The fog lured me out of bed before 6 AM. I brewed coffee, lazily
made my way down to the dock at Lake Rescue, VT, and dropped into a kayak. For
almost an hour it was just me and the mist, floating on a mirror-like lake. No breeze.
No other watercraft. No eagles. No birds. Total serenity.
On the way back home, I encountered this solitary loon giving himself a bath. So fun to just sit and watch him frolic in the lake! Enjoy.
We wandered down to the coastal area of Palmas del Mar and
discovered pelicans having a feeding frenzy on fish in the Atlantic Ocean. It
was an amazing sight! Thought we’d share.
We wandered down to the coastal area of Palmas del Mar and discovered pelicans having a feeding frenzy on fish in the Atlantic Ocean. It was an amazing sight! Thought we’d share. Palmas del Mar is a lush golf course/tennis resort development on the southeast end of the island of Puerto Rico. We spent 12 nights there. The beach is largely inaccessible, except by golf cart or walking over to this stretch. There was a lot of sargassum, and it stunk. But the views were gorgeous and clearly the fish -- and thus, the seabirds -- loved it!
Locals on the island of Culebra told us we would find the best snorkeling at Melones Beach. This area didn't show much promise at first -- we were greeted by screeching chickens, not much in the way of sand, and stones underfoot. But we decided to give it a go anyway!
The undersea world was truly spectacular. The video doesn’t do it justice. You will have to go see for yourself.
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.
Guayanés Beach in Yabucoa: Swimming Horses and Stinging Ants
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.
Enjoy the mini-tour!
It’s only a 30-minute flight from San Juan, so Bob and I
decided to spend a few days in St. Croix, the largest US Virgin Island and the
only one we had not yet visited.
St. Croix is an island paradise complete with lush
tropical hills, inviting white-sand beaches beside warm turquoise water
teeming with colorful coral and tropical fish, a rich history (with seven
different flags and even young Alexander Hamilton), two interesting cities, and
a wonderful tropical climate.
We enjoyed three days packed with history, nature, food,
drink, undersea delights, shopping, and more. One thing we didn’t find was
crowds. We did discover a lot of places we need to return to!
