst Country, hundreds of steep knobbly hills have been formed by water sinking into the limestone creating lots of sinkholes, which in turn has created the hills as these are the bits that haven’t sunk.  They were all very lush with vegetation and quite unlike anything we have seen before.  Unfortunately they do not photograph well, the different contours are so close together, steep and dense you lose the 3D effect.

Transiting Puerto Ricos Spine

We travelled along the high backbone of the country, climbing up and down then up again, on a maze of roads through some rather uninspiring villages and into the Central Mountains and cloud forest.  It is unfair to be too critical of the quality of the housing here, it is right in the middle of the hurricane belt and concrete block housing is the most sturdy.  However rows of little square block houses detracted from the natural beauty of the surroundings in the cloud forest high on the top ridge running through this island, there was certainly scope for improvement.

Carola found us a bed for the night at the almost new El Canon Guest House in Barranquitas.  It wasn’t an easy task finding somewhere to stay, most tourists to the mountains visit as day trippers from the coastal resorts or San Juan and there were few accommodation options.  The air was definitely cooler at altitude and the cloud forest lived up to its name, I took this photo during a brief break in the rain, minutes later we were engulfed in mist again. 

A Comedy of Mishaps

Next morning we headed east, the winding roads continued and it was slow going.  We had intended to detour to El Yungue National Park, but decided we had all seen enough trees to last us for a few more weeks so headed back to Fajardo early to have plenty of time to do some shopping at West Marine and Walmart (it’s a long time since we left the USA!) before the 7.30pm ferry.

Our foray into West Marine took way longer than planned as we were redeeming reward vouchers worth $240 and they were in $10 increments, 24 separate voucher numbers of over 10 digits needed to be input into the till by a not so speedy sales assistant.  This meant valuable time was ticking away so it was a speedy run around Walmart when we decided to catch the 3.30pm ferry instead of the 7.30pm as planned. 

Things turned a little pear shaped when Jim opened the car to unlock the boot, turned on ignition to get the aircon going then closed the door and all the doors locked - with key in the ignition!  But at least the boot was open, so we emptied the bags out, pulled down the small divider into the back seat and I just squeezed through (no photos thank goodness).

Back on the road we then missed the turnoff for the ferry terminal (a sign would have been very useful) so travelled several extra miles until the next motorway turnoff, time was getting very tight when we finally found the waterfront so we dropped Jim and Carola by the ferry terminal with their bags and the shopping to get the tickets while we took the car back.  

When we emptied the car only Marks bag was there, had Jim taken my bag by mistake or was it still in the carpark at Walmart?   While we were debating our next move Carola arrived with my bag, Jim had picked it up thinking it was Carolas and they knew we would be worried when they realized, so now three of us at the car hire office and Jim at the ferry terminal. 

With paper work finally completed it was a mad dash back to the terminal where things slowed down momentarily, the ferry had broken down – we weren’t going anywhere!   It was at this point when we were consolidating the shopping bags and packs that Carola realized that her pack was now missing.   She was sure she had given it to Jim when she brought mine to the car hire office, Jim couldn’t remember but was sure he hadn’t lost it, I thought she only had my bag but wasn’t sure either and Mark just didn’t have a clue!  It was a black day pack, can you imagine how many black day packs were sitting on the floor in the ferry terminal??!! or was it at the car hire office or possibly in Walmarts carpark? So off Carola went to the car hire office – again - and happily returned with her pack, all was well at last, we just needed a ferry.

We adjourned to a nearby bar for the afternoon and early evening, seemed the most sensible thing to do.  We were all finally accommodated on the car ferry which docked at 10pm, but of course we had no dinghies ashore, we had never planned to be back so late.  I had started chatting to a couple that looked liked fellow cruisers (its quite easy to pick us amongst the tourists) they were a lovely French couple off yacht Papaya and they offered to take us back to our boats at anchor, this was really kind of them as they weren’t even in the same anchorage as us.   Finally we were home by 10.30pm.

A Perfect End to a Comical Afternoon

 

Heading For the Hills ….. February 2014

20 –27 February 2014:  Luperon and Inland Exploring, Dominican Republic

Have 4WD .. Will Travel

With strong winds forecast for at least 5 days it was the perfect opportunity to leave Balvenie on her mooring in the secure harbour of Luperon and head for the hills.  We “sort of” hired a 4WD, lets just say one of the permanent cruisers in the harbour made a couple of phone calls, we stood on a street corner at 9.30am, a Ford Explorer arrived with a local man and toddler inside, we got in and dropped them off up the road,  we gave him $100 – he gave us his car keys.  Easy peasy – the joys of doing business in the less developed world!

Did Anyone Bring a Map??

We were sharing the 4WD with Carla and Daniel off C-Time.  They too were due some shore leave after many long days and some nights at sea so we decided to hit the road together. 

I guess really it was my job to be navigator, I’d done a great job of printing off the pages of information on where we were going, but not how we were getting there!  We weren’t doing too bad following the erratic sign posts until we arrived in Santiago, the 2nd biggest city in the DR, the slip road entry onto the Ring Road was closed for road works and why would they waste time putting up detour signs?

And so began our unplanned sightseeing tour of Santiago!!  Quite some time later, with Daniel navigating us on Google Maps on his iPhone (not entirely accurate!) and Mark definitely enjoying driving like a local we successfully popped out the other side of the city and resumed a less frantic and chaotic pace on quieter roads. 

The Outdoor Adventure Capital of the DR

Our first nights stop was in the foothills of the mountains at Jarabacoa, the surrounding countryside was lush and green, the air clearer and cooler.  Jarabacoa was a functional working town, nothing too cute or touristy about it, even though it was purported to be the tourist mecca of the interior we didn’t see another “gringo” around and didn’t even get hassled by any tour operators to take us kayaking, white water rafting, paragliding or on a tour to the nearby waterfalls.

Where Are The Dinosaurs??

After spending a comfortable night at Hotel California it was off into the jungle for some hiking, waterfall sightseeing and dinosaur hunting.  Many scenes from the movie Jurassic Park were filmed at the Salta Jimenoa Uno Waterfalls so we went off road down an exceptionally steep grassed driveway to the track entrance and hoped like hell we would be able to drive out again!!

 

Up, Up and Away

The hike down and back up got the heart pumping, not from running from the jaws of dinosaurs though, just exercise at altitude, something we very rarely do.  Back in the carpark the attendant stopped traffic on the road in preparation for our exit.  Mark gunned the accelerator and we exited the carpark feeling like a rocket being propelled skyward – we landed successfully back on the road and continued our journey up into the mountains.

One Big Vegetable Patch

We stopped at a small farming community for lunch and sat with the field workers eating beans and rice, the staple diet of so many of these countries.  Back on the road we kept climbing, making our destination of Constanza mid afternoon.  It is a small but busy agricultural town, set in a very picturesque valley at 1200m surrounded by high mountains on all sides.  As far as you could see in every direction the fields were full of crops of all varieties.  Strawberries were in season, roadside stalls offered the fresh fruit, strawberry jam and various other strawberry concoctions, we stocked up on goodies.

 

 Definitely Off The Beaten Path

We decided to go for the complete rural experience and headed some miles out of town.  The drive was an adventure in itself, first we needed to convince a road works worker we really did need to go down the road that was closed, then convinced another that we could just fit between the two big holes they had dug, then we went off road stopping at every intersection to ask directions – rarely understanding the rapid Spanish instructions fired back at us – just following the way they pointed!  And finally we found Rancho Macajo.

The log cabins were probably just a tad more rustic than we would have liked, but the setting and views were just amazing.  I was the only one up for an afternoon walk so I climbed as high as I could above the ranch to take in the views, then went back down to the dirt road and enjoyed a long walk up into the valley, soaking in the vista below me.  Every inch of land was either planted or ploughed, interestingly we didn’t see any farm machinery anywhere but we didn’t see any oxen and ploughs either, is it all tilled by hand?

The ranch was an interesting place, the owner has turned it into a mini menagerie with 21 different species of birds and animals.  We had an excellent dinner, followed by nightcaps sitting around a roaring  bonfire, the starry sky was crystal clear, the silence overwhelming, it was a magic spot.

Going Down

Next morning it was downhill all the way, we made a couple of attempts at finding an alternative route back to the coast – both failed badly.  We did however find the ring road around Santiago again but to our dismay it was closed on this side as well.  While we were parked in the middle of the road looking for plan D a car pulled up in front of us and the driver had rather a heated discussion with the armed guard patrolling the traffic cones.  We heard them mention Puerto Plato which was where we were aiming for, eventually the guard moved a cone, the car drove through and so did we.  We didn’t hear any gunfire behind us and never looked back!!

About 30 miles later we got to the Puerto Plato exit, and you guessed it, it was coned off!!  We drove slowly by to assess the situation and make sure the exit was actually passable, all looked ok, no traffic or armed guards around, so we reversed back to the exit, I jumped out and moved a couple of cones, through we went and headed on our way!!!

Back to the Seaside

While we had the 4WD we couldn’t forego an opportunity to do a supermarket run and nearby tourist town of Puerto Plato was sort of on the way.  We made it down to the waterfront, but where was the supermarket?  While I was off looking for somewhere cheap and quick for lunch Daniel spotted some friendly policemen and next thing I know we were all back in the 4WD and following a police escort to the supermarket, right into the carpark!!

A couple of hours later, with the 4WD bulging at its seams, we made our weary way back the last 30 odd miles up the coast to Luperon.  We emptied the contents at the dinghy dock and Mark set off trying to find the owner of the Explorer.  He never did find him, but the keys were handed to someone and we never had anyone come looking for us!

It’s Great To Be Back In The 3rd World (Maybe 2nd World!) 

Music & Dance ~ The Soul of Cuba ….. April 2013

Land Travel to Trinidad, Cuba:  18 – 21 April 2013

Wow – What a Gem!

We were relieved to step off the dirty smelly Viazul bus from Cienfuegos, we had drawn the short straw and were seated at the rear next to the overflowing toilet….enough said !!!. Still, the journey had been short and the scenery interesting.  It seemed like every Casa Particular (B&B) owner in town was there to meet the bus, most of them held guests names high on cards but we hadn’t prebooked anywhere and wanted to take our time to get our bearings before committing to accommodation.

As we started to wander the small cobbled streets it was apparent that we had arrived in a truly amazing place. Set 12km’s inland, elevated in the foothills of the Sierra del Escambray, this small town has had a mixed history since it was founded by the Spanish in the early 1500’s.   The mix of inhabitants has included pioneers and pirates, mercenaries and missionaries, slaves and sugar plantation workers, refugees and revolutionists.
 
This diverse blend of races have all left their mark over the years, but the architecture is Spanish and it is the best example of a small town we have seen outside mainland Spain.  Handsome buildings line the cobbled streets around the Plaza Major, the Church takes pride of place at the top of the square and several nearby buildings have been restored and converted into all manor of museums, galleries and restaurants.
A restored mansion showcases the wealth amassed by the sugar estate owners, expensive period furnishings adorn the rooms, crystal and silver sparkles, and elaborate artwork drapes the walls.  
  

beautiful colours on the buildings off Plaza Major in the early evening light

It’s All About The Music

For the locals life goes on around the coach loads of tourists arriving daily. For many of them it seems their life revolves around music and dance, so prevalent in Cuba but seemingly more-so here.
 
There were groups of musicians “jamming away” from the moment we stepped out in the morning until the wee small hours, it seems they never stop.  Street corners, plazas, open doorways, steps – anywhere they can set up and play – any time, they are there.

And then there is The Salsa!

Not to be forgotten are the amazing dancers we saw nightly, most of them were locals just out enjoying the music and “salsa-ing” away but there were a handful of tourists too who had all the steps and let fly.  The faster the music, the faster they danced, their feet just didn’t seem to touch the ground on the cobbled streets, they were sublime.  We sat spellbound watching, listening and sipping on Mojitos, if you want to find Cuba’s musical soul – Trinidad is the place to visit.

We had very late nights enjoying the music so our couple of days there didn’t seem to have so many hours in them!

We enjoyed a look around the small museums and through the church, wandered around the myriad of tourist stalls selling all manor of items from plastic trinkets to some excellent artwork and fine embroidery.  We hiked up into the hills above Trinidad but it was exceptionally hot work, commonsense prevailed before we expired in the heat and we returned to the shady streets to discover life in the non touristy part of Trinidad.

Snapshots of the lively cobbled back streets
 

Are these gents selling these fruit  or are they just chatting?  The front yard barber – are the others clients or just sitting around watching?

 

A peek in through a chicken wire window discovered this dusty cigarette factory.

  The whole in the white wall is the butchers shop- see the carcass hanging between the 2 heads.

 

 A couple of colourful fresh produce vendors with the best quality we had seen

 

 At last ~ the classic Cuban scene, donkey, cart, old man wearing straw hat chewing on cigar – real life for some in Cuba!!!

We loved Trinidad with all its nooks and crannies to explore, wherever we ventured we felt welcome and always safe.  There was a general feeling of contentment by all the locals.  Everyone seemed happy with their lot, going about their daily business.

 

We prebooked the Transtur bus to take us back to Marina Hemingway in Havana.  A car collected us as planned from our Casa Particular just by the Plaza Major to ferry us to the bus depot.  We collected an Italian couple enroute but we never did go to the bus terminal.  3 hours later we had had a speedy return by car to Balvenie – somewhat cramped in the back but over in no time.  We have no idea what happened to the bus!

 Whether it is communism, socialism, capitalism or whatever..ism. Just throw in enough music and dance and it all seems to work!!.