I arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico on a Tuesday at 4:00 pm. My travel mate
on this adventure, Nick, had already grabbed the rental car. We booked a couple
beds at a hostel roughly an hour and a half West in the town Isabela. At first glance, this peaceful coastal town had little to offer, however, it did
provide us with the catapult we needed to attack this trip and make the next 4
days COUNT!
We saw a sign dubbed Hostel; surely this is the place to
crash the first night. As we rolled into the parking lot, there were 20 or so garages all
uniquely labeled, “Love Machine.” There wasn’t anyone in sight except a young
guy yapping on his cell phone. I hopped out of the car and said, “Es este el
hostel?” (Is this the hostel?) To which he replied, “No! Alla arriba.” (No! It is above/up.) I jumped back in the car and away we went. We had
driven right by the Hostel into this “Love Machine” place by accident. I
don’t know what goes on in those garages exactly, but I have an idea…how
couldn’t you with a subtle title like that?
We flew in with no agenda, nowhere to sleep, and no idea what Puerto Rico had to offer. In my opinion, sometimes it’s best to book a
flight and figure out all the other shit when you get there. Once we found our hostel, we hit the beach for a brew and to chat with some locals. The
beach was beautiful with the sun setting over the ocean, but we had little time
to admire. We needed to find some locals and get some information. Fortunately,
we met a couple that gave us some ideas. We would hit up Jobos, a surf spot
near town, then proceed to get lost finding a waterfall locals frequent called Las
Cataratas. We drove through the Puerto Rican hillside mesmerized by the beauty of it
all. The road twisted and turned through the hills making each drastic turn a
game of, “What could we hit around this corner?!” With the road only being
about a car and a half wide, it makes for some interesting encounters with both
animals and fellow drivers.
A bit lost,
I asked Nick to pull over so I could ask an older gentleman working on a house
if we were headed in the right direction. Sam was as nice as they come, small
build with hands as tough as rocks, his English, PERFECTO! After explaining
detailed directions, he could tell we still had no clue where to go. No fear,
Sam to the rescue! “Give me 5 minutes, I will drive you there, you will follow
me.” What an offer! He drove us the 20 minutes there and when we arrived a man
tried to hustle us to pay for parking; Sam had none of that. We parked,
walked over to Sam, and thanked him. He had unselfishly took the time to drive
us there without any motive at all, he simply wanted us two gringos to see a
local waterfall in his home country. I tried to give him a ten-dollar bill for
gas, but he wouldn’t take it. “Grab an extra beer for you boys tonight, safe
travels,” he said with a smile. It is
moments like this when you see the kindness in people that is all too easy to
forget.
We were the only ‘tourist’ there, although I use that term loosely.
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There had to be 200+ Puerto Ricans at the waterfall
enjoying the day. The waterfall was everything we hoped it would be, both
beautiful and jump-worthy! There were multiple jumping points, one at the top, and the other halfway at about 15 feet high. With no hesitation, Nick and I committed to
jumping off the lowest one with the larger still in question. The first jump
was relatively easy to get to and was a nice introduction to the cool water
that waited for us below. We hiked up to the top where only one person has
jumped that day. The question was, did I have the balls to jump? The waterfall
was a pretty steep slope; you had to jump a solid 5 feet out to clear the rock
face. Uneasy and nervous, I crawled my way to the edge and found my footing. A
local gave me a thumbs up from below; his look of ease gave me the boost of
confidence I needed to make the jump. Before I knew it, I had hit the water to
a roar of laughter and cheers. Nick soon followed. Not only did we stick out
like a lion at a vegetarian convention at this local spot, but we also conquered the
fall. We hiked back to our car about 20 minutes away full of pride and amazement that we had just accomplished that! Thirty hours before this, I was working at my job with no idea jumping off of a waterfall was on the horizon. This is why I like to travel with no plans; the
unexpected becomes the story you want to tell.
We found a place to stay in a nearby town on
AirBnB in
Utuado, a sleepy little town in the heart of the Puerto Rican countryside. At $25 a
night, it had our name written all over it. (AirBnB is a great alternative to hotels and hostels. Homeowners rent out rooms or guesthouses to people in need). We grabbed a bottle of rum and
headed to our home for the night. The night was pitch black, without any
city lights polluting the air it made for a great evening.
Free from text
messages, emails, or facebook; it was just two friends enjoying the simple
life.
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| Goofing off in Yunque Rain Forest |
We woke early to hit up the Camuy Caverns before jetting
over to El Yunque Rain Forest. The caverns were a sight to be had, but the tour required
for access made for a slow hike. This hike could have been done in an
hour, instead we wasted a half a day. My advice would be to skip it if you have
little time. We boogied our way to the rain forest. We hiked aimlessly for the
rest of the day and found another series of waterfalls. We found a swimming
hole, posted up to enjoy the afternoon sun, and enjoyed the sights and sounds we are not used to back home. We could have hiked for days
around this beauty, but decided to go find our beds for the night in Fajardo.
AirBnb to the rescue again at
$10 a night, chickens clucking
at 5 am included! Luck plays into travel, and boy did we get lucky. Bioluminescent
Bay was a sight to see, so we had been told. Little did we know reservations for
the kayaking tour into the bay booked up two weeks out! Shit. I spoke with
every company there and had no luck. A man said he might have two spots
available because a ferry from Vieques had broken down and a few folks might not make
the 9pm launch. We waited with our fingers crossed and our bellies full of
beer. Luck was on our side! We managed to get a kayak and we were off. I can’t
explain how great this experience was. Essentially the bay has algae that
‘glows’ when it is disturbed. It’s a
beautiful fluorescent greenish/blue color that lights up the water. As you
glide your hand against the kayak a trail of algae fused fireworks lights up
behind your hand. It’s magical and mind-boggling. I felt like a kid again.
The next day we planned on heading to the island of Vieques
off the east coast of Puerto Rico. Luck would not be our friend this morning.
The ferry sign said it clear as day, “SOLD OUT.” What the hell? We didn’t even
think to come the night before and get a ticket, but that’s exactly what Puerto
Ricans do. I talked to a local who said he got there at 11 pm last night to
reserve a spot and camp out. I thought
back to the prior night and at 11 o'clock, I was three beers deep after our
kayak trip. Oh well, he mentioned we should check out a secret beach near "Seven Seas Beach." Seven Seas Beach was a hot spot for locals, jammed packed and busy as hell. We
walked along the strip of beach to the end where it turned into forest. The
guy gave us directions to this so called ‘secret beach.’
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| On the way to Playa Colora |
We were either going
to get robbed, killed, or find an epic beach spot. We gambled and decided to
follow the directions we jotted down through the forest. It was a brisk 20-minute
hike to this paradise of a beach called "Playa Colora." I kid you not; we were
the only ones there on a stretch of sand a half mile long without a hotel or
other person in site. We relaxed as the day’s sun moved across the sky. I
snorkeled for 3 hours as I had done when I was a kid in Marco Island, FL on family
vacations. The risk paid off, we had found our slice of Puerto Rican paradise.
Old San Juan was exactly what I thought it would be, yet
still very enjoyable. Touristy in its unique way, but still friendly and full
of potential. San Cristobal Fort was worth the $5 admission and was worthy of
the hour. We heard of an old bar called La Factoria, after walking in circles
for an hour we found it. It was named, “La Taberna Lupolo” on the outside. This
explained why we walked by it ten damn times. Carlos, our bartender, made us a
unique drink infamously called, “The Industry Handshake.” It was a blend of Don
Q rum, cayenne pepper and a dash of some ‘magic’ I couldn’t get him to share. The drinks were worth every penny that night, and went down like water on a hot summer's
day. We drank till 4 in the morning that night, dancing and drinking with the
locals. We drove to the airport, dead tired and ready for a nap. I slept right
in front of my gate as to not miss its departure, surely someone would wake me
up when they were boarding, and someone did thankfully.
My biggest take-a-way from this trip was a simple one:
choose your travel partner wisely. Nick and I had been friends for a few years,
but didn’t have any mutual friends and we lived roughly 1,000 miles apart. This
distance created a lack of bullshit conversation on petty things going on back
home. Instead, it opened us up to
REAL conversations about life, passions, and
our dreams. My advice would be this, if
you take a trip don’t always go with your best local friends. Ask an old friend
who has moved away, try and reconnect with them on a new level. The opportunity
for growth in your friendship is exponential.
Total cost for 5 and half days of badassity: about $1500
$573 for flight, purchased 10 days out
$217 for food
$70 for paddle boarding/ caverns/ bio bay trip
$206 for alcohol, 70% of which was on the LAST night (idiot
me!)
$250 misc cash spent
$150 for gas and car (short trips like this there was no
time to hitch)
$85 on sleeping arrangement for 5 nights
Get out there and DO MORE! Thanks for reading.
