Isla Mountain Central, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico Video “From the Road #2″…

Road Video: A Scenic Drive in Barrio Collores

You get a look at the typical homes and people, the gardens and colors along the road. I love this kind of relaxing drive through the countryside because it teaches me more in an afternoon than reading what’s written in any guides. This casual life is what convinced me that Puerto Rico is where I wanted to be.

I was able to assemble one more “From the Road” video before my departure next week. This one was shot in the mountains west of Coamo, in the Barrio Collores area of Juana Diaz. Very different from the first video, but very typical of Puerto Rico’s interior. No Palm trees to speak of. Again, this is most of 10 minutes. Its hard to edit it down when there is so much to see. My VadoHD video camera mounted in a custom bracket and clamped to the roof rack of my ride did all the work.

The music was courtesy of the Free Music Archive a great resource for me!

On to Salinas, Cayey and Caguas

For this stretch of the trip the weather was real hit or miss. It did make for some dramatic cloud shots. I attempted to shoot more ‘Road Trip Videos’, but I had to stop every time it started to rain. I’ll try to back track to the best spots later.

El Yunque National Forest

The ONLY rain forest in the US Forest System

I elected to do a regular tour.. It solved the transportation issue and gave me some insight into what the locals think. I choose E&B Tours.. I was picked up at my hotel in a nice big van and was joined by 5 other people taking the same half day tour. Edwin, our guide and driver was very friendly and spoke English well enough that I never had a problem understanding him.

Once we passed the main entrance, our first stop was the El Portal Rain Forest Center. It had several dedicated displays.. all very well done. I loved the architecture of the place. I asked for a brochure and got a simple black and white hand out… budgets must be tight these days. There is a gift shop and a small concession there, but it was still early. [Read more…] about El Yunque National Forest

4th Week of Puerto Rico Blog

The Plan: I should be able to spend 2 to 3 days in Ponce checking out the islands 2nd largest city. There are several museums and historical sites to see here. Then I will proceed from there, into the mountains to Santa Isabel, up to Coamo, Villalba, and Jayuya. That will be followed by Adjuntas and Utuado. By then, I’ll have only a couple days to get my tail back to the airport in San Juan for the trip home. This assumes everything went as planned and I don’t really expect anything to go as planned! So I am prepared to extend the trip a week or two if needed to hit every place I have in mind. This IS during Hurricane season, ya know. Arrg!!!

2nd Week of Puerto Rico Travel Blog

The Plan: The goal here, is to go east to Loiza, then over to Fajardo via Rio Grande and Luquillo and Las Croabas. Then spend one to two days at the El Yunque Preserve. I also plan to get out to Monkey Island too! By the 5th or 6th day, I hope to be in Caguas. That will have taken me through Humacao, Arroyo, Salinas and Cayey. I should have taken in a Cock Fight by then and checked out the casinos too. I will finish out the week in Caguas checking out the town before heading back through San Juan to the North shore.