Tour of Old San Juan, Part 1

No trip to Puerto Rico is complete without at least a day in Old San Juan, a mélange of Old World elegance and vibrant 21st-century Caribbean culture. It’s so interesting, we had to create two videos!

San Juan was built for walking, so we’ll start out by heading to our favorite parking garage, Dona Fela, so you don’t waste an hour looking for a place to put your car. Then we’ll visit the cruise ship port and explore the narrow streets, nooks and crannies of beautifully preserved Viejo San Juan, which just celebrated 500 years.

There is so much to see and do, for every age and stage: explore history, culture, shopping, eating, drinking, praying, gallery hopping, even flying kites!

Check back in a couple of days for the second half of our video.

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Old San Juan 

Maritime Museum (Museo del Mar)

Book Museum (La Casa del Libro)

Map to Old San Juan

Map to Dona Fela Parking Garage 

Visit Messy Suitcase’s Old San Juan Playlist to see our other videos.

Where Does Chocolate Come From? Touring a Cacao Farm, Part 2

We continue our walk through the cacao farm Finca Hekiti in northwestern Puerto Rico as we watch the cacao get harvested from the bean pod, learn the process of converting the pulp into chocolate, and taste the final product!

(Watch Part One here)

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Airbnb Experiences Link 

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Where Does Chocolate Come From? Touring a Cacao Farm, Part 1

We visited Finca Hekiti on an “Airbnb Experience” to learn where chocolate comes from. We learned so much more about the conservation of the forest and the life within it, that we are releasing this video in two parts. It’s long, but if you are interested in chocolate, and in forest sustainability and diversity, take the time to follow Finca Hekiti’s Co-Founder & Co-Director Ricardo Albarracín on this tour of the nine-acre farm in northwest Puerto Rico.

This is how the Airbnb Experience we signed up for (at a cost of $35 each for 3.5 hours), entitled “Educational Farm Tour in a Cacao Forest”,  was described:

“We will receive the guest, walking through the cacao forest, learning about the farming practices when it comes to fine grain cacao, learn about the importance of agroforestry, permaculture and nature conservation. Depending on the tree production during the time of your visit, you will have the opportunity to view the cacao fruit, taste the fruit fresh from the tree and perhaps have the opportunity to harvest or plant cacao. We end the experience tasting the cacao fruit pulp and artisanal chocolate tasting.”

But Finca Hekiti is much more than a chocolate farm. It’s a passion. Hekiti Eco-Agroforestry Education Organization is a 501(c)(3) non-profit agro-ecological farm focused on the conservation and management of existing forests and their biodiversity in the Las Marias and Añasco mountains. It’s dedicated to education in agroforestry, agriculture, tropical fruit varieties (primarily fine grain cacao), forest inventory, fauna and flora. Oh, and chocolate! Come learn with us!

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Airbnb Experiences Link 

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Battle of the Puerto Rican Rums, Part 4: Ron de Barrilito Bartending

Even ordering a drink was an adventure at the Barrilito Rum Factory in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In this video, we will watch how it’s done as the bartender creates three drinks for us … with panache! He was a true artiste and the drinks were amazing. We actually went to Hacienda Santa Ana for a tasting tour of Ron de Barrilito, but found the bartender’s artistry equally fascinating, and wanted to share it.

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Barrilito Cocktail Recipes

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Messy Suitcase Mini-Tour: Playa Rompeolas

Rompeolas means breaking waves, but what we found at this locals beach in Aguadilla were not surfers but lots and lots of jet skis. The playa had a bit of an urban feel, with an expansive parking lot, a boat put-in, and a food truck area nearby. A local man befriended us and showed Lisa where to find some really nice snorkeling, and we whiled away a very pleasant afternoon under a palm tree in the golden sand.

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Kayaking up the Guajataca River

We enjoyed a lovely morning kayaking on the Guajataca River with Planeta Kayak. We also hiked up a mountain to an abandoned railroad tunnel (used long ago for sugar cane, or caña) called el Túnel Negro (the Black Tunnel, for obvious reasons. Thank goodness for cellphone flashlights!).

Rio Guajataca (pronounced REE-oh Gwah-hah-TAH-kuh) is located on the border of Isabela and Quebradillas on the northwest coast of Puerto Rico. The leisurely trip cost $40 cost per person, which included double kayaks, paddles, life jackets, and a two-hour tour. Although the water was placid and the pace relaxing, adventure seekers enjoyed a chance to dump into the river from a rope swing!

Our tour guide Jose spoke in rapid Puerto Rican Spanish, so we didn’t catch it all. But we saw mangroves and other interesting tropical trees and plants, fascinating birds, and even a nest with chicks right along the water. We suggest you wear a swimsuit under your clothes, wear good walking sandals for the hike, which is short but challenging. Don’t forget sunscreen! And bring your own water bottle, because our guide brought a cooler but apparently forgot to fill it with water bottles for his guests.

All in all, it was a refreshing day, and we recommend it! Afterward, you can head to the nearby beach and enjoy an afternoon under the palm trees.

Planeta Kayak

Rio Guajataca

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La Parguera and the Bio Bay

We visited the Bioluminescent Bay in La Parguera on a recent Friday night and discovered a fishing village that has come alive again, post-COVID.  La Parguera, in southwestern in Puerto Rico, is best known for its proximity to one of Puerto Rico’s three bioluminescent bays, but it also offers mangrove forests to kayak through and nature reserves to explore. The tropical waters are rich with marine life, and you can take snorkeling and diving trips out of La Parguera.

The trip to the Bio Bay happens after dark and is impossible to capture in a video. But come visit the village at night with us! We’ll walk a boardwalk teeming with people, music, restaurants, bars, artisan’s kiosks, and more.

Our tour operator was Aleli Tours, a small operation run by a bilingual, U.S. Coast Guard-certified captain, marine biologist and ecologist with over 30 years of experience. The cost for the two-hour tour in a small powerboat was $150 for the first three passengers and $40 apiece after that, up to six people. http://aleliecotours.com/

Learn more about La Parguera.

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Aleli Tours

The Battle of the Puerto Rican Rums, Part 3: Destilería Coquí

They rock moonshine at Destilería Coquí in Mayaguez!

That’s because a young Puerto Rican couple in 2006 took the oldest and most traditional Puerto Rican rum, “Ron Caña” -- which was illegal for over 500 years -- and legalized it as the registered brand Pitorro®. We discovered this unique, handcrafted rum at our local supermarket and were immediately hooked by its wide variety of flavors and the bits of fruit we found in the bottom of the uniquely-shaped bottles.

Today, Destilería Coquí is the largest artisan distillery on the island. Come take a tour of this family-owned distillery just a few minutes up the road from our home in Cabo Rojo! The tour was only $10, and we saw every aspect of distillation. But of course the best part was the bar!

(This video features a special guest, our brother-in-law Mark Holm, who was visiting from Pennsylvania!)

Learn more at the Destilería Coquí website.

Find some excellent drink recipes!

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