Puerrrto Rrico; stress and roll the r's as much as you can. The beautiful Puerto Rico is so different from it controller nation, the US of A. From the non-English speaking, to the not so evident fast food regulars - the McDonalds, Taco Bells, the Panda Express. The territory is suprisingly low on agriculture even around the lush rainforests!
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| Puerto Rico |
Few pointers:
- SpanishHH. yes, make sure you have a few words you need in your kitty. Not many speak English and you'll be pleasantly surprised with how Spanish is spoken with everyone at first glance.
- Vegetarian food is far and few. If you are OK to not eat local, then there are a few subway's. But there is a veggie version of local specialities - Mofongo, Tostones (plantain chips), risotto (not found everywhere but yes it makes an appearance).
- In the San Juan neighborhood, there are vegan options, like Ocean Park, Pura Vida, Bebo's, and in Old San Juan Cafe Berlin (priced on the higher end). For the regular veggie food there are the cheese pizzas, found at pizzerias.
- In Vieques Trade Winds, Belly Button have some veg and vegan options too. The smaller the citi the lesser the veg food options. For example, Fajardo, but here you have McDonald, Taco Bell, Burger King and Subway.
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| Trade Winds in Vieques |
- Make sure you have a map of the Old San Juan before you start. Plan to walk. The streets are narrow and clogged by single lane car traffic. Donna Pella is a downtown parking lot in Old San Juan close to the ferry for parking. There are people who rule the streets around the parking lot and allow parking for a fee - park at your own risk here.
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| Old San Juan on Thanksgiving day |
- Note the gas stations expect payment first at the booth inside and then they enable the gas dispenser number where you can refuel.
- Make sure you check if cards are accepted before you start. This is at any place you go!
- Carry water. Not many drinking fountains around.
- GPS or maps are not very reliable. They are not updated. There were times when we found restaurants and directions and went round and round and landed at empty plots. The locals go by land marks in the city limits for directions and outside the city limits they use the mile marker.
- Ensure you are aware that both KMs and Miles as they are used without discretion.
- Everything is marked in Spanish in majority of places
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| Ice Cream shop in old San Juan |
- The direction boards inside buildings are very confusing. It does not always denote what you are seeing.
- There are many bakeries with sweet meats. They are not as sugar filled as in the US.
- Be aware of your surroundings when you are in the outskirts. There are place which are sparsely inhabited and have no mobile signal. We did not have a lot of issues with AT&T; worked for most parts.
- The Kiosks at Loquillo is not a great option for vegetarian food. Even otherwise it did not impress me much. The happiest part was finding coco-frio (tender coconut). The cooling coconut water made up for the hot day. You find a lot of fried food and pork in the kiosks. The are called kiosks and they are a row of small eateries usually identified by a number.
- Make sure you book your cabs in advance. There can be delays in them arriving.
- A lot depends on the weather, the kayaking activities, the trekking the bio bay tours. THey can cancel it at the last moment if they think its not great weather (even though you think otherwise). We did not have a great experience with out Bio- Bay tour, the whole experience was just OK.
- Bio-luminescence is an amazing thing. But its about the survival mechanism of micro-organisms that emit the light and its not something that is like an illumination in the water.
- A few attraction around PR - Ziplining (Roqui and Jamar of yzapr are amazing guides), kayaking, trekking in the rain forest, eating mofongo, walking around, and don't forget the beaches
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| Sierra de Luquillo - beautiful drive up the mountain |
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| beach at Loquillo |
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| Ziplining in El Yunque |
