Let's Travel: Camuy River Cave Park, Rio Camuy, Puerto Rico

After spending 2 days in San Juan, it was time to move on to the next level and start our road trip across Puerto Rico. Thanks to the greatest trip planner in the World (also known as my hubby :) ) everything was perfectly planned so we didn't waste any time.

On January 3rd early morning we went to Charlie's Car Rental in Isla Verde to pick up our ride. By the way, this company is the most popular one in Puerto Rico.
After picking up our car, we hit the road for the first stop of the day: Parque de las Cavernas del Río Camuy


We used the PR-22 highway since it's the faster way. There are 2-3 toll plazas between San Juan and Camuy. While renting the car, we recommend you to get E-Z Pass enabled. Most of the toll fees are around 1-3 USD. 

We arrived the Cave Park around 10AM, purchased our tickets and started waiting for the guided tour.
After 10-15 minutes of wait tour guides started loading us into two orange trains to get to the Clara cave. 

They don't allow visitors to roam around by themselves between the Welcome Center and the cave entrance since it's neither safe nor convenient. They also provide audio tours before visitors get onto the train.

I like how organized they were. The audio tour was well planned and divided into checkpoints and these checkpoints were clearly marked throughout the cave.

Cave floor is, naturally, a bit slippery; Other than that it's very child/elderly friendly walking tour and the tour guides are very attentive.

The following is the first view we saw before entering the cave and we immediately loved the place. 

This cave is a composition of thick stalagmites and long stalactites. Former are the ones coming from ground and the latter are growing upside down from the ceiling.

Here is the labrynth inside the Cueva Clara. This cave has a natural light inside because of the openings on both ends. The audio tour said native American Indians used such caves (with natural light) for their rituals.

Throughout the cave, we listened to the beautiful background music performed by Coqui frogs. Coquis are tiny frogs endemic to Puerto Rico and there are 16 different species of them. It's amazing how each species has a different sound. The most common one calls out it's own name "Co-qui --- Co-qui" :) And this is the most frequent street noise you will hear when you visit PR (aka Isla del Encanta). 

A navigation tip (learned from the audio guide) for the cave enthusiast: While navigating in a cave listen carefully for crickets. If you follow the cricket sound, you will reach the entrance/exit. Because crickets live right near the cave openings, but not inside.  

Below are beautiful views of the entrance from inside. 

This is la Bruja, the cave witch. Bruja means witch in Spanish. This is one of the challenges given in the audio tour (it said "look around carefully and find La Bruja") and this is really easy to spot. :)

Couple of feet from this point is a corner where we make turn and start walking on the parallel path towards the starting point. We noticed the temperature significantly raised when we got closer to the corner. Then the audio guide explained that Clara is the home of thousands of bats who were sleeping right near the corner and they increase the temperature with their body heat. Luckily, the visit was at their beauty nap time so that we didn't have to stay and chat. :-P

Here is another view of Clara. 

All in all, it's a must visit attraction if you're visiting San Juan/Arecibo/Lares area.
While you're around, don't forget to buy some fresh fruits from roadside fruit sellers. We thought we would find plenty of them during the road trip and postponed, but couldn't find anywhere else. :(

Hope you enjoyed this post.
Next post will be on Arecibo Observatory, home of  the World’s largest single dish radio telescope.  

Let's Travel: San Juan, Puerto Rico (2)

As promised in the first part, I will continue the series with Viejo San Juan.

We decided to spend the whole January 2nd in Old San Juan, since there are so many things to see down there. We took the B21 bus in front of Ashford Park (Bus fares are $0.75 per person (pp)).
It took like 30 minutes to reach the Capitol building and Castillo San Cristobal area.

We were so lucky to witness the day-long parade of locals. They were so happy and local bands were performing on the streets, the occasion was the inauguration of Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla. In fact, when we arrived there he was giving his speech. :) (More info can be found here)

Our first stop was Castillo San Cristobal, which is one of the two important castles in San Juan (San Juan National Historic Site). Spain built them in 16th (and then 18th because of an earthquake) century to protect the land and the wealth against the land based attacks.
Entrance fee for this castle is $3pp but if you want to visit both castles then it is $5pp.
This castle has a guardhouse, a main plaza, and troops quarters. The view is amazing up there, you will definitely enjoy. And if you're lucky, you will meet the Mr Iguana here like we did :)

I have our own photos, but this panoramic view given in Wikipedia is too beautiful not to share. :)

The most interesting part for me was the extensive underground tunnels and sentry boxes (or "garitas" in Spanish) as shown here. They were placing sentinels in these garitas to watch for enemy attacks and warn the army when it's time.




One of the underground tunnels lead us to a dungeon. It was used as a jail cell and one of the prisoners, a captain, draw these ships on the wall with whatever he could find then, simply because he missed his beloved sea and ships so much. I don't know why it makes me sad every time I remember this. :(

1-2 hours will be enough to see this castle. The next part of La Fortaleza is Castillo San Felipe del Morro.
There is a complimentary shuttle between two castles, but we wanted to walk since the road is nice and scenic. It takes about 15-20 minutes if you go directly from Cristobal to San Felipe del Morro. If you prefer to walk, you will get to see these beautiful Old San Juan houses.

But we stopped by Old San Juan streets first, took some photos, visited some shops and had lunch at Cafe del Totem.

Streets were so crowded. Most of the people dressed in red and white tones and they were singing along with a Puerto Rican all children band. We didn't understand the lyrics but we got that they were some national/folk songs as everybody knew them and they had this proud look.  :)

Cafe del Totem is a nice on street restaurant-bar. They were the only restaurant with gluten free-vegan items in their menu, so we decided to have lunch in there.
Their non-alcoholic Pina Colada was nice. Also if you go there, you can try their tostones and cheese tacos. Their langusta (lobster) creole was not very good thou, so I wouldn't recommend.

El Morro was the next stop, but what a beautiful one... There is a huge green field by the castle where people lay down, play, fly kites and enjoy the view. Even the big Spanish cemetery next door couldn't spoil the beauty of this area.

This castle had 5 levels and more area to discover. There are ramps or geometric-shaped (we saw triangular and circular) staircases to go between levels. Both staircases were hard to use for me, I can't imagine how soldiers managed to run up and down there without falling/breaking their bones. :)

All in all, La Fortaleza is a must see if you're visiting San Juan.

Now, one thing to keep in mind when in Puerto Rico is that there is no schedule in here. Buses come whenever they feel like, you can sit down in a restaurant without being served for maybe an hour. It is a tropical island and everybody is so relaxed. It maybe the US land, but has nothing to do with the mainland. The good side: Once you're done with your meal nobody will shove you off or bring the bill immediately. If you want to relax a bit and chat before leaving, then you'll have the chance to do it no matter how crowded the waiting line is.

If you want to return your hotel (from Old San Juan) by bus, which I do not recommend, the last bus runs at 9:30pm. Taxi is a more sensible option. Even for that you will have to wait for a while. From Old San Juan to Condado costs about $10 by cab.

Hope you enjoyed reading these two parts about San Juan, Puerto Rico and you found the tips helpful.
Please do share your memories from San Juan and tips in the comment field below.

Next post of the Let's Travel series will be on Parque de las Cavernas del Rio Camuy.
Cheers :)

Let's Travel: San Juan, Puerto Rico (1)

It has been so long since my last post.
I decided to give some travel tips based on our recent trip to Puerto Rico.
We covered almost all of the island in one week, but I will post it in parts for the sake of simplicity.

We traveled on December 31, 2012 from JFK Airport, NY. When we arrived SJU Airport in San Juan, PR it was around 10:30pm. So we started the new years's eve in NYC and ended in another land. :)

Our first destination was Condado/Ocean Park district in San Juan, which is also known as the hip and trendy district. You can find our hotel information here: http://www.atwindchimesinn.com/
Our first impression was how Spanish colonial looking the hotel architecture is. Decorated well, maintained well, a bit pricey especially for holiday season but is worth it.





Ocean Park beach is too windy to swim especially in this season. Overall it's a nice place for surfers.
There are a lot of dogs (with their owners) on the beach, that's why atmosphere is not very serene because of all the barks and runs. :(

Walking around was very pleasant thou. I like the fresh feeling of sun, breeze, and coconut&mango trees everywhere.
One nice thing to do after a walk is to stop by their famous frozen yogurt chain Yogen Früz, we like that they're completely gluten free.
By the way, if you're eating gluten free way/have Celiac disease bring a lot of trail mixes with you to San Juan. Because it is almost impossible to find a place with gluten free menu.
Puerto Rican specials: Corn sticks and Mofongo will be your friend. :)


If you need a late night nosh go to a nearby To-Go convenience store which is open 7/24. They have complimentary wifi, coffee shop, Subway store and lots of variety on "bebidas" (drinks).






You must spare a day to visit Viejo (Old) San Juan, which will the the subject of the next post. :)
Hope you enjoy the first part.