We made it to Puerto Rico! In order to cross from the DR to Puerto Rico, we had to sail through the Mona Passage. The Mona Passage is where the Caribbean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean and it has a reputation for being very rough at times. Therefore, we had to time our crossing well so that we would not get beat up on the way across. We headed out early Saturday morning and made our way across to Mona Island. The day sail was pleasant and we did not have any worries. We anchored off of Mona Island to wait for a night crossing which would put us into Puerto Rico in the morning after the marina opened. Mona Island is basically a deserted island, especially during these times of the Stupid. It was a beautiful spot but the anchorage was very rolly with waves so it was not a comfortable sit for us. Around 10pm, we headed out toward Puerto Rico. It was a much rougher ride than the first leg of the trip with the seas being disorganized and irritating. Disorganized waves mean that the waves come from all directions and the boat never gets into a good rhythm. Thus, an uncomfortable ride. And an uncomfortable ride with no sleep so No Sleep Sally was once again a grumpy one. Bill pulled us flawlessly into the marina the next morning and within 5 minutes, we were all checked into the country. Only one man with one phone and he did not even ask for the golden despacho from the DR! It is either just that easy since we are US citizens or he took one look at No Sleep Sally and decided not to push his luck….
One plus of Puerto Rico is that it has all of the modern conveniences of the States….Walmart, Home Depot, Banks. One minus of Puerto Rico is that it has all of the modern conveniences….Walmart, Home Depot, Banks. If you recall, in the Dominican, I managed to have a root canal that only took 2 hours and my name on a scrap of paper. In Puerto Rico, I needed to change out Dominican pesos for dollars so I went to the bank. Three forms, two slips, a passport and 30 minutes later, I walked out with my hard earned $48.18. It amazed us that it was easier to check into the country than it was to change out a few pesos! On Tuesday and Wednesday, we went on a major tourist spree to see the west coast of the PR. The first day, we visited Cabo Roja lighthouse. The lighthouse was closed (we all know why) but we were able to walk around the outside and there was an amazing path that overlooked the cliffs in the area. We then began our afternoon of food hunting. We stopped by the town of Boqueron which is a beach town that reportedly has some great restaurants. Once we arrived, we found that the town is open only on weekends due to no tourists. So, we ventured on expecting to pass a restaurant on the way to our Airbnb. None of the restaurants were open so we finally gave up and grabbed an empanada from a street vendor for lunch. Once we arrived in Aquadilla, we went in search of dinner. After four more dead end restaurant stops, we finally found a pizza place that was open so we graciously inhaled a pizza and a few beers. They do seem to love pizza here in the PR. So far we have counted dozens of pizza restaurants. They also seem to have a major penchant for Church’s Fried Chicken so we are guessing that the Puerto Rican diet has definitely been negatively influenced by the USA! The next day, we headed over to La Poza Del Obizpo. We had to arrive at 10am for high tide according to all of the reviews I had read. Once we arrived, we knew why! We had an amazing show of brutal strength as the ocean waves crashed to the shore among the rocks spewing white foam thirty to forty feet in the air. It was a mesmerizing sight and I wore out the camera taking pictures. We then jumped back into the car to head into the mountains to see the Arecibo Observatory. The observatory was made famous by the movies Contact and James Bond Golden Eye. It is a huge radio telescope that is shaped like a large dish. Or at least it was. The telescope fell into disrepair over the years and literally fell last Fall. We were hoping to be able to at least go to the museum but the guard told us that the site was closed so they could “clean up the mess”. We expect the mess will probably never be cleaned but will be swallowed up by the underbrush. Disappointed, we left Arecibo and stopped by Walmart on the way to our next Airbnb in Rincon. After an hour in Walmart, we packed the trunk full of goodies and went on the usual adventure of finding an Airbnb that has no address. This Airbnb came with the directions “Get to the location of km 2.9. There is a 3 level house on the corner and a road on your left hand side heading toward the beach. Take that road. From that point, you are seconds away from the house that will be on your right hand side”. Hmmm. Given that the ocean was on our left hand side, ALL of the houses on the road were “seconds away” and on the right hand side! Luckily, the Airbnb hostess spoke perfect English and answered her phone to give us the next stellar directions of “the two story peach house with the garage”. I do have to admit that I miss addresses a bit! Rincon was a cool little beach town that reminded me a bit of Mendicino, CA. A bit of time forgotten. It is a surfer haven and had a good vibe with several restaurants. We voted against the one restaurant that wanted us to wear our masks the entire time we were there (even when sitting at the table eating) and went instead to one called the Beach House which had a beautiful view of the Rincon Lighthouse and the ocean. When our waitress approached, we started out in our usual pigeon Spanish and she answered in perfect English without an accent. As she walked away, I told Bill that she was no more Puerto Rican than we were. She was actually from Missouri and had moved to Puerto Rico last year to get away from the snow. One thing we have noticed about the younger Puerto Ricans is that they all speak better English than we do and much prefer not to suffer through our sad Spanish attempts. I have noted a couple of humorous things in Puerto Rico already…..One of the guys begging for money at the red light was super diligent and had attached his money cup to the end of a long stick. That way, he could hold his cup up to your car window while still maintaining a safe social distance of six feet! I figured if he was that ingenious, he probably needed to be applying for jobs! The other funny is the tsunami warning signs. I am guessing that if you live on an island, anywhere within sight of water is a tsunami zone so do you really need a sign stating you are in a zone? The humorous part is the signs themselves. Most of the signs have a man running from a huge wave (I am guessing he is just out of luck given how close the wave is) but one of the signs had a man running away from the wave up a hill. On the top of the hill were two little stick figures holding hands….I have interpreted this sign as “run up the hill, grab onto other people and pray because that wave behind you is going to kick your ass!” We will spend this next week doing some errands and a few small projects on the boat while waiting on the weather to calm. So, this time next week we could be moving down the coast or still hanging out getting to know this area. Until then, I hope your weather report does not include any tsunami warnings….but it if does, I would follow the signs with the little stick people to hang onto! ****More pictures on the Pictures tab
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
|