The mountain village of Las Marias, Puerto Rico, throws a huge block party every March, the Festival de las Chinas Dulces, to celebrate the abundant variety of sweet oranges that grow on the island.
They call oranges “chinas” (pronounced CHEE-nahs) in Puerto Rico, though the Spanish word for “orange” is “naranja” (pronounced nah-RAHN-hah).
We spent a sweet afternoon drinking china coladas and orange juice, eating china bread and other Puerto Rican delicacies, sipping Puerto Rican coffee, learning about island agriculture, and perusing the products of myriad artisans. The music was traditional, colorful, and energetic, coming from two main bandstands, and the crowds extended for blocks in several directions. We even took home an orange tree to plant in our Cabo Rojo yard!
The Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge bursts with birds year-round, but also offers hiking and mountain biking trails and some pretty spectacular scenery. Managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, this wetland is one of the most important freshwater habitats for migrating and resident aquatic birds in Puerto Rico.
Almost half the birds recorded in Puerto Rico have been observed in the lagoon and its nearby hills. Visitors have a good chance of seeing a Magnificent Frigatebird, several species of herons, smooth-billed ani, the common moorhen, and occasionally the yellow-shouldered blackbird. I even saw white egrets and an osprey.
So if you’re anywhere near the southwest coast of the island, you should put on your hiking shoes, grab a pair of binoculars, a bottle of water, and a good camera, and spend a morning watching the avian activity and enjoying the birdsongs.
The trails are closed during nesting season – early March to late August – so time your visit well.
Balneario (Public Beach) Boquerón is one of our favorite beaches, and we showed it to you in an earlier video. But now Beto has a drone, and you’ll find the view is even better from the sky!
The view of the crystal-clear water and the reefs and rocks below is astounding, with the stunning mountains in the distance. And Boquerón, which is a national park, features many facilities you can’t see from the beach, including beach volleyball, a tennis court, a basketball court, a camping area (with cabins still being restored after damage from Hurricane Maria in 2018), and more.
You feel as though you’ve gone to the end of the earth when you stand atop the stunning cliffs rimming the peninsula beyond pristine Playa Sucia, the beach at the extreme southwest corner of Puerto Rico, and look out across the vast turquoise sea.
Most hikers who come here take the breathtaking 1 ½ mile trail that encircles the iconic lighthouse Los Morrillos. We did it, ourselves, a couple of years ago. (Here’s the video) It was amazing!
But if you sneak off to the very left side of Playa Sucia (also known as Playuela), you’ll find a billy goat trail of about 2 ½ miles that gives you devastating beautiful views of the lighthouse from across the bay, with waves crashing into the cliffs below. You’ll also take in the crescent beach and the vast ocean beyond. The area is called Acantilados de Cabo Rojo, which translates to the Cliffs of Cabo Rojo. If you’re afraid of heights, don’t go too close to the edge! Otherwise, prepare to be blown away, by both wind and natural beauty.
There’s no shade, so wear sunscreen and a sunhat, and bring water to drink. But the most important accessory is your camera! We suggest you drop your beach chairs and swimsuits under a seagrape tree on the beach before hiking so you can cool off afterward with a dip in the warm waves.
Playa Tres Tubos is a cozy neighborhood beach just a few short miles up the road from us in Joyuda, Cabo Rojo. There’s parking along the main road, but finding the pedestrian entryway was a bit of a challenge. The short path to the beach offered lovely mural art and shady trees.
Tres Tubos itself was a little gem of a beach, with soft sand; clear, calm water; but no shade. There are no facilities or shops nearby, so we brought our own lunch, and took the opportunity to test out our new shade tent for the beach.
INFO
Playa Tres Tubos – Sorry, no links to provide, there is no official info. Consider yourself scooped by an insider!
Amil Droz, an artisanal mask maker based in Boquerón, Puerto Rico, took us for a walk through his rustic wooden home and art studio to see his vejigante masks and other 3D works of art he has created.
Amil (pronounced Ay-MEEL) is originally from Puerto Rico, but spent most of his life living in New York, which you will be able to tell from his accent. He calls his business Tuntuneco Arts. His masks are mostly made out of coconuts in the style found in Loiza, Puerto Rico. We purchased one to display above the bar of our Cabo Rojo home.
Amil Droz Torres is a certified cultural Artisan whose art studio and shop, Tuntuneco Arte Taino, is located above the Copy Hamburger bar in Boqueron, Puerto Rico. His masks sculptures and painting are found in museums, schools, and corporations in New York and PR. He also teaches and presents as a guest artist. We were lucky to meet him in a Cabo Rojo sports bar while watching the AFC Championship Game! He’s also a NY Yankees fan, but we can forgive him for that.
La Poza del Obispo in Arecibo is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches on the North Coast of Puerto Rico. We wanted to know why so many people recommend it!
Here’s why: Lots of parking right by the beach. Deep, soft golden sand. A few shady palm trees perfect for hanging hammocks. Incredible views of cliffs and turquoise sea in every shade imaginable. Food trucks nearby along the road to the beach. A “poza” (pool) of calm water protected by rocks from the jaw-dropping waves, which creates a perfect pool for kiddies to safely swim.
What’s not to love?
La Poza is also located right in the shadow of the beautiful Arecibo Lighthouse, so we hiked up a small mountain into a brisk wind to get a better view. Definitely worth it!
Traveling can be so much fun … until disaster strikes. You get sick. You break your leg skiing. Your pocket gets picked. Then what do you do?
This video will help you manage your money when traveling overseas in the safest, easiest way. We’ll cover how to handle cash, the credit cards with the best benefits for travel, the cheapest way to rent a car while being fully protected, and more.
It will also help answer the question: do you need travel insurance?
We just got back from a whirlwind 4-day trip to Colombia. Wow!
We chose to visit Colombia because Avianca Airlines was having an introductory sale for routes from San Juan, and our current base is Puerto Rico. Why not? We had never been to South America and knew zero about Colombia, except for reading about the Medellin Cartel’s narco wars in the news in the 1980s. Flights were only a couple of hundred dollars, some non-stop, to Bogota, Medellín, and Cartagena. We chose Bogota, the capital, because we hadn’t visited a city in a while. We decided to spend four days there in early December – our first perfect choice, made totally by accident. Then we bought a guidebook, read a little, and booked a couple of organized tours.
Where to Stay?
Our first revelation about Bogota was that lodging was incredibly inexpensive. We chose the historic, walkable Candelaria district as our base. We prefer vacation rentals over hotels, allowing us to spread out and feel truly at home, while living in real neighborhoods instead of tourism centers. We found a delightful apartment at the edge of Candelaria on Airbnb: a chicly furnished corner studio with two walls of windows overlooking the sprawling city and the Andes Mountains beyond. The cost was an unbelievable $33 a night, plus taxes and fees. Booking Fiori dela Candelaria was our second accidental perfect choice.
Selfie in Candelaria
The property manager, Angela, offered an airport pick-up for a reasonable price, and we took her up on it. She was on time, her partner driving a tiny car (the first of many we rode in), and she filled us with helpful information on the drive from Bogota International Airport. She settled us into the hillside apartment, then took us up to the roof garden, where we were greeted by a stunning 270-degree view of sprawling Bogota. We were in awe even as we shivered in the biting wind.
What We Discovered
Bogota is Chilly
This modern city of 8 million people is nestled amid the Andes at 8,000 feet above sea level. Lisa had a headache the first day. Fortunately, we had lived in the Denver foothills for a few years, so our bodies easily adapted to the altitude. But that altitude also brought cooler temperatures – highs reaching the mid- to upper 60s during the day, and mid-40s at night. Coming from hot Puerto Rico, this was a bit of a shock. Pack sweaters!
Bogota is Cheap
We paid U.S. prices for the tours we pre-booked, but everything else was incredibly inexpensive. Doing the conversion from 4,000 Colombia pesos to 1 U.S. Dollar was challenging, but the fact is, once you land in Colombia, you’ll find your travels extremely economical. And Bogota is the most expensive city in Colombia!
Bogota Loves Christmas
We were in the city on Dec. 7, the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which it turns out is the official start of the Christmas season in mostly Catholic Colombia. We woke up at 5 AM to a huge fireworks display coming from Plaza de Bolivar, the main city plaza. That night was the Night of Little Candles (Noche de las Velitas), when families across the country (and Colombian ex-pat families around the world) light clusters of little candles on their balconies or doorsteps (and on church steps and parks and plazas) to honor the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, and make wishes. Colorful Christmas lights came on in full force all over the country, on highrises and apartment windows, parks and boulevards, sparkling reds and pinks and blues. Families walked about on the pedestrian-only Seventh Avenue (Carrera Septima) eating snacks, buying toys, singing carols, and enjoying street performers. Fireworks continued all over the city until well after 3 AM.
Candle lighting around a chalk drawing of JesusFireworks over Plaza Bolivar
The next day, on the actual feast day, the party continued throughout the city with artisan and food vendors, jugglers and clowns, choirs in the churches, and singers on street corners. Cyclists pedaled on the Ciclovia when a main artery was closed for miles to accommodate recreationalists. Crowds swelled as the day wore on. The next morning, the fireworks started again at 4:45 AM, and our host Angela told us the festivities would continue in full force until Christmas.
Bogota Has Incredible Museums and Culture
We visited the Botero Museum, gifted to the city by the artist Ferdinand Botero to bring art to the masses for free. This world-class museum contains many of his works, plus his personal collection of art by notables such as Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, and Picasso. Nearby, the Gold Museum taught us about the rich history of gold in Colombia, how it was used by indigenous people to honor their chieftains and shamans, and how European explorers sought to exploit it for their own enrichment, setting off Colombia’s violent history.
The Gold Museum displayed many artifacts that told the story of Colombia’s history.
We visited the Military Museum of Colombia, which has many U.S. connections. We tried to get into the Museum of Coins (the Mint) but it had just closed for the feast day. There are art museums, a Mexican Cultural Center, theaters, and we were blown away when we heard an orchestra and choir rehearsing behind closed doors as we stood outside the awe-inspiring Bogota Metropolitan Basilica.
Colombia Is Foodie Heaven
The coffee, of course, is world-renowned, and deservedly so; we brought two pounds home. But we also tried shots the classic Colombian alcoholic drink Aguardientes, which has a fruity sweetness tempered by a tongue-biting touch of anise. There are excellent craft beers, though we didn’t partake. We tried arepas, pan-fried corn cakes. What else? Ajiaca, a soup with several types of potatoes, chicken, and corn, with avocado and capers thrown in. Pinchos, a mixed kebab with a potato at the end. Lemonade with coconut, a creamy paradise for the tongue reminiscent of a Mexican horchata with bits of toasted coconut on top. Coca tea, with and without fruit, which has healing properties. Aromática, a tasty fruit tea that can be drunk with or without alcohol, supplemented by panela, the country’s signature cane sugar. Learn more here.
Bogota’s Markets Rival Mexico’s
We spent many happy hours walking around marketplaces, first the touristic type that can be found in La Candelaria’s parks and pedestrian avenues, which boasted a wide variety of stunning indigenous art and the usual ticky-tacky tourist stuff. Then we crossed to the other side of Plaza de Bolivar and found a local marketplace, the kind where tourists like us can scoop up bargains in housewares, clothing, toys, holiday items, shoes, bags, you name it – as long as they hold on tight to their wallets and phones and aren’t afraid to barter.
Watch For the Videos!
Messy Suitcase will be bringing a series of videos to YouTube to share our Colombian journey. Subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to be notified!
Just out of 10 days of COVID isolation in a Helsinki hotel room, we missed our first scheduled night in Paris. But we rallied and made it for the last couple of days. We were never so happy to get on a plane! (Masked.)
Not yet restored to normal energy, we couldn’t go inside anywhere in Paris, so we spent a day or two slow-bopping around the glorious city, taking lots of breaks to rest and people-watch. We spent the first morning walking around with our former exchange student (and Spanish daughter) Laia and her cousin Anna. After they left, we had no agenda, which gave us the opportunity to discover new parks and search for the Love Lock that Lisa had attached on a stairway near Pont Neuf in 2018. (Don’t worry, haters, it was NOT on the bridge but on a sanctioned chain, and she did not throw the key in the Seine!) It was long gone, as the Parisians cut them off regularly, but we found a new place to lock our love.
We also walked around on the Isle de la City, saw the roofless Notre Dame Cathedral (covered with scaffolding and dwarfed by a gargantuan crane), strolled along and even dipped our toes in the Seine, sauntered through the courtyard of the Louvre, ate lunch in a sidewalk café, and visited the booksellers’ kiosks along the Left Bank. When our feet got tired, we caught another Seine River cruise and saw the city’s main attraction, the Eiffel Tower! The 1-hour sightseeing tour on Vedettes du Pont Neuf cost 15 euros each, about $17.
We ended the day with a scrumptious dinner in the Latin Quarter.
