I decided to go to Puerto Rico as I wanted to get back to nature and go hiking.. Puerto Rico looked like great fun so off I went for a long weekend..
I arrived in the late afternoon, picked up my car and headed into San Juan. Checked into my cool hotel which overlooked Plaza de Colón and went straight to the Castillo de San Cristóbal which had a great view of Old San Juan..
From the Castillo de San Cristóbal I walked along the waterfront to San Felipe del Morro Fortress just in time for an incredible sunset.
From there I wandered around the colourful streets of the Old Town to Café Puerto Rico where I dined on a delicious meal of Mofongo Relleno – a local dish made out of fried plantain and stuffed with your choice of meat. Yum!
The next day I had a full day of hiking planned at El Yunque National Forest which was less than an hour drive away from San Juan. After a yummy brekky at Caficultura off I went for a cool drive through the national park which had some incredible views..
I started off with the waterfall hike in El Yunque which I completed quite easily so off I went on the next track and again, this was not challenging.
I walked the long way back to the car, stopping for some food at a restaurant, and drove to the next hiking area, which is where I did a much longer hike with bigger ascents. Now this was what I was after.
After a few hours of hiking I was I was spoilt with some incredible views and I stopped for a break to take it all in.
After these hikes, I still had quite a few hours of the day left so I went to Carabalí Rainforest Park to check out the local horses. It was all a bit touristy but I did go for a horse ride which was different to any horse I have ridden before, they were the Paso Fino horses which originated from Puerto Rico and their gait which was more a ‘fine step’.
Back in San Juan I had a nice dinner at Café Berlin and called it a night after an exhausting day.
Up early the next day for a big wander around the streets of Old San Juan which was really cool and brekky on the go as I drove to Parque Las Cavernas del Rio Camuy to check out the caves.
The caves were cool and then I drove on towards Playa Rincon to check out the other end of the island and then onto Ponce which was quite a long drive in the end..
I walked around La Guancha de Ponce and had a bite to eat before the drive back to San Juan – another couple of hours drive back.
Such a big day and it was an early eve to pack my bags for my flight first thing in the morning to get me back on island in time for a half day at work..
An awesome weekend full of adventure..!
