The Municipio of Yabucoa, known as the City of Sugar

I got lucky with the weather- Last Thursday, Friday and early Saturday were great (before Hurricane Irene). By late on Saturday, the sea was beginning to churn as squall after squall rolled by. All things considered, we had very good weather for this trip.

Irene dumped a bunch of rain and wind topped out at 30 MPH out where we live. Nothing like those that got hammered along the US Eastern Seaboard. Our power cut-out no less than 9+ times over 3 days. Trying to get a Post done was an exercise in frustration.

Please note, I have broken this into 3 separate posts as I have way too many photos just for one. Our friend Tony graciously allowed us to crash at his place above Yabucoa so we did not have to make the mad-dash home each night.

Visiting the Municipio of Yabucoa

My first Post here is about the town of Yabucoa and the immediate surrounding area. This will be followed by a post about scenic Highway 3, the Punta Tuna Lighthouse and the beaches near Yabucoa. A third post will cover the discoveries made at the old abandoned Central Roig sugar mill. And much later, I have new images of the abandoned railroad station and tourist facility in Arroyo. So lots of shots!

Yabucoa was formally founded in 1793.

It is as typical a Puerto Rican town as you will find outside San Juan. A mix of old and new. The locals are a proud, hard working bunch. The municipal (municipio) population fell a few thousand in 2010 to 37,941, typical of the entire island. It has a seaport as well.

Yabucoa, on the Southeast corner of the island, is spread out over a very lush, flat valley. It rests next to the ocean with mountains flanking 3 sides. Back in the day, the valley floor was covered in sugarcane. Now, bananas are the main export crop. There are lots of small farms growing a variety of fruits and vegetables. Cattle ranching is also quite popular.

Yabucoa’s Plaza

The small Plaza of Yabucoa is dominated by a large, contemporary Catholic church and a very large shade tree. The Patron Saint of Yabucoa is ‘guardian angels’. They are depicted in a pair of very beautiful bronze statues on the Plaza. The Plaza actually sits on a rise so everything is down hill from there. We parked on the main street through town, Calle Luis Muñoz Rivera (off Hwy 3) which is so narrow, it’s one-way. Quite typical of a town built 200 years ago. Across the street from the Plaza is a local coffee shop, though I did not take time to check it out.

That reminds me- many of these small town type streets have been paved over and over to the point that the asphalt can stand as high as the sidewalk.

They almost never ‘shave’ the asphalt down before applying a new layer. I mention this only because manhole covers in the street can be 6 inches deep. Kind of like a man-made pothole. I have seen cars scrape bottom from not dodging them. You need to look out for these when driving through the old towns of PR.

The Scenic River Valley

Something I wanted to check out this time around was the river near Tony’s place off Hwy 900.

I thank Tony for showing this to us previously, since there are no signs for a turn-off. Street and road signs are almost nonexistent. It is just before Hwy 900 leaves the valley floor, heading up into the hills. Though to be honest, you simply look up the valley to see where the road would have to go. If you have access to GoogleMaps, that makes it a lot easier to figure out. This is a beautiful short drive up the valley with the river down below.

I stopped several times for photos.

This stream eventually joins the Rio Guayanes on the valley floor. The road meanders all over the hills and deflects to the southwest over to Hwy 769. I have not done this yet so I do not know what to expect. Another trip at another time.

I’ve spoken of bamboo growing on the island on many occasions, but the Yabucoa valley and adjacent mountains has tons of it.

Fresh bamboo sprouts as big as your fist were shooting up everywhere. They literally ‘telescope’ out of the ground. Besides bamboo’s erosion control value, much of the farmland had bamboo for wind-breaks between the fields.

There was a lot of bamboo ‘flotsam’ down by the shoreline too.

After that, we backtracked down the mountain to Tony’s place.

Brigido's Noni from the Yabucoa Valley, Puerto Rico

Yabucoa Fruits of Interest

Several things were ‘in-season’ while we were there and Tony’s brother, Brigido was happy to show to us around.

In particular, he enjoys a little bit of Noni juice in the morning and before going to bed. I won’t go into the many health traits attributed to it, but I was very curious. I’ve seen Noni growing elsewhere, however this was my first time at trying it. He served me a sip in one of those tiny disposable shot cups.

I gotta say, the juice stank to high-heaven and tasted just as bad. It was gross!!! Nasty stuff.

I had read about how disagreeable Noni tasted and they were not kidding. Once they get rubbery soft, they start to stink. I still want to grow some, but I’ll be adding a ‘little bit’ to a blender’s worth of ‘fruit smoothy’ to mask the taste. To be fair, this was a ‘ripe’ fruit. The slightly green, firm ones have no smell at all. Besides, it really IS good for you.

Brigido also pointed out Breadfruit trees growing on the property. Once I knew what they looked like, I saw them growing all over the valley and nearby mountains. Breadfruit trees kind of resemble something from a Dr. Seuss picture book. These were brought over with slaves from Africa to provide cheap sustenance. They are quite popular and something else I want to grow.

Brigido showed us a ‘fuzzy’ berry he is very fond of. This shot is of green ones. They turn a dark purple blue on maturity and have the same texture as a Blueberry.

There were other fruit maturing as well- lemons, oranges, grapefruit, guava, avocados and lots of coconut palms.

My favorite was the Jobillos. A clustering fruit, each about 2″ long and an inch in diameter. These were still green so they were not ready to pick.

It rained off and on, both nights were were there.

Unlike at home where the Coqui frogs only sing at night, these were chirping all day long. More so at night, but you could still hear them during the day. I had never seen so many Coqui in one place. I counted 7 just off the back porch, clinging the pump-house wall. Trying to shoot them by porch light was a little tough.

I’ve spoken before about the ‘Million Dollar View’ from Tony’s place. I tried to catch some lightning strikes over the valley floor, but no luck. I had charged 2 camera batteries before I left and now I was down to the last one. Time exposures really eat up a battery. Next time I’ll bring the charger.

I compiled 22 shots from Tony’s backyard into a very funky, 8 second time-lapse sequence. Maybe I’ll catch some lightning the next time…

A special thanx to Tony and his brother Brigido!

If you have the time or need a serious break from your hectic life on the mainland, then this is a great place to relax and kick back. The rainbow shot was taken looking out his front gate.