Puerto Rico and Southern Caribbean Cruise - Day 2 - San Juan, PR
Puerto Rico - Old San Juan and El Yunque National Forest
We woke early, having gone to bed early the night before. But we felt refreshed and ready to take on San Juan. I think Emmaline slept 11 hours and Roger and I slept 10 hours. The plan for the day was to go to Old San Juan in the morning and then the rainforest in the afternoon. The festival of San Sebastian was going on in the old town and really caused some hiccups in my planning. We ate breakfast in our apartment and headed out to Old San Juan, arriving there at around 8:30 AM. We found a parking spot in a garage that was already almost full! From there, we walked through the town using a self-guided walking tour graciously provided by our AirBnB host. We saw a number of sites including the impressive Raíces Fountain, which represents the mixed heritage of the city. We walked along the outside of the original city wall before entering into the city via the only remaining door in in the wall (Puerta de San Juan) and seeing sites around the area such as San Juan Bautista Cathedral (second oldest in the Americas) and La Fortaleza (originally a 16th century fortification, now the governor's mansion). I really enjoyed our walking tour and next time would really like to go inside the Castillo del Morro fort. We didn't have time as the old town was already getting very busy with people pouring in for the festival. Plus, we were getting hungry. Even though it was only 10:30, because we had gotten up and eaten breakfast so early, we were ready for some brunch.
We had found several places that looked promising for brunch but because so many people were in the city, every place we tried was absolutely insane. We finally found a little bakery near the parking garage and we grabbed a couple of little things to hold us over until lunch. Then we retrieved the car and headed out of the city towards the rainforest, getting stuck in a really bad traffic jam on the way out that was caused by traffic trying to find places to park for the festival.
Not too far from the entrance to the rainforest, we stopped for lunch around noon at some food kiosks nestled against a pretty little empty beach (Luquillo Beach Kioskos). There were a lot of choices, but Emmaline lobbied hard for the pizza kiosk so we ate what turned out to be some really good pizza slices before making our way over to En Yunque National Forest. Unfortunately, because the government shutdown, the visitor's center was closed, but there were some really helpful park rangers outside providing information and handing out maps of the parts of the forest that were open. Regrettably, many parts of El Yunque are still closed as a result of hurricane debris and damage.
Looking at the map and comparing it to the notes I had made during my research, we made a plan of places we wanted to stop. First up, we visited La Coca Falls, which is right on the roadway and was a pretty little waterfall.
After the falls, we made our way to Yokahu observation tower, which was a bit of a climb to get to the top, but definitely worth the amazing views. There were also some bathrooms and a smoothie truck there.
From there, we drove up to Juan Diego Creek and hiked a short way to a little pool with a small waterfall where people were wading or swimming in the cold water. On the way back, we stopped at an observation point (Las Cabezas Observation Point) that we had spotted on the way in and enjoyed the view. The forest was so beautiful and I'm really glad we made the drive over there (made 45 minutes each way). We definitely could have spent more time there, even with many parts of the forest being closed. All in all, we spent about 2 hours in El Yunque, which, for that day, felt like the right amount of time.
We arrived back at our apartment a little after 4 PM and I set about repacking and doing some rearranging for our departure the following morning while Roger rested and Emmaline watched some Netflix. Around 5:30 we made our way up to the main road, stopping into a little bakery to pick up some dessert and then we went to a little restaurant called Molini's. They have a little chalkboard with the menu options for the day and we enjoyed some local cuisine (cash only) before making our way back to our apartment. It was a little early, but we decided to finish packing and turn in so we could be up in the morning and beat the traffic back to the car rental return.
Click here for Day 3.
We woke early, having gone to bed early the night before. But we felt refreshed and ready to take on San Juan. I think Emmaline slept 11 hours and Roger and I slept 10 hours. The plan for the day was to go to Old San Juan in the morning and then the rainforest in the afternoon. The festival of San Sebastian was going on in the old town and really caused some hiccups in my planning. We ate breakfast in our apartment and headed out to Old San Juan, arriving there at around 8:30 AM. We found a parking spot in a garage that was already almost full! From there, we walked through the town using a self-guided walking tour graciously provided by our AirBnB host. We saw a number of sites including the impressive Raíces Fountain, which represents the mixed heritage of the city. We walked along the outside of the original city wall before entering into the city via the only remaining door in in the wall (Puerta de San Juan) and seeing sites around the area such as San Juan Bautista Cathedral (second oldest in the Americas) and La Fortaleza (originally a 16th century fortification, now the governor's mansion). I really enjoyed our walking tour and next time would really like to go inside the Castillo del Morro fort. We didn't have time as the old town was already getting very busy with people pouring in for the festival. Plus, we were getting hungry. Even though it was only 10:30, because we had gotten up and eaten breakfast so early, we were ready for some brunch.
We had found several places that looked promising for brunch but because so many people were in the city, every place we tried was absolutely insane. We finally found a little bakery near the parking garage and we grabbed a couple of little things to hold us over until lunch. Then we retrieved the car and headed out of the city towards the rainforest, getting stuck in a really bad traffic jam on the way out that was caused by traffic trying to find places to park for the festival.
Not too far from the entrance to the rainforest, we stopped for lunch around noon at some food kiosks nestled against a pretty little empty beach (Luquillo Beach Kioskos). There were a lot of choices, but Emmaline lobbied hard for the pizza kiosk so we ate what turned out to be some really good pizza slices before making our way over to En Yunque National Forest. Unfortunately, because the government shutdown, the visitor's center was closed, but there were some really helpful park rangers outside providing information and handing out maps of the parts of the forest that were open. Regrettably, many parts of El Yunque are still closed as a result of hurricane debris and damage.
Looking at the map and comparing it to the notes I had made during my research, we made a plan of places we wanted to stop. First up, we visited La Coca Falls, which is right on the roadway and was a pretty little waterfall.
After the falls, we made our way to Yokahu observation tower, which was a bit of a climb to get to the top, but definitely worth the amazing views. There were also some bathrooms and a smoothie truck there.
From there, we drove up to Juan Diego Creek and hiked a short way to a little pool with a small waterfall where people were wading or swimming in the cold water. On the way back, we stopped at an observation point (Las Cabezas Observation Point) that we had spotted on the way in and enjoyed the view. The forest was so beautiful and I'm really glad we made the drive over there (made 45 minutes each way). We definitely could have spent more time there, even with many parts of the forest being closed. All in all, we spent about 2 hours in El Yunque, which, for that day, felt like the right amount of time.
We arrived back at our apartment a little after 4 PM and I set about repacking and doing some rearranging for our departure the following morning while Roger rested and Emmaline watched some Netflix. Around 5:30 we made our way up to the main road, stopping into a little bakery to pick up some dessert and then we went to a little restaurant called Molini's. They have a little chalkboard with the menu options for the day and we enjoyed some local cuisine (cash only) before making our way back to our apartment. It was a little early, but we decided to finish packing and turn in so we could be up in the morning and beat the traffic back to the car rental return.
Click here for Day 3.
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