Condado Beach & Puerto Rico

We originally had plans to travel to Cartagena, Colombia and then pick up David's wedding ring in Bogota. Our plans, however, changed (this was the third week of January), and we headed to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. The flights to Hawaii were full (and it tends to be pretty pricey), and we've been to Florida before so it didn't seem very appealing. All we wanted was to head to the beach and get away from all the snow!

Puerto Rico was warm every day, 80 degrees! Even when it rained, the rain was cool, but the air was warm. I still felt comfortable walking around in shorts, and I get cold very easily. After going to a Denny's near the airport for Wifi (we needed our AirBnb address and desperately needed to refuel), we headed to our AirBnb to drop off our bags and began our first walk to the beach. Ultimately, we would complete four trips from our apartment (for a few days) to that same beach in Condado! We stayed in San Juan the entire time we were there. My only regret was not to explore Mosquito Bioluminescent Bay.

We learned from our Uber driver that people rent out kayaks and go on tours on the water at night in Bioluminescent Bay. There are hundreds of thousands of microscopic dinoflagellates that light up the water. The water glows a bright blue (at least from the photos I've seen), and there are very few places on the planet with these wonderful creatures. It sounds magical! We, however, were on a budget and enjoyed visiting the beach while we were there and going to a big party that happened to be that weekend in Old San Juan, Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastian (or Sanse for short).

The night we went to Sanse, we broke our three-months of abstaining from alcohol and boy, was it worth it! I had never had a real Pina Colada before! It was so refreshing! Some people argue that a pirate in Puerto Rico came up for the original blend, but a bartender in San Juan is credited for the invention in 1954: coconut cream, rum, and pineapple juice. Yum!

There is a small mercado (market) near that AirBnb in Condado called La Placita. We went there for ripe, succulent papayas and pineapples! There was a Wal-Mart around the corner too, and we did what we usually do on vacation. We always look for AirBnbs with a kitchen, WiFi, and air conditioning. Having a kitchen saves us so much money! On this vacation, we cooked every meal but one at the apartment.

We enjoyed rice, beans, papaya, plantains, pineapple, coconut, and many more staples of a tropical, Caribbean environment. Oh, and of course, don't forget the coffee! Unfortunately, we did not enjoy the store bought Puerto Rican coffee, so we went back to the always dependable Juan Valdez coffee (from Colombia). We did found a delicious donut, coffee shop (our one meal out) just around the corner.

We really lucked out with all the appliances, utensils, pots, and pans our hosts provided. Not only that, they also had a closet with beach items: a cooler, camping chairs, and a yoga mat! We didn't bring the yoga mat to the beach; instead, we used a United blanket from our trip, as our barrier from the sand (and we brought towels from home, good thinking, David!). When it started to rain on Day three, we were thankful we experienced calm waves in the beginning. The waves were so crazy, I wouldn't even get into the water! I let David get whipped around, pulled and thrown by the wind-blown waves, while I read my current obsession, "The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell.

Puerto Rico really is a beautiful island, marked with some scars from the hurricane and earthquake. In the city of San Juan, there were many buildings with for sale or rent signs and boarded-up houses. The earthquakes are felt more and affect the south-side of the island. To top off all the natural disasters they've experienced, a meteor hit the water nearby the island while we were vacationing there. However, during the festival of Sanse, you would have no idea these people had experienced such heartache and tragedies in the last few years. Rather than be affected by the fear of what has happened, they were dancing, singing, and celebrating the life that they have today. We could learn a lot from from the Puerto Ricans.

Pictures to come ;)