Who would expect to find a beautifully preserved nature preserve in the middle of the largest resort development in Puerto Rico? But that’s what we discovered when we entered the Pterocarpus Forest.
The Pterocarpus Forest nature preserve at Palmas del Mar is a 51-acre swamp forest, one of the largest remaining swamp forests in Puerto Rico. It serves as a habitat for 44 species of flora and 52 species of fauna, and this is a relief to see when elsewhere in Palmas del Mar, trees are being razed to create the latest luxury developments.
This wetland forest is named after the Pterocarpus Officinalis tree (“Dragonsblood Tree”), which has awesome roots that spread out majestically. It can grow more than 65 feet tall.
There’s also a lookout tower and a pond, which provide lively bird, turtle and iguana-watching.
Although Palmas is a private development, the Pterocarpus Forest is open to the public. Just tell the guard at the gate that’s where you are going. They have even been known to give out forest maps. There’s also an app that offers a walking tour of the forest.
First bike ride of the year in Ludlow, just 10 miles into town and back. God, the roads are in bad condition! But it was a sunny 70 degrees. Lovely start to the season!
Guayanés Beach, in Yabucoa on the southeast coast of Puerto Rico, was lovely, quiet, and tranquil, for most of the day. It even had bathrooms! It was a beautiful crescent of sand and turquoise sea with lively waves. I walked down to one end and found the most beautiful seashells I have seen on any beach in Puerto Rico, including a sand dollar.
Mid-afternoon, the peace was broken when a rural Puerto Rican family arrived with their horses in a trailer, and inadvertently entertained us by riding back and forth along the beach, and even taking their horses into the waves for a swim! By mid-afternoon, they had set up a party, complete with blasting speaker, behind us by the parking lot.
About then, we noticed the ants under our feet in the grassy sand under a palm tree were starting to bite us viciously. We ended up with burning, itching bites and blisters on our feet for days.
I have a feeling that Guayanés Beach is a rollicking party on weekends! If you want quiet, weekday mornings are probably best. Just watch out for the red ants underfoot!
La Pared Beach is a year-round popular surfing spot a block from Luquillo’s main town square. We never swam there because the waves were too high, but we did enjoy watching the surfers, including kids’ classes and competitions, while enjoying munchies and libations at Boardrider’s Restaurant.
From 85 degrees to 45. From ocean to lake. Big adjustments! Good to be home, though. Stick season has a couple of big advantages: we can see Lake Rescue from our house for a few weeks. And we can see the birds nests.
We took a tour of Hacienda Muñoz in San Lorenzo, half an hour up the mountains from San Juan. Its coffee has won the Best Coffee People’s Choice Award at the Puerto Rico Coffee and Chocolate Expo for three years running. Is it really that good?
The tour focused on the coffee-growing industry and its history, as well as the methods used to grow, process, and roast coffee. The detail was sometimes excruciating, as we stood on the hillside in the hot sun listening to our impassioned guide go on and on and on.
While small, it’s a much larger operation than Hacienda Iluminada, the small hacienda we toured last fall which focused its tour on sustainable practices and integration into the forest. Here, we saw neat rows of coffee plants planted in full sun. In addition to its coffee fields, Hacienda Muñoz operates a small café, where we enjoyed fresh turkey sandwiches on baguettes, and a larger restaurant.
Lisa bought a bag of medium-roast coffee, and it was indeed exemplary.
The cost for the tour was $20, or $10 for kids and those over 60. It included a tasting.
We are spending the day enjoying Playa Almendros in Rincón after yesterday’s house closing.
That’s right, we now own a house in Cabo Rojo!
There’s a sea turtle swimming around out there, poking his head up now and then. A sea turtle greeted us at a different beach, Playa Ostiones, the day our offer was accepted a month and a half ago! Do you think it’s the same turtle, welcoming us to the island?
I feel a new sense of belonging here now that I own a home, even though I don’t live in it yet!
While trying to enter Ocean Lab Brewing Company from the beach at Carolina, Puerto Rico, we were stopped by a burly security guard. He told us we couldn’t walk through this private club named Vivo, and pointed us around the building to the street side to enter the restaurant from the parking lot with the rest of the lowly non-members.
Well, exc-u-u-u-u-se me! (Fellow Boomers will recognize that reference.)
Our table on the third-floor balcony at Ocean Lab gave us a bird’s eye view of the Vivo Beach Club, so we googled it. It calls itself “the hottest private beach club in town.” You can join, or pay $40 for a day pass. This video shows you what you get.
After lunch, Bob tried to sneak through the club again to get out to the beach. Despite putting on his very best I-belong-here-don’t-mess-with-me act, he was stopped by the alert security guards and rerouted to the pedestrian exit. Foiled again!
We’re starting to explore beaches on Puerto Rico’s southeast coast, beginning with Playa de Guayanés in Yabucoa. The warmest water my tootsies have ever been dipped in! It’s a popular local beach, but still very quiet. The sand offered up magnificent seashells in various shades of brown.
But watch out for the red ants that sting in the grassy sand under the palm trees!
Our family visited Arecibo Observatory to see the 1,000-foot radio-telescope constructed in a sinkhole in the karst region of western Puerto Rico during a vacation in April 2008. The radio-telescope and its visitors center offered a fascinating exploration of space for my two science-minded kids. Naturally, they don’t remember it all today. But Bob and I do! That’s why, when we heard that the colossal radio-telescope had collapsed last year, we booked tickets as soon as the facility reopened to see how it looks now.
Arecibo Observatory in 2008
Here are some photos from our 2008 visit with our kids, Aryk and Gavin, who were 10 and 7.
The thing on the right is the Gregorian Dome36 cables held the telescope and dome up
Arecibo Observatory Today
And here is what it looks like, almost exactly 14 years later.
The first three cables snapped in November 2019, and the rest a month later. A couple of years earlier, Puerto Rico experienced a number of earthquakes, which may have compromised the structure’s integrity. But there really is no definitive answer as to why it collapsed.
The Arecibo facility has asked the National Science Foundation for funds to build back better, but has received no answer.
The Past and Present Converge
Aryk and Gavin stand in front of the Saturn icon in April 2008. Note the tower support in the back.Saturn, taken in April 2022. Note the absence of any tower structure behind. Same spot, no radio-telescope.
Watch a spectacular YouTube video of the crash here.
The Work Continues Anyway
Despite the collapse of the giant radio-telescope, scientists continue their work at the Arecibo Observatory (AO) to study the huge amount of data collected over 50 years. It is still recognized as a world-leading radio astronomy, solar system radar, and atmospheric physics facility. It contributes highly relevant data to support discovery, innovation, and the advancement of science for the well-being of humankind.
Visitors and Science Center
The state-of-the-art Science and Visitors Center holds a lively interactive museum where kids can watch a film, build a spaceship, play games, and see a model of the original telescope. It’s definitely worth the trip!
