The Scurvy Dog's Puerto Rican Blog

TROPIC VENTURES, A True Borinquen Vibe

& Sustainable Rainforest Enrichment Project

I stumbled onto the Tropic Ventures Web site while trying to track down local sources for live Bamboo shoots. Bamboo is great for controlling surface water erosion, but grows like a weed (It is a grass, after all). Among other activities, Tropic Ventures offers a walking tour and a home cooked gourmet lunch for $20. That sounded like a deal so I wanted to check them out.

The group’s ‘mission objective’ as quoted from their Web site:

“The project’s mission is to demonstrate the economic use of rain forest land using methods that do not destroy the forest ecology.”

Their black and white brochure introduced
me to a new word-
Silviculture.

Per Wikipedia: “Silviculture is the practice of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to meet diverse needs and values of the many landowners, societies and cultures.”

A Spanish idea. OK… I like that. I’m no tree-hugger, but I do support and expect the responsible management of renewable resources. Otherwise, they are not technically renewable if we use them up. Time for new management. [Read more…] about TROPIC VENTURES, A True Borinquen Vibe

San Juan Photo & Social Club, Woohoo!

A ‘Meetup’ group made for folks like me

Before I took off on my first trip to Puerto Rico, I looked online to see if there were any ‘Meetup’ groups there. If you are not familiar with them, they are simply small groups or clubs of like minded folks. Any theme or idea can be the basis for a Meetup. There were a bunch in Alaska and thousands of them all over the US. Not so many outside the US. Well, as luck would have it, there IS a Photo Meetup group in PR (based in San Juan). I finally had the opportunity to meet these folks and spend the day shooting in and around Ponce (on my side of the island).

I have a lot of experience with non-profit volunteer organizations via my involvement with the JayCees. At one time, the JayCees were very popular in Alaska. Anyway, I learned a long time ago to keep expectations to a minimum… That I could not expect more than I was willing to contribute and that making time to participate has a direct effect on the group’s success.

I was pleasantly surprised with the SJ [Read more…] about San Juan Photo & Social Club, Woohoo!

Arroyo, PR… ‘Pueblo Grato’ (Grateful Town)

The Old Sugar Mills & Plantations of PR, Part 3

As mentioned in my 2 previous posts, the area in South East PR was home to the last Sugarcane haciendas (plantations) and sugar mills.

If Guayama was the epicenter of this climatic chapter in PR’s history, then Arroyo was its ‘port of call’ on the coast. The commercial port at Aguirre Central did not come into being until the early 1930’s.

The ‘Welcome to Arroyo’ sign is a sculpture commemorating buccaneers of the sea and days gone by.

Profiteering & smuggling were very much a part of its past!

As per the last post, we were there on a Thursday. It was hot and humid but there was a little bit of a breeze down by the sea. That did take the edge off the +90F heat.

Arroyo is a sleepy little town about 1/4 the size of Guayama. It was formally founded on Christmas day, 1855, but was a Spanish settlement long before that. Its always been a popular rest stop on the way to other destinations. However, Arroyo has a checkered past. Legend has it, that a ship wrecked individual washed up at Arroyo. They thought he had Cholera so they tossed him back into the sea. At the time, Cholera was widespread across the island. Another story claims a local known for his generosity, came down with Bubonic plague and was reportedly burned alive to protect its citizens. It was known back then as ‘Pueblo Ingrato’. These events have haunted Arroyo ever since. Hence its desire to clean up its reputation and declare itself, Pueblo Grato.

Guayama, PR… ‘The City of Witches’

The Old Sugar Mills & Plantations of PR, Part 2

As mentioned in my last post, the area in South East PR was home to the last Sugarcane haciendas (plantations) and sugar mills. This is evident by the numerous red brick structures still standing from its distant past.

Guayama was the epicenter of this climatic chapter in Puerto Rico’s history.

Guayama as a settlement dates to before its founding in 1736 and boasted no less than 200 houses, a church and plaza by 1776. Guayama was also involved in the Spanish American War of 1898. Two battles were fought here, one in Guayama (August 5, 1898) and one North of town (August 9, 1898) as part of a campaign to move on Cayey, then on to San Juan. The war ended before that happened.

The nickname comes from the fact that African folklore is still celebrated today. This must not be confused with ‘black magic’ or Haitian rituals. There is a week long festival in March, the colorful Brujo Carnival.

There are several other fairs to see in Guayama, but the Dulce Sueño Fair is high on the local’s list. A celebration to honor the esteemed Paso Fino horse. I’ve seen a couple of these smaller horses out where I live. They are of Spanish origin and brought to Puerto Rico hundreds of years ago, however the Paso Fino is unique to Puerto Rico as its a mix of 3 specific breeds. A subject I will explore in the future. [Read more…] about Guayama, PR… ‘The City of Witches’

The Old Sugar Mills & Plantations of PR, Part 1

One of my favorite photo subjects is ruins and old run-down industrial buildings. Great subjects for fine art images. Seeing history with my own eyes is just too cool. To that end, I plan to spend several posts covering the sugar, rum and railroad history of PR. This is the first installment in that effort.

I’ve spent a lot of time researching sugar production and the rum (ron/Spanish) distilleries of Puerto Rico.

Coffee, tobacco and sugar cane were the primary income crops from the time the island was ‘settled’ until well into the 20th century. Slavery, followed by cheap, unorganized labor was the driving force behind all production. As labor costs increased, the Spanish and then American interests proceeded to mechanize where they could. Some plantations were still using ox drawn carts to transport the cane from the fields, up through the late 1940’s.

Prior to the interstate highways, there was a rail service that circled almost the entire island. What’s more, lots of plantations (haciendas) would have their own narrow gauge trains working the fields and local sugar mills. There were many of these small sugar mills spread out all over PR. [Read more…] about The Old Sugar Mills & Plantations of PR, Part 1