Throwback Thursday: Puerto Rico

So I’ve been traveling a lot the past few weeks, for work then for fun, then we had guests. So until I catch up with uploading photos, here’s a throwback to a vacation destination I hadn’t really considered going to until friends brought it up.  

Also, I’ve decided to make my Instagram public! So catch up with me there as well! 

As a celebration of finishing grad school, in 2011, I traveled to Puerto Rico with a group of friends to soak up some sun, history and of course some tropical drinks.  We stayed in a beach front hotel (complete with a swim up bar!) in San Juan, which was a great location for getting to many attractions.  Why should you visit PR? If the warm weather isn’t enough to tempt you, Old San Juan is a beautiful city with colonial style buildings painted in pastel and tropical colors, and is a pleasure to walk around.  We wandered the streets there finding delicious bars and restaurants.

El Morro is an old fort with tons of history that you can walk around explore, and it overlooks the ocean with stunning views.  It was built in the 1500s, when Puerto Rico was a Spanish colony, and played an important role in many battles in the Caribbean.

We also visited the Bacardi factory, which is free, and gives an interesting history of the rum and the family who started the business.  It does not, however, go much into the rum making process, but you get free drinks at the end (or did at the time of my visit) so it was over all a good time.

Unfortunately, there aren’t photos, but we went kayaking in the bio luminescent bay near San Juan, where micro organisms cause the water to glow when it is disturbed (paddled or swam in).  Though kayaking in a tandem kayak in the dark through the mangroves was a challenge, we survived and it was beautiful and totally worth it.

Another night we met up with a friend who lived in San Juan and went to a salsa club where we found willing salsa teachers and were able to sip drinks and dance a bit, even if it wasn’t dancing well.

El Yunque was another day trip we took, driving through the rain forest in a rental car, and looking at the lush surrounding environment.  It was raining quite heavily that day, but still was an enjoyable experience.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed Puerto Rico and San Juan as a destination, and would be happy to re visit in the future.  There were definitely more educational and historical activities than I’d originally anticipated, which was a good balance to the lounging on the beach that also occurred.

Have you traveled to the Caribbean?  What’s your favorite (or dream) destination?