We ate dinner on the way to the airport and arrived there to return our rental by 9 pm. We had hours until our flight. The airport was quiet and almost nothing was open.
There was so.much.waiting! Waiting for the Frontier counter to open, waiting in the long line to go through the USDA animal and plant inspection, and then waiting at the gate for our flight. By the time we made it to Orlando for another wait (layover), it was 6 am. With the time changes, layovers and red-eye flight ...We were so over it!
Contributing to our sullen attitude was the fact that we were missing this place already!
The warmth, the beauty and the experiences we had together. It was a truly magnificent trip:)
Farewell beautiful Puerto Rico. We hope to see you again someday!
Our final full day we had a lot of time to kill before our midnight flight.
We started off getting breakfast ... this time at the Ricomini Bakery.
Ordered another Mallorca
They had these GIANT Avocados on the counter. The picture really doesn't represent them accurately... they were the size of cantaloupes.
The desserts were too hard to pass up this time. We got a few for the road:)
The carrot cake concoction in the left corner was oh so good!
We planned to drive to Isabela to check out the beach there.
We made a stop in Rincon to look around and after talking to a lady at the Welcome Center, decided to just hang out in there.
Like many of the places we visited, there was the Town Square and church that everything else is built around.
Doing a little souvenir shopping before heading to the beach
The day was cloudy. The beach was nice, but different than the other two we'd spent time at ... a little more rugged.
yes that is a toilet
We had fun watching this little guy
.... and jumping the waves. The water was rougher than the others we'd played in ... and so much sandier.
Most of us got our eyes burned from all the salt in the waves as they repeatedly smacked us in the face. It made it a little hard to enjoy it (except for Emmrey ... she loves it no matter what)
We played until it wore us out!
Then we said our goodbyes to the Puerto Rican beaches and made our way toward the airport.
Day 6 we were heading to the western side of the island. We had about a three hour drive ahead of us. We walked down to the beach one more time before saying goodbye to Luquillo. Mark had seen this Puerto Rican flag in our condo and thought it would be cool to get a photo with it.
It was an interesting mix of nice homes/condos and really sketchy/abandoned structures.
You might see a little hacienda like this ....
.... right next to something like this:/
Once again we had a "gated complex" in Luquillo. It looks a little rough, but it was actually pretty nice and safe (maybe because there are bars on every door/window). It does require a certain amount of change in mindset.
We stopped in Palmer/Rio Grande for some breakfast. We had been through here before going to El Yunque. I thought it was such a cool little place.
We ate at the Puertorrican Bakery
We had been searching for the best Mallorca, a ham/cheese/egg sandwich on sweet bread that my brother had told me about before our trip. We had tried variations at every panaderia we had been to. It's hard to say which one was best because they were all different. I think I recall this one being my favorite.
The 3 hour drive felt like 6. Because most of it was interstate, there wasn't a lot to see unless we took an exit to look around. The rough roads and crazy driving along with lower speed limits than we are used to made us anxious to get to our destination ASAP.
We arrived in Mayaguez in time to swim in the pool for a while and grab some dinner.
We found this little roadside establishment.
We got the Surtido (a sampler plate) and their signature nachos. They were both so good!
We knew before booking our trip that this area had been hit pretty hard by Maria, so we were prepared to not be able to see all/much of it.
We were pretty happy when we learned that a few of the lower roads were cleared and open allowing us to access just a small part of the forest.
We stopped for a look at La Coca Falls. Beyond that the roads were still closed.
El Yunque is the only tropical rain forest in the national forest system, and although not very big, it is one of the most biologically diverse.
We took the Angelito Trail that leads to Las Damas pool in the Mameyes River.
Emm didn't waist any time getting in the water ... she never does!
It was absolutely gorgeous .. and green:)
The groves of bamboo trees were so beautiful {despite human ignorance}
The crystal clear made it easy to see the native fish.
Bay contemplates the rope swing
Bailee is our bravest when it comes to water.
When we got back to Luquillo we went in search for dinner. On our walk along the beach a couple of nights before we had seen a food truck that looked interesting.
Artwork along the way
Bistro Del Mar is a food truck with a permanent set up ... booths for seating and all;)
I had Arepas and I thought they were the best thing I had eaten so far. I had wished afterward that we had added a stuffed avocado to our meal ... they sounded delish!
Everyone liked their food. It's always so hard to know .. there is a lot of just hoping for the best. That's part of the fun;)
Later that night we headed to Fajardo for our much anticipated Bio Bay Kayak Tour. With only five of these in the world, it's pretty much a once in a lifetime experience.
We did the 8:15 tour, which ended up being more like 8:45 waiting for the other group to get back. Unfortunately, because it was so dark it was difficult to get any good photos (**all of the photos below are courtesy of the company website;) This bioluminescent bay is part of a nature reserve.We kayaked through a mangrove channel before getting to Laguna Grande. It really felt like we were entering a whole new world.
Once in the Bay we all connected Kayaks for a little education from our guide (my new friend Robert?) Because we had an odd number, I got to ride with the guide. It was great on one hand, but he wouldn't let me do any work so I was just cruising along in the front of the kayak like a queen (which I didn't care for)
I don't fully understand the science of it all, but essentially tiny organisms make the water glow at night.
Most of the pictures you see online are totally fabricated/edited. In fact, it is almost impossible to capture the glow with a regular camera (they actually discourage you from even bringing one). Ours turned out black. This is pretty close to what it was like.
It was a pretty awesome experience. A day filled with natural wonders!
