lolavix

Oh, wait, found 'em.

Every so often, there would be placards to read.

Still playing

DS1 found a bell

I had him pose mainly because this photo reminded me of him with another bell, in another place, five years ago.

More playing with the photos.

Such a sprawling place. It looks like no one else is visiting, but that is not true.

Again, where is everybody, including my family?

Yeah, maybe I am the only one here after all...

So many crevices to explore.

This picture makes me laugh. I couldn't remember which fort had the cannon balls and when we made it to the spot where they were, I went to take a look. I figured, I'd call the kids over and get the iconic shot that everyone who visits this fort posts photos of.

As you can see, no one was interested in posing for said photo. You can see the other four family members off in the distance. I guess this is my family's version of the cannon photo, then. :p

Pretty narrow.

More angles. I was having a lot of fun with the photography, and DH and DS1 were enjoying the actual fort. I think DS2 was OK with playing hide and seek and finding new spots before we did. DD probably was not thrilled with the fort, but I consider it a win when 4 out of 5 of us are happy.

La Perla with El Morro off in the distance. I told DH that we didn't want to stumble into La Perla, with its history of violence, and we'd keep our distance. Unfortunately, as you'll soon learn, we also kept our distance from El Morro.

Warning--lots of photos. I loved taking them here.

This particular vantage point made me nervous.

All the little walls were like mazes. I guess that was the point.

Another one of the Fascination. I didn't tire of looking at our soon-to-be home.

Let me preface this by saying that I know that when I plan my trips, I usually add more than enough activities and know that we might not get to everything. Originally, I thought we'd see more of San Juan, but our three days had been pretty full. I had wanted to walk the streets of San Juan and look at the architecture and a few other places, but given that we were tired and we were just starting our cruise, I figured we'd just do the forts and be done...and save something for our next visit. ;)

It took about 10-15 minutes to walk to Castillo San Cristobal, which is the closer of the two.

We knew we were getting close when we spied this statue.

There it is!

DS1 was a fourth grader this past year (although as of right now, he's a fifth grader as he started school yesterday). The US National Park Service has the Every Kid in a Park program, where fourth graders and their families can enter all the parks for free. We had his pass from a visit to Acadia earlier this summer, and it was still valid as the new fourth grade passes go into effect September 1. Kids are free to enter the forts, but since we had the pass, we could all enter for free.

Let the views begin!

Now here's a view!

Stinger-pr--I do remember the hill. We loved that restaurant and were sorry we only could eat there once. I'm glad we made a good choice. I have read your reviews and what stuck with me is that you toured with Thenford Grey in St. Kitts with your daughter. Since I was sailing with my kids, I figured he would be a good choice. While he didn't give us the tour himself, the driver he sent was great. So, I thank you for your advice. Turns out that St. Kitts was DS1's favorite.

Cyntil8ing--I will have to check out your review as well. :)

Deladane--I know I keep saying this, but I read your reviews, too. I even "borrowed" the idea of using candy to count down the trip. For Valentine's Day, I gave my DH 186 Hershey's miniatures. While he was a bit inconsistent in eating them (he ate a few each day at the beginning but then forgot so he wound up with a few on August 17 which we ate the night before we left), he liked the idea.

Of course, I had to use a Valentine pail and not a simple jar to hold all that candy.

The caves are definitely worth visiting, and I would love to have another go at the Biobay. But probably still on an electric boat!

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The big day had arrived. We loved Puerto Rico, but it was time to get ready for the cruise.

Of course, we still had plans for Sunday before our 10 PM departure.

We had breakfast, packed up and head out to San Juan.

We dropped our bags off at the cruise terminal :) and drove over to the Sheraton, where Hertz has a drop off location.

And that is what it is...you can pick up cars and drop them off, but it's not apparent what you are supposed to do once you get there. Although there are signs which say Hertz, we drove around the Sheraton twice and couldn't figure out what to do. There was no obvious place to pull in, no garage door or even an employee. I had to go into the Sheraton and ask. I found the desk, which is to the left, past the registration desks, and waited in line. There was only one employee working. Fortunately for me, I caught his eye as he was showing people to their car (he has to get out from behind the desk and out to the street to direct the people picking cars up). While he is doing that, everyone waits.

Anyway, he walked out with me and we found my family and he showed us where to park...just on the street, behind the hotel. We grabbed the two bags we had left and went back to stand in line to wait our turn. There were two couples ahead of us picking up cars and it took about 15-20 minutes to get them situated. It was finally our turn and we were pretty quick as we were just dropping off and he had already seen the car.

Since it was only around noon, we figured it was too early to try to check in and board, so we decided to head to the forts.

My family was just on St. Thomas last week and we used Dean Chinnery at dean_chinnery1@msn.com; website is http://www.deanstaxi.com. He is an independent taxi operator and was terrific. He picked us up at 7:30 (we chose the time), took us around St. Thomas (Paradise Point, Mountain Top, through downtown to point out some of the main sites there) and then on to Coki. We could have gone to any beach, though. We were at Coki by 10 and stayed until 2:30. He was punctual in picking us up and we were back to the port around 3 PM.

I booked him in January and touched base with him a few weeks prior to our arrival; he responded quickly to my emails. He was very nice, punctual and interesting to speak with. He is retired from the police force and had some great stories.

Subscribing. We went on a southern caribbean route this past January and loved it so much we booked another for January 2017 (different stops, but also from San Juan) and again for January 2018 (different stops).

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I had toyed with the idea of going to Luquillo to go to the beach, but right before we left I had read that Seven Seas Beach was supposed to be pretty good and it had the benefit of being close to the area where our Biobay tour would begin.

We arrived at Seven Seas Beach around 4 PM and paid the $5 entry fee. We had a little more than 2 hours before we had to go to our tour.

Here is our little corner of the beach where we settled.

We didn't waste any time and hopped in the water. The water was so warm...just like a bath. You have to remember that we are from New England, and our beaches can be pretty cold, even in summer.

What I liked about this beach was noticing that many adults were in the water. There were many family groups which spanned multiple generations, and they were having a great time just floating around with one another. I really enjoyed seeing the family aspect of that.

The kids were interested in the sand, for some reason.

The time went very quickly. We spent most of it floating and playing in the water.

This beach does have showers and changing areas. You pay $1 per person over the age of 8, and 50 cents for kids for access to the showers and the bathrooms. We got ourselves cleaned up and moved along to our tour of the Biobay.

I had read many reviews of the companies which offer tours of the bioluminescent waters. I had been warned about the mangroves and taking the kayaks out in an area which becomes pitch black. I made the call to go with BioIsland, as they offer tours in electric boats. I figured, the last thing we needed to worry about with kids is one of the kayaks not being able to keep up, or getting stuck someplace.

In the reviews, I read about the importance of going on a night when there was little light from the moon. Unfortunately for us, the moon was full on the 18th, and we were only 2 days away from that and didn't have any additional nights to try. I wanted to give it a try, though, since I figured we probably wouldn't be in Puerto Rico any time soon.

We followed the directions to Las Croabas, the park where their boat was located. It was a bit crazy trying to find a spot to park, as Las Croabas is a busy place on a Saturday night, but we managed to do so. While we were maneuvering the car, they called and made sure we were all set, which I liked. They came over to meet us and escort us to the waiting area, where we were given some water and snacks. Mario was going to be our guide, the captain was Jeff and the first mate was Barney.

They gave us some information about the rules, and the bay in general. We set out around 7 as it was starting to get dark.

The ride was very peaceful (especially since we weren't paddling kayaks!) It was nice to sit back and just take in the sites. Once we entered the mangrove area, we could not take photos as it could interfere with the kayakers. While going through this area, Mario used a flashlight to point out different things (fish, iguanas in the branches of the tree, etc.), much to the delight of my kids. I believe it was about 1 mile to the open lagoon, and once we got there, they pulled out the tarps to help with our viewing the bioluminescence.

We were instructed to run our hands through the water to stimulate the organisms to fluoresce. It worked, which was fun to see, but I was unable to get any photos of this because as soon as I stopped running my hands through the water, the light died down.

My kids thought it was great to see the fairy dust, and I did, too. I was disappointed, though, that we didn't get to see a little bit more of the unaided glowing. This isn't the fault of the tour operators; the bioluminescence has been challenged for awhile due to various factors such as pollution and loss of organisms due to seaweed.

We headed back in after awhile and I marveled at how dark it was while we were in the mangroves. We did spy more iguanas, which delighted DS1 in particular. We got back to the dock around 8-8:10, thanked our guides and headed back to the hotel. We stopped for dinner on the way; I was hoping for another mofongo but it wasn't to be. Ironically, we wound up at a different Sizzler as there weren't as many restaurant choices and we were pretty tired from our adventures.

We arrived back at the hotel by about 11 PM and went to bed pretty quickly. There was another function at the hotel but it was ending as we arrived back, so it was fairly quiet for us.

With regard to our day's activities, I would recommend El Yunque for sure. If you are going to go play in the water, be sure not to leave your water shoes in the car like we did. I wish we had more time to relax on the beach, and I will say that Seven Seas Beach was a nice spot with lots of shade. For the Biobay, I'd probably be more sure about the conditions of the glowing before trying it again. It was about $240 for my family and while we really enjoyed the tour operators and the boat ride, seeing the organisms light up would have made it more worthwhile. I have heard that the bay in Vieques is better, but we did not have time to get there for the days we had in Puerto Rico.

On the way down, I got this shot through three windows.

On our way back to the car, we spied another friend.

It was time to move on and end our time at El Yunque.

Our next stop was the beach...

We were hungry and decided to have lunch at the snack bar. The food wasn't bad. It was also nice to just sit outside and eat.

While we were waiting for our food, we ate some jelly beans that we had brought.

A little friend hung nearby while we ate.

After lunch, we drove the rest of the way. There was nothing else that we could do with our limited time, so we started the trek back down.

We did stop here:

to take in the view.

Despite our being tired from our earlier walk, we didn't think going up a few floors would be too bad. The views were worth it.

I think this might be Luquillo. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

Looks a bit mystical, no?

We walked back for about 10 minutes and found a nice little spot to swim. While the access was rocky, it was much easier to enter here as well.

The water inspired DD to strike another dance pose.

We had a lot of fun playing in the water near these mini-falls. We probably stayed for 45 minutes, and then decided it was time to move on, as we still had about 25-30 minutes to walk up.

I didn't take too many photos on the way back, but someone (not me) spotted another snail, with the perfect camouflage backdrop again.

I will say that walking back wasn't nearly as tiring as I thought it would be. Perhaps the dip in the waters did energize us. The time went quickly and soon we were back up at the trailhead.

The views are lovely, and the path is very well marked. Not to mention, there are lots of others doing the same route.

After about 35-40 minutes, we arrived at La Mina Falls. And as noted, it is super popular. We decided to head back and stop at a different spot with slightly easier access where we could swim. Note that we had water shoes with us, but we had stupidly left them in the car. Not sure why we didn't think that through, but it turned out OK...

And we're off!

The main road has many designated stops to make. We knew it would be crowded since it was Saturday, so we didn't spend too long at the Visitors' Center.

Our first stop was La Coca Falls, which is essentially a drive-by water fall.

This was fun (and easy) to see, and took very little effort.

It really was a jungle out there! (Sorry for the corny pun.) No rain in the forest that day, but no matter.

I am not very good at spotting wildlife. Someone in my family spotted this snail.

Whenever I have to strain to see what the others can see more easily, I marvel at how camouflage in nature works. I wouldn't do very well as a predator.

We did not hike to the top. I think it was several hours each way, which would have probably translated to a day+ for my crew. Admiring it from afar would have to suffice.

We kept driving and arrived at the first trail entrance for La Mina Falls. La Mina Falls is very popular, as it's a waterfall you can swim in. You can hike up to the falls or you can drive further to the trail head at the other end and hike down. We noticed how crowded the parking area was, so we took our chances and kept driving. A short while later, we arrived at the further trailhead. Still crowded, and we had to park in the overflow parking, but we had made it.

Here we go...

I was a little concerned that we were hiking down and would have to hike back up when we were more tired, but so be it. No turning back now.

Cyntil8ing--As soon as I clicked on your link, I realized that yours is one of the reviews I read several months ago. And in this next installment, something you said actually helped us out. Stay tuned. :) On another note, you seemed to be pretty calm about the itinerary changes. I did go back and forth between this itinerary and one with the ABCs, so it would probably have been fine with me as well. It's all new to us right now.

Starfish--Welcome and you are right.

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We awoke to another beautiful day. I could get used to this.

Our plan today was to head in the opposite direction, and hit El Yunque, a beach and our Biobay excursion.

When we pulled up the GPS directions, it put us in the heart of El Yunque. I recalled a review which said to be sure you put the destination as the Visitors' Center. When I did that, the placement made much more sense. Turns out that this advice was given by Cyntil8ing. Thank you!

We arrived and paid the $4 or $5 parking fee and stopped in the center for a map and directions. We looked at a few of the exhibits.

They welcome you with several different panels.

The immersion into the jungle starts immediately.

The drive back to the hotel was a little more than an hour.

On the way back, we saw some things that we don't always see at home, like cows and bulls by the side of the road.

and some things that were more familiar, like shopping outlets.

If anyone is wondering about the driving, I would say that yes, we did see some crazy maneuvers...most of which were crazy mainly due to the lack of using the turn signals. However, we are from Boston, so we have our share of craziness. DH did all of the driving and he was fine with it.

We also rented the autoexpress toll pass from Hertz. I had read that it was easiest to do that and then not worry about the tolls. Sometimes, the tolls are unmanned or don't take cash, and you run the risk of a steep penalty without using the pass. The pass is $5/day plus the tolls. We'll see in a few weeks how much we spent on those.

The kids wanted to swim in the pool, so we let them for a short time. Before we went to dinner, we also checked out the beach across from the hotel. It was too rocky to swim in, but perfect for trying to skip stones (or coconuts!).

We then headed to dinner. There was a place across from the hotel but it was a bit pricey and was mostly seafood, which some of us (mmm...kids) don't really like. It looked like fun, though.

We drove back a few minutes towards Arecibo and found a strip mall area which had some familiar places. We wound up at a Sizzler, which was fast and easy for everyone to get something they would eat.

Our hotel had an event room, and tonight they were hosting a party.

Our room was one of the ones with the double balconies, directly below the party. Fortunately, we were all pretty tired so although we could hear the music when we first got back from dinner, it didn't seem to bother any of us.

Day 2 was done. I would definitely recommend the caves, as that would appeal to all ages, and the tram down and slow walk through would work for even those with slight mobility problems. Arecibo was interesting to me, and DH loved it as it was something that he had always wanted to visit after seeing "Contact". The kids were entertained by the interactive exhibits, but probably weren't as impressed by the actual telescope as DH and I. The walk up was steep, but if you needed help, I think you could call security and get a ride up to the top.

You can stay as long as you like. We ooh'ed and ahh'ed for a few minutes and then went back inside to look at some of the exhibits in the visitor's center.

This basically explains why the telescope was built in Arecibo. It needed to be situated near the equator and since there is a sinkhole which could accommodate its large size, Arecibo was a good spot.

Some moon rock:

I think this next photo was supposed to help visitors better understand the rotation of the planets. DD decided that practicing ballet would be a good use as well. DS2 just wanted to spin.

There were other interactive exhibits to visit and try. You could also write

So the kids did. I didn't get photos of all of them, but here is one thought which I think would make those at Arecibo happy.

After we had our fill of the exhibits and viewing the scope, we headed back to the car. On the way, I admired more of the vegetation.

After our lunch, we headed inland, to

This is a 1000 foot radio telescope which has been featured in movies like "Contact" and "Golden Eye". When we were planning our trip and decided to visit Puerto Rico for a few days, DH asked if we could visit. He usually leaves most of the planning up to me and just goes with it, so since he had a specific request, I definitely made it a point to add it to our itinerary.

You have to walk up a fairly steep hill (about 500 paces), but you can take your time. The fee is $12 for adults and $8 for kids.

Before we went to see the telescope, we watched a short film.

and after that, we headed outside to be awe-struck at the size of it.

The panels were each 3' x 6'.

and are made out of something like this:

After our visit to the caves, we were hungry, so we set out in search of lunch.

We didn't get too far before we had to make a stop for a snack.

There were so many places to stop along the way, but we found one that sold cold coconut juice. We all enjoyed a refreshing drink, and I enjoyed looking at the different foods for sale.

We continued on and drove back to the town of Arecibo. DH had looked up a few places on his iPad prior to leaving the hotel, so I picked one based on the high reviews. Thankfully, our phone cooperated and allowed us access to Google Maps and we wound up at

Good Times Restaurant. We figured the name was a good omen.

We were not disappointed at all. They had quite an extensive menu. While the kids chose familiar things like burgers, DH and I decided to try our first mofongo (the sign said 170 different types, but it seemed like even more). The waitress explained to us that mofongo is mashed plantains accompanied by whatever you'd like. She recommended skirt steak and shrimp, so that is what I got.

Neither DH nor I could finish ours, which is too bad because looking at this photo, I wouldn't mind having the leftovers right now.

While we were waiting for our food, DS2 sat at the bar and talked to an older gentleman. After the man left, DS stayed there and read a book.

The people in the restaurant were very kind and didn't seem to mind him sitting there. The few other customers who were there were not at the bar, and DS was content...all in all, it was a wonderful lunch and I'd love to visit them again someday.

Littlekid58--Welcome and thanks for subscribing.

Bakersdozen12--When do you sail? You are going to love this. :)

Perfect Match--You are very welcome. I don't think you'd regret this itinerary one bit.

Easyboy--Thank you.

SMSACE6--Go for it!

Cyntil8ing--I'd love to swap stories. And I know we would have loved three more days in Puerto Rico. My kids started school today, so we had to come back.

Pghsteelerfan--Welcome. When I said that I received some great information in my first post here, your reviews are terrific and were so helpful in my initial planning. I'm happy to have you along. :cool:

On with a little more of the review!

While we waited for the tram, I took a few more photos (of course)!

The tram travels over the bridge to bring you back to the entrance.

The kids insisted on riding alone.

but we were right behind them. The plants were so lush.

At the entrance, there are a few vendors. One gives out samples of ice cream, so we had to stop and sample it.

We really enjoyed the caves. We have visited caves before, but not surrounded by such vegetation. If you are visiting Puerto Rico and have time to visit, I would recommend a trip out to them.

I don't know the two people in this photo, but I liked the photo so I'm including it.

A few more...

I liked this image of the stalactite.

The walking tour took us about 45 minutes. The time went quickly, and as I said, you were allowed to go at your own pace, more or less. We had a guide who answered questions and directed us to each stop, but you could linger for photos if you wanted, or move more quickly.

At the end, there were some additional "friends" to see.

To get a sense of size perspective, DD on the left is about 5'2" and DS1 in red on the right is 4'10" or 11".

Even with the lights, it was still fairly dark in the caves and the walkways were wet in places. There were handrails to hold onto so you didn't slip.

Some natural light, too.

Day 2--Friday, August 19

We got up and had breakfast at the hotel. One thing that I like about the choice brand hotels is that they all provide a free breakfast, and you can usually get some sort of waffle and eggs with bacon or sausage. It's not gourmet, but it works, and it helps keep the costs down for families.

We had a few places to visit on today's itinerary, the first being

(Missing is the word "rio".)

The caves were about an hour from our hotel, and I had read that you want to get there fairly early, because the lines can get long. We left our hotel by about 9 AM, so we were fine.

Along the way, I snapped some photos. I liked the bright colors of these homes.

We paid $4 to park and $75 total--adults are $18 and kids are $13. You wait for your number to be called and you board a tram down to the caves.

On the way down during the tram ride, there is a stop where you are outfitted with an audio player, which was a nice change from other group tours where you might not be able to hear the live narrator, or if you lag behind a bit, you miss what the narrator is saying because you are bringing up the rear. The audio would stop and allow you to look at things in the cave, and when you had walked to the next stop, you would hit play and continue.

After another few minutes, you arrive and the rest of the tour is walking.

We hit the road back to the hotel. It wasn't too far, but as it was rush hour, it took a little bit of time.

A few photos I took along the way.

This was still on the grounds of Bacardi.

This was while sitting in a bit of traffic.

This is a photo of the ferry which caught on fire the day before we arrived.

We had a pretty good view of it from our hotel.

We grabbed a quick dinner near the hotel (nothing fancy) and then hit the pool. The kids loved this pool because it had blue lights which caused them to glow.

That ended our first day. We had been up since 3/3:30 and were ready for bed. We watched a little of the Olympics and went to bed.

In the end, you wound up in a room with a bar.

Contrary to what it looks like, we did not sample any rum here, but our guide behind the bar explained the different types of rum and in the next room (aka the gift shop) we were allowed to sample the "special" aged rum.

The gift shop had quite an impressive display of rum.

The kids were less impressed.

But they were good sports. We went outside and let them have one more Shirley Temple before we left.

A few more random shots of the grounds.

Bananas

We enjoyed our visit to Bacardi, although we were disappointed that we didn't see any of the rum actually being made. We thought that maybe on one of the other tours, that might have been an option, but I'm not sure.