Exploring Puerto Rico

So since we have a rental car, we decided to do some exploring for the day and we take a trip to the other side of Puerto Rico. ROAD TRIP! 🚘🍿🥨🥤🧋🥪 🧺 🌊🏝⛰🏞

We venture out to Isabela to see the Guajataca Tunnel Park. The tunnel was constructed and used as a railway tunnel during the sugarcane era in the early 20th century. It connected the town of Quebradillas to Isabela. No longer a railway but a paved pathway people can walk from one beach (‘playa’) to another.

We spend some time exploring then see this amazing rock sculpture.

This sculpture was carved into the boulder as an homage to the indigenous Taino people ( same as the Virgin Islands). The legend is the chieftain (cacique) Mabodamaca was a brave leader of the Taino against the Spanish invaders. Preserving and showing respect for the original inhabitants is an important part of the Puerto Rican culture and one I admire!

So now on to Rincon, where we happen upon a surf competition! Yay!!!

As I’ve mentioned before, surfing astounds me. I love watching crazy-adventurous people get up on a surf board to ride huge waves that can topple, spin and then spit you out!

A couple of weeks ago, Molly had taken some surfing lessons from our local surfing instructor, Surfer Gary. This dude loves to teach locals how to surf and pretty much guarantees you WILL get up and surf! And she did!!!

So Molly got to see some expert surfers at Rincon. She had a greater appreciation for how difficult it is to get up and STAY up on breaking waves.

We only had a day to travel around so we reluctantly left Rincon to go driving along the southern coast. When we made a little stop, we saw this pop-up wedding happening on a beachfront parking lot.

I love it!!! You just never know what you will see! 🥰

As the day wanes, we want to get to the town of La Parguera since it is one of the few spots on island to see the ocean bioluminescence. Bioluminescence, by definition, is the biochemical emission of light by living organisms such as fireflies and deep sea fishes.

We make it to a kayak/canoe dock and climb in to have the unique experience of witnessing one of creation’s wonders. As the canoe moves through the water, the disruption of the surface makes it glow even more.

What a great way to end our adventure day! Exhausted, we make our way back to Jose’s home in San Juan. Tomorrow will be our last full day in Puerto Rico and Jose will be back in town to spend the day and evening with us.

***next week, you will get the miraculous story of how dreams can come true