The Scurvy Dog's Puerto Rican Blog

Year End Wrap Up, 2012

What a year it’s been!

In 2012, I was able to visit 6 more towns I had not seen. Those included Hatillo, Camuy, Quebradillas, Isabella, Toa Baja and Dorado. I revisited San Juan (several times), Ponce, Salinas, Coamo and Cataño. At this point, I’ve photographed about half the plazas of Puerto Rico. I’ll bump that number up for 2013.

We still need to visit the 4 or 5, outer islands of Puerto Rico.

Coffin island and Gilligan’s island are high on my hit list. Mona, Vieques and Culebra require a little more planning, but they will happen.

Then there are a few photo subjects that have eluded me…

The very rare Puerto Rican parrot, the runaway monkeys in the southwest, nesting sea turtles and whales off the northwest corner.

Then there is the most elusive of all… El Chupacabra. I may have to fake that one.

There are still plenty of ruins to shoot.

I don’t think I’ve visited but about 1/4 of those. Caves off the ‘beaten path’ will be investigated. I’ll never be a dedicated spelunker, but there are a few caves I can easily access.

Puerto Rico is a photographer’s dream come true.

Of Special Note- I scored my Puerto Rican Driver’s License AND my Voter ID Card this year. I voted in the last election! Now I’ve truly ‘burned my boat’. This is home. [Read more…] about Year End Wrap Up, 2012

Tuesday After Lunch- Another Day in Paradise

Good News, Bad News…

The Good- I finally scored a Puerto Rican Drivers License! I got mine today. I had been fretting over this for quite some time. When I first moved to PR, not all States had ‘reciprocity’ with Puerto Rico. That is, only certain States DL’s could be traded across for a new PR license. Alaska was not one of those States.

To add insult to injury, the written test is in Spanish only, as is the Drivers Manual.

My time was running out as my Alaska license expires the middle of December.

Departamento de Transportacion y Obras Publicas (DTOP)

The rules are the same as the mainland, but with a slight ‘local twist’. All the sign shapes are the same, but in Spanish. They drive on the same side of the road as the rest of the US… Speed Limit signs are in miles, but the green ‘distance to’ signs are in kilometers. It’s also important to watch for the yellow stripe going across the road to identify a school zone… those are 15 mph if not marked, some are posted even lower. They are easy to miss. I’m only glossing over a few key details… there are others.

So early last week we decided to check and see what I would need to get a PR License.

Besides surrendering my old license, I was going to need a medical form I downloaded from the net, signed off by my doctor who charged me $15 for ‘document fees’, MY Passport for proof of where I was born (otherwise, I would have needed a certified copy of my Birth Certificate), MY Social Security Card, Proof of residence based on a bill showing our street address in MY name which is a kilometer mark on a highway and made more difficult because bills are mailed to our PO Box (the Post Office does not deliver mail house to house in rural areas where there are no house numbers) AND 2 stamps- of $1 and $10 denomination we got from the Departamento de Hacienda (the State Revenue Office). [Read more…] about Tuesday After Lunch- Another Day in Paradise

Guillermo’s Garden in Cayey

The addition of gardening to me scurvy blog has proved to be very popular. So much so that I’ve been chatting with several folks, in and outside of Puerto Rico.

One of them is a local guy, Guillermo

After exchanging a few emails, he and I decided we should meet and trade a few plants. He lives near Cayey and runs a small nursery. It’s only about 40 minutes from our place to Cayey, an easy run.

In the process, I got to check out what he’s working on and pick up a ‘few’ tips.

I also got to photograph a few species that have eluded me since I’ve been here. Names for some plants vary by country and even by region, but Guillermo was very helpful with providing botanical names for the ones I was not familiar with.

If you are coming from San Juan, Cayey is after Caguas, but before you leave the mountains on the south side of the island.

It is a few degrees cooler and a lot wetter than where we live.

It was great that I was able to provide him with a few things he was looking for.

He had mature Dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) plants that produce white fruit, but not the red fruit I had discovered in a Ponce grocery store. I still had 2/3’s of a tray of the Pitaya sprouts so I handed those off to him. [Read more…] about Guillermo’s Garden in Cayey

Classic Puerto Rico, Hatillo on the North Shore

This story concludes our one day mega-run through the northwest shore of Puerto Rico. A marathon day, we do not intend to repeat.

My feet were killing me by the time we finished.

We started with Isabela, then moved on to Quebradillas and Camuy.

Each town had its own unique flavor.

Hatillo is situated on the coast, east of Camuy and west of Arecibo.

Hatillo has a population of about 42,000 people. It was founded in 1823 by Don Agustín Ruiz Miranda, an immigrant from the Canary Islands. Its primary source of revenue comes from dairy products and Hatillo supplies PR with about 1/3 of all milk consumed on the island.

Since we were coming from Camuy, we took Highway 119 instead of Highway 2. Either of these will get you there. Highway 119, which becomes Avenue Drive Susoni, took us to within a block of the plaza where we found parking.

The plaza is a large open space, peppered with a variety of trees and bordered by a short wall with colorful park benches running to the inside of it. There are also series of old fashioned street lights spread across the plaza. I bet the plaza looks real nice when lit up. [Read more…] about Classic Puerto Rico, Hatillo on the North Shore

On to Camuy on the Northwest Coast

This is part 3 of a 4 part series. We previously covered Isabela and Quabradillas so next up are the beaches and town of Camuy.

A Few Words About the Caves

By far, the one place Camuy is most famous for is the Rio Camuy Cave Park. This is seriously one of the top 10 attractions on the entire island. I covered it in great detail last year.

We will be going back, too. It’s that awesome!

In fact, this end of PR is riddled with caves. Some are easy to explore, others not so much. If caving is your thing then you must check out the Kruse Chronicles, a blog run by a couple who devote almost all their free time to exploring the caves of Puerto Rico. [Read more…] about On to Camuy on the Northwest Coast