Isla East Region, Puerto Rico

Where everyone has a ‘Million Dollar View’

By special invitation, me First Mate and I had the opportunity to visit with a family on Christmas vacation from Chicago. Tony had seen me scurvy blog and wanted to show us around Yabucoa. It is part of the east coast I had not toured yet, so I jumped at the chance. He grew up here and has lots of family here. He and his wife will eventually retire to Yabucoa and I totally relate to that.

It took us about an hour and a half to go from the Santa Isabel/ Coamo exit on Hwy 52, to Yabucoa proper. The drive was along Hwy 53 and 3 via Guayama and Maunabo, then up over a steep mountain range into the Yabucoa valley.

A Slow but Scenic Route

There is a great view from the Yabucoa side of the mountain of the valley below. All of the roads in Puerto Rico are paved, but some are hardly 2 lanes wide. Then with folks dodging the bad spots (and there are many), its not possible to do more than about 40mph. This is not an expressway like the highway from San Juan to Ponce. That said, I love driving through this area. The east side of the island is wetter and because of this, much more lush, much more tropical looking than the dry south side of PR where we live. I do need to state that the drive from San Juan would be much quicker and not near as ‘eventful’ as the route we took from Coamo. From Caguas, Hwy 30 will take you directly to Humacao and then Hwy 3 on into Yabucoa. Hwy 3 is slower, but much more interesting to drive.

Tony’s place is off Hwy 900 which takes you back up into the mountains, just above the 200 meter mark (per GoogleMaps), giving a fantastic view over the valley all the way to the coast. The valley and surrounding mountains are very lush with the trade winds coming up off the east coast.

The weather was humid with broken overcast and somewhat hazy.

The 21st Century is catching up here too. To the left of his place, a brand new cell tower is being assembled. Fortunately, it will not obstruct his view when it’s finished. Getting one of these in your backyard is like hitting the jack-pot. The monthly lease is more than most folks earn.

Except at Christmas, Tony makes his place available to folks looking for a retreat from the hectic pace of city life. A place to relax and unwind. Out back is a large covered patio. The panoramic image was taken from his backyard. It’s a perfect place to stage short trips to the beach or into the neighboring parks. His brother care-takes for them. It is immaculately maintained inside and out. Fruit bearing trees and palms are spread across the property. A very private, gated place. You can see it listed here.

A Traditional Hearty Lunch

Upon arrival, we chatted for awhile and then were treated to a traditional meal of Sancocho and steamed rice for lunch. Sancocho is a heavy soup or stew of pigs feet, local tubers, onions, peppers, coriander, oregano, recao, garlic salt and black pepper served with rice on the side. Tony and his brother had collected the tubers, the day before. The one in the photo is Yautia and is typical of the region. That was followed by handmade Pasteles, a Christmas tradition here in PR. They are similar to tamales, wrapped in banana (plantain) leaves and boiled. They are made from yautia, plantains and potatoes. The meal was absolutely fantastic! I loved it all. Traditional Puerto Rican food is hearty without being too spicy or heavy. Some of it is hot, but not too hot. Great flavors.

After a short pause, we went up the road to the home of another brother where the family Christmas celebration was still in full swing. Several generations of family were there from babies to their great grandmother. The hospitality was most generous… we felt most privileged. Their house was nestled in the mountains with stands of full bamboo everywhere.

Visiting Friends in the Surrounding Hills

From here, we went even farther into the hills to visit a few of his close friends.

The paved road was so narrow and so steep (with no shoulders at all) that we had to honk our horns to warn on-coming traffic.

This took us past many more homes and huge boulders the size of 2 story houses. The vegetation was every bit as lush as being in El Yunque. Plantain, exotic flowers, trees and bamboo were everywhere. We finally reached their home at the end of a ridge overlooking another valley. It was an imaculate place.. a mix of old traditional and brand new concrete work. All beautifully done. Chickens and Guinea hens were running around, the smell of a wood fired hearth filled the air. The separate outside kitchen with hearth (fogon) was a holdover from the old days. It was the real real McCoy, not something staged for tourists.

The garden running along the side of the house was full of exotic flowers and fruit bearing trees like Tamarindo and star fruit. Something I had not seen before, Icaco is a small white fruit with a large seed, nicknamed the coco plum. Sweet lemons, Oranges, and a huge coffee tree were all bearing fruit. Further down the hill was a small stand of sugarcane. We scored several samples of things to take home. I have sugarcane cuttings in pots now!

Their generosity will never be forgotten.

It was starting to hit 5PM and we still had the long ride home to contend with. Tony guided us down the mountain along the river valley in an area that was every bit as beautiful as what we had seen earlier. Once at the bottom, we paused and said our goodbyes. Tony and his wife Daisy were extremely kind and generous.

This was by far, one of my best days in Puerto Rico.

I will be back to Yabucoa to do a more in-depth article about the town itself, as well as its sugarcane history along with other points of interest near by.

The east side of the island has lots to offer, Yabucoa in particular.

A Major ARRG from the Scurvy Dog of PR!