09/02/2022 - 20/02/2022: Puerto Rico (2)

Calendar:

28/01/2022 - 20/02/2022
Salt Life Villa, Humacao, Palmas del Mar

09/02/2022
Playa Se Pasa Bien, Contra Viento y Marea Restaurant & Beach Bar

10/02/2022
Evening: La Pescaderia, Palmas del Mar

11/02/2022
San Juan, Playa Se Pasa Bien

12/02/2022
El Yunque National Forest, Puente Roto

14/02/2022
Amasar LLC, Jayuya, Uru Plantage, Lagos dos Bocas, West Coast of Puerto Rico, Survival Beach, Aguadilla

16/02/2022
Casa Bacardi, distillery tour and mixing course

17/02/2022
Market in Humacao, Guayama

20/02/2022
Continuing flight to the Dominican Republic (Punta Cana)

Noteworthy:

One of the most beautiful beaches in Puerto Rico with pleasant infrastructure is the Playa Se Pasa Bien, which has to be given its name... The beach is located about 10 km east of San Juan. In the Beach Bar Contra Viento y Marea, you will be spoiled culinary, but the sea is often quite rough here and due to the strong currents, swimming is not recommended, especially for smaller children. About three kilometers west of the Playa Se Pasa Bien beach, in a bay, you can find a very protected and also very attractive beach (Playa Vacía Talega), but unfortunately there is no restaurant here.

The El Yunque National Forest, a tropical rainforest, is located in northeastern Puerto Rico. As soon as we arrived at the park, it started to rain (nomen est omen). Air roots, lianas, and bamboo thickets characterize the mountainous landscape. The leaves of all plants are oversized; we have never seen such huge fern fans. Numerous rivers flow through the park, where locals and tourists alike enjoy themselves at and under the waterfalls. The vegetation here is similar to Tahiti and therefore much lusher than on the other Caribbean islands we have visited.

The Puerto Ricans living inland clearly value a clean environment more than those in the coastal region. Urus regularly grow in the front yards of many single-family houses; apparently breadfruit is popular here as a food. We thought that such a magnificent Uru would also fit well in our garden in Liebefeld. We found one in a remote location at the roadside and harvested our first breadfruit. Not all breadfruits have seeds inside, unfortunately ours did not either. We then researched on the internet and found a plantation that specializes in processing breadfruit. The operation is called Amasar LLC and is located in the center of Puerto Rico in Jayuya. We thought it was great; we should definitely get Uru seeds there, and since we wanted to spend a day on the west coast of Puerto Rico anyway, we could ideally combine both.

Our day trip towards the west of Puerto Rico started on Valentine's Day morning at nine o'clock; we made good progress. We already reached the Amasar plantation at 11:30. However, what a disappointment: the plantation was closed and no one was present. Although we also saw many smaller Urus here, they did not yet bear fruit. Well, it was worth a try at least.

After the plantation disappointment, we continued towards the west coast. We passed by the impressive Lagos dos Bocas reservoir. Fortunately, we did not have any oncoming traffic when driving over the dam, as vehicles cannot cross here due to the narrow conditions.

At around 2:00 p.m., we reached the northwest coast of Puerto Rico. Here we found long beaches reminiscent of the west end of the BVI. Near the former Ramey Air Force Base, which is now used by US war veterans as a retirement residence, we had something small to eat and then made our way to Survival Beach. Apparently, US soldiers used to practice here.

After visiting Aguadilla on the west coast, we made our way back to Palmas del Mar and arrived there at 8:00 p.m. after 11 hours and 450 km of driving. Towards the end, we got stuck in traffic again (as often happens here), and the driving style of the Puerto Ricans is terrible: they squeeze past on imaginary lanes and even use the breakdown lane to overtake. It is rare to see a car that is not dented; a scratch here or there doesn't seem to matter.

At the airport when handing over the car, we were asked about our accommodation. When we mentioned Palmas del Mar, the AVIS employee started raving. He had also been there once and had eaten the best fish of his life at the restaurant "La Pescaderia". With so much praise, we had to try this restaurant as well. Sylvia was particularly excited because she loves freshly grilled fish. But what was served was disillusioning: the "catch of the day" was violated in hot frying oil, and a cheap sauce from a disposable bottle was added. Plastic forks and knives were initially served as tableware, and we only received regular cutlery after asking. Conclusion of the evening: the prices at La Pescaderia are in the top range, nothing more.

We couldn't miss the visit to the world's largest Bacardi distillery in San Juan. Around 85 percent of all Bacardi bottles are produced here in Puerto Rico, with a daily production volume of 135,000 liters. We booked a tour of the company with a mixing course for the preparation of drinks on 16/02/2022. The tour was impressive. Will, our Puerto Rican guide, explained the history of Bacardi in broken English while fidgeting and being hectic. The subject of the bat on every Bacardi bottle was deliberately chosen by the company's founders: apparently, bats nested in the attic of the first distillery that was founded. Since bats are considered a symbol of good luck here in Puerto Rico, this subject was chosen.

After Will had finished the first tasting round with us, he also became calmer. After the tour, each of us mixed mojitos and pina coladas under his guidance (important here: use coconut cream and not coconut milk). Our drinks were excellent, although I only tried a very small amount because of the drive back to Palmas del Mar. In the gift shop, you could stock up on the usual Bacardi accessories as a final touch, if needed.

The still missing breadfruit seeds led us in the last week to the vegetable market in Humacao. The vegetable market turned out to be one vegetable stand, nothing more. After we had told the enterprising stand owner about our request, he muttered and rummaged under the stand and proudly presented us with a small bag of seeds. However, it was immediately apparent that these were pine nuts or something similar. We politely declined and made our way to Guayama, a city we had not visited before. On the way there, the ultimate idea came to us: a garden center. We quickly found one on Google maps, and it was on our way. Once there, we did find cuttings of the breadfruit tree, but unfortunately no seeds, and the cuttings would hardly survive the flight back to Switzerland, so we reluctantly gave up our breadfruit project. I also read that nurseries in Switzerland sometimes offer breadfruit trees, so we'll get one there directly after we return, it's easier that way...

On Sunday (20/02/2022), we are already embarking on the last leg of our journey. We are flying back to the Dominican Republic, just as we did at the beginning (last August). From there, the best return flight options to Switzerland are available.

See you soon.