With one year of high school Spanish under her belt, Savannah has gotten to immerse herself in 2 different hispanic cultures with a mission trip to Honduras and a Puerto Rico adventure to remember this Summer.
One of our dear friend’s daughter graduated this year and asked Savannah and I to tag along for a special trip to Puerto Rico to celebrate her graduation. I was tasked with finding and booking adventurous excursions to help us explore the beauty of Puerto Rico.
We rented a 3 bedroom condo through Airbnb at the Aquatika resort. Savannah and I flew in a day early and were able to get settled and find our way around our corner of the island. The resort was a safe gated community with a variety of pools and beach access that made it fun for the girls to explore some on their own.
Most people who come to Puerto Rico, come to Old San Juan on a cruise ship. In one day this is the only part of the island they are able to take in. After attending a local church service on Sunday, Savannah and I had a fun meal at Waffle Era Tea Room and decided to explore the streets of Old San Juan before picking up the Tash’s from the airport.
I enjoyed the cobblestone streets with varied colored buildings. We found some of the iconic picture spots… Umbrella Street on Fortaleza Street (which currently was lined with paper bells), Pigeon Park, and the 2 forts that line the northern shore.
El Yunque Rainforest Adventure
We began our week with a full day of adventuring with Island Journeys. We met up with a tour that took us trekking through a muddy trail, climbing over rocks, through crevices, around waterfalls, and plenty of time to slide down rocks and jump off cliffs into a refreshing pool of water. Check out my highlight reel below…
Bio Bay Kayak Tour
After a nice local dinner at Rincon Del Faro, where we were able to try an island favorite, Mofungo – a plantain mash stuffed with meat of choice, we headed to our final adventure of the day with a Kayak tour to a bioluminescent bay.
Puerto Rico is home to 3 different bioluminescent bays where you can usually see the glowing plankton throughout the year. Our tour partnered with Kayaking Puerto Rico in Fajardo to take us out in kayaks through a mangrove canal into an open lagoon. The plankton is best viewed under a new moon and dark sky conditions, which we didn’t have on this evening. With the help of a tarp to create darkness we were able to splash water into our kayaks and see the magical blue sparkles glow jump around.
PRO TIP – If you wear dark pants, you can see the blue sparkles better than against bare legs.
Elizabeth
A Magical Island Tour
Caroline is an avid horse rider and has grown up tending to horses, so we knew we had to experience Vieques, a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico, by horse. We took the local ferry across to the island for our afternoon adventure with Esperanza Riding Company. We had a taxi pick us up at the Ferry Terminal on the north side of the island and take us the south side of the island. We enjoyed fresh mangos from the orchard at the stable, while we waiting to set saddled up.
We rode through some trails, city streets, and scenic overlooks, but my favorite part was the open beaches we walked through with the island’s wild horses all around us.
This trail ride was a little less intense than Savannah’s first experience on a horse last Summer at Bryce Canyon!
An Underwater Adventure
If you go to Puerto Rico, you can’t miss one of the many options to snorkel and explore the underwater reefs and sea life. On Wednesday we dodged thunderstorms and spent the afternoon with Snorkeling Puerto Rico. We were chartered in a boat out to a reef location to explore, then we beached for a bit at the edge of Icacos Island.
We caught a beautiful sunset after the storms on our way to dinner.
If Walls Could Talk in Old San Juan
With our last day in Puerto Rico, we went to explore more of Old San Juan and take in the Castillo San Felipe del Morro. This fort sits majestically at the tip of the northern most point of the island. It was pretty impressive to walk through the 500 year old solid walls of this fort and think of all the people it has seen over the years! The views from the top and different levels were pretty impressive!
We got back to our resort just in time to quickly change clothes and catch sunset portraits on our beach. I couldn’t think of a better ending to our week in Puerto Rico, full of adventure and memories to remember!
It is hard to believe we are about to embark on Savannah’s Senior year!
I would love to know if you have a favorite place you have been in Puerto Rico or if you are planning a trip in the future!
