We had a last-minute opportunity to visit Cancun, Mexico. Join us for a quick overview of this popular tourist zone! And watch for future videos of the adventures we had there.
Taming the Beast at Toro Verde: We rode the longest zipline in America!
We traveled deep into the lush mountains of Puerto Rico to Toro Verde to take on the Monster, the longest zipline in America!
Come fly through the air with us on seven exciting ziplines, then get vertical and fly headfirst up to 95 miles an hour on the Monster (8,300 feet) and the Beast (4,745 feet)! Leave your fear of flying behind and join the birds at 380 meters above the ground.
Toro Verde also offers other activities, including bicycling on a zipline and several climbing walls, and several restaurants with awesome views of the mountains and the screaming zipliners.. Advance tickets are required.
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Chasing Down the Caribbean Hurricane Hunters
We tried to go inside a Hurricane Hunter airplane! Alas, the rest of western Puerto Rico did, too.
NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the U.S. Air Force Reserve hosted a series of events this spring in preparation for hurricane season in Mexico and the Caribbean, to help people prepare for upcoming storms. They brought their big Hurricane Hunter plane to Aguadilla, about an hour from our Cabo Rojo home, and we headed north excited by the prospect of seeing the inside of the Air Force Reserve Command’s WC-130J “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft and learning how scientists collect data about hurricanes.
What we got was something completely different, a street-fair atmosphere of rescue workers, local communities, and emergency preparedness info — and an hours-long line to get inside the Hurricane Hunter aircraft. We decided to take a pass.
The National Hurricane Center held the event so that hurricane specialists could educate residents of vulnerable communities and discuss hurricane preparedness, resilience, and how they can become “weather-ready.”
The Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from June through November. The areas covered include the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.
Here is some valuable information from the NOAA website:
“During hurricanes, military air crews fly state-of-the-art WC-130J aircraft directly into the core of the storm to gather critical data for forecasting a hurricane’s intensity and landfall. The data are sent in real time via satellite from the aircraft directly to the NHC for analysis and use by hurricane forecasters.
“During the 2022 hurricane season, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flew 109 missions into 13 named storms in the Atlantic and east Pacific basins, including Hurricanes Ian and Nicole in the Atlantic and Hurricanes Agatha, Kay, Orlene, and Roslyn in the east Pacific.
“The NOAA Hurricane Hunters, stationed at the Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida, also fly missions into tropical cyclones to gather data to support storm forecasts and research. Their Lockheed WP-3D Orion and Gulfstream IV-SP aircraft are piloted by NOAA Commissioned Corps officers and crewed by NOAA meteorologists, technicians, and researchers.”
We never got inside the aircraft, but you can take a virtual tour here.
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NOAA
Hurricane Hunters Awareness Tours
Hurricane Hunter Events
Touring El Capitolio, the Puerto Rican Capitol Building
El Capitolio, the capitol building of Puerto Rico, greets you as you drive into Old San Juan. It’s a century-old neoclassical structure with a commanding dome situated on a hilltop overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Bob decided it was time to take a tour inside!
For Puerto Ricans, El Capitolio de Puerto Rico stands as a powerful symbol of self-government. This video is packed with history, info, and photos, as well as a tour of the many fascinating monuments near the capitol building.
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Tour of Bath, England
We hopped on a double-decker bus for a tour of Bath, England, a World Heritage city about an hour and a half west of London with stunning golden Georgian architecture, historic Roman Baths, an incredible Abbey, the homes of iconic authors Jane Austen and Mary Shelley, and too much more to recount. Then we hopped off and strolled around the historic city centre, finishing with some excellent craft beer. Join us!
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Here are links to many places mentioned in the video:
Mini-Tour: Combate Beach Walk
There is so much to do at Combate (pronounced Come-BAH-tay) Beach in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico! Beto prefers to relax in his Tommy Bahama beach chair with its cooler and cupholder for his frozen Pitorro rum drink, doom-scrolling on his smartphone or reading a book on military history while watching the pelicans fish in the Caribbean Sea and la Policía zip around in their black speedboat chasing nautical scofflaws.
But Lisa likes to explore, walking down the beach looking for shells and sea glass, or hiking or running in Boquerón State Forest, at the edge of a lagoon that attracts a lot of birds, including unique migratory birds. The hiking/biking trail that meanders through the dry forest by the lagoon stretches 7 miles south to the Salt Flats.
Join her for a walk!
(Watch our original Combate Beach video)
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Travel Back in Time at the Jane Austen Centre
Here’s a treat for Jane Austen fans: Come meet Mr. Knightly, Mr. Darcy, and Lydia Bennett at the Jane Austen Centre!
Bath is a great literary city, and no trip here is complete without a visit to the Jane Austen Centre. This icon of British literature lived in Bath for four or five years, writing Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. She mentioned Bath in several other works as well.
Lisa takes you on a tour of the Jane Austen Centre, which offers you a snapshot of life during Regency times and explores how living in the magnificent city of Bath affected Jane Austen and her writing. Try your hand at writing using a quill pen and ink or have your photograph taken whilst dressed in our extensive selection of Regency dresses, bonnets and shawls. You can also visit the Regency Tea Room for a few scones and a trip into the past!
You can book your tickets online for about $18 at janeausten.co.uk/.
Is Combate the Most Beautiful Beach in Puerto Rico?
We almost hesitate to share this video because we love El Combate Beach (pronounced Come-BAH-tay) so much. It is one of the most beautiful beaches in Puerto Rico, with golden sand, calm turquoise water that creates perfect swimming conditions, and lots of shade trees. Pelicans dive for fish and rays occasionally jump out of the water. Combate’s location at the edge of Boquerón State Forest means we also get to enjoy a nearby lagoon that attracts a lot of birds, including unique migratory birds. The hiking/biking trail that meanders through the dry forest by the lagoon stretches 7 miles south to the Salt Flats.
The nearby village of Combate has our favorite waterfront restaurant, Annie’s, where you can sip a drink, nibble queso frito or red snapper, and enjoy the best sunsets in Puerto Rico. It’s very quiet on weekdays but can become quite lively on weekends. But the faryher away from town you walk, the quieter it gets.
The biggest drawback to Combate is parking, or the lack thereof. There’s no lot and a long woodland path to get there. ! (We usually park on the street near Combate Beach Resort, and then walk in via the woodland path along the lagoon.) But it’s worth the effort!
There are also no facilities, either bathroom or changing, so you might pay Annie’s a visit just to use the restroom. There are other places in Combate to get pina coladas as well.
MiniTour: Playas Clavellina and Jauca
If you’re searching for a good beach near Ponce, Puerto Rico, you might want to visit Playas Clavellina and Jauca.
In our most recent effort to find that elusive quality south-coast beach, we followed the map to the coast, east of the Ponce Airport, past the giant windmills, to these small gems in Santa Isabel. They are located in a rich agricultural area that produces an abundance of tropical fruits such as mangoes.
Playa Clavellina is good for one thing: kite surfing. It was so windy we could only stay for a couple of minutes The sand whipping against our skin actually hurt! But for kite surfers, it was likely a gift from God. And it explained the location of the nearby wind farm.
Further down the same road, on the edge of the Punta Petrona Nature Reserve, we happened upon mostly deserted Playa Jauca. It was a black-sand beach with a few shade trees and a lot of mangroves, in quiet, shallow Jauca Bay, well-protected from the wind. We spent a relaxing couple of hours and even enjoyed a visit from the piragua guy!
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Map: Playa Clavellina
Map: Playa Jauca
Salt Flats Interpretive Center of Cabo Rojo
We got a private tour of the Salt Flats and Wildlife Refuge on the southwestern tip of Puerto Rico. Our neighbors Padro and Dafne, who are among the volunteers who operate the facility’s interpretive center, took us on a private hike through the dry forest, and to the top of the Lookout Tour, where we learned about the salt industry. They shared Puerto Rican history regarding the salt flats and cotton, and told us about the ravages of Hurricane Fiona last year on the Salt Flats.
This is also a popular place to come birding and hiking. However, make sure you leave by 3 PM, when they lock the gate! Guided tours are free but must be arranged in advance.
The Educational Environmental Center (CAE) offers a space for educational activities and information about flora and fauna. But it depends on donations to operate. Don’t forget to make one after your tour!
