Our plan was to take a coastal road, take a mountain road, grab a meal and see what we find. Other than this, the agenda was pretty loose and we figured we would go where the road took us. There is some reassurance that if we got totally lost, we are still on an island. How lost could we get?
Boat on beach
Malecon de Naguabo
Malecon de Naguabo promenade
Maunabo lighthouse
Stunning
I have no idea what this is
Maunabo peninsular – looking back to the mainland
For lunch, we wanted to try a local joint. We love to sample local cuisines. Puerto Rico is spotted with most of the USA fast-food places. Burger Kings are everywhere. Sometimes it is easy to fall back on what we know. Today was not going to be one of those days. We found a roadside restaurant called Hecho En Casa. Our challenge was we were off the beaten path and bi-lingual restaurant employees were not to be seen. The menu was completely in Spanish. Mona speaks a little Spanish and was able to help. I am starting to recognize a few key words. Once we decided what we wanted, the difficult part was communicating the order at the counter. There was some pointing, laughing and shrugs. We sat at our table and wondered what would show up.
Hecho En Casa
The scenic mountain roads of Puerto Rico are about a car and a half wide. They wind up and down the hillside and contain hairpin turns and can have sheer drop offs on a side with little guardrail protection. Not only does a driver have to watch for cars, but also for horses. On two occasions, we have had close encounters with horses on back-roads.
Mountain road traffic
Humacao Nature Reserve walking trail
Hitchin’ a ride
Cattle ranch
Banana trees
Rain on the mountains feed the reservoirs
Massive mountain reservoirs provide drinking water
The scenery in Puerto Rico is stunning. Almost every turn in the road opens to a new spectacular vista. The time has come to leave the mainland. We have stayed longer than planned and need to move on. The warmer weather is a reminder hurricane season is just around the corner and we would like to be out of the hurricane belt by mid-July. We have just enough time to sail to some of the Spanish Virgin Islands and hopefully the USVI before heading south.
