We had enough bonus sky miles on our Southwest Credit Card to pay for the plane tickets so that was paid for. We found a studio apartment on VRBO.com that was $844 total for 11 nights including taxes and cleaning fees. This was WAY cheaper than going the hotel route and we had a kitchen with a grocery store across the stree and the beach was right out our window. So with flights, 11 night stay at the studio apartment, food, rental car, gas and excursions I believe we spent a little less than $1,500. Not bad for an 11 day vacation (The reason it was so long is because those are the times the flights were cheapest)!
Before I tell about our vacation, let me just say a HUGE thank you shout out to the Simon family who watched our boys for us. It was extra pressure on them since Spencer is still learning to stay dry every day with potty training (he's doing good don't get me wrong but he's certainly not 100%) and a couple days into watching them they both got sick! I missed them terribly. It was so hard to see all the kids playing at the beach and not miss them and wish they were with us. But I also must say there's something to be said for a husband&wife vacation! We haven't been on vacation just the two of us since our honeymoon. It was SUCH a wonderful, rejuvinating, relaxing trip just me and the hubs. I loved spending so much time with Darrin!
Ok-here comes a long post with lots of details and LOTS of pictures. Sorry in advance :)
Day 1: Traveling all day long. Got into PR at 10:50pm.
Day 2: Del morro fort in old San Juan. It was incredible! The most amazing fort-created by Spain to protect the island from people who wanted to take it. It started to be built in the mid 1800s and took 250 years to complete. It was built by slaves and prisoners under the military. It was an extremely windy day but blue skies non-the-less. It rained twice for very short periods. Lots of walking. We bought a kite and flew it there in the courtyard which was fun. Then we walked to see the cathedral where a sermon was going on. The building was beautiful. Grocery shopping, got a rexbox (Austenland) :)
Day 3: went to El Yunque Rainforest! It was beautiful. We drove with the windows down to hear the birds chirping and singing. We stopped at LA coco falls (gorgeous waterfall right off the road), Yokahu tower that had a 360degree lookout to the rainforest (right when we got to the top lookout it started pouring rain so we took cover for a few minutes until it stopped-so pretty), then we hiked to LA Mina falls (about a 40 minute hike each way with lots of ups and downs in the path and lush beauty all around) the falls were really pretty with optional swimming at the bottom (it was too cold and rainy so we didn't get in) but we liked the coco falls better as far as falls go. We ate our subway lunch we brought up at the falls and headed back down. It was just pouring and pouring rain. On the way back down. We got soaking wet! We took cover for a bit under a canopy but then made for the car. After the rainforest we went to Loquillo beach. It was windy and a bit chilly and we didn't really come prepared for the beach (no towels). But we ended up getting in half way but the the waves were crashing into us soaking us so we stayed in all the wave crashing waves for quite a while! It was really fun. Then we headed to a bakery for ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner and home to shower. We rented a redbox-romeo&Juliet and went to bed. Great day!
Day 4: It's Easter Sunday! We tried to go to church but searched for a nearby church address for over an hour without any luck. So we watched LDS.org videos at the apartment, went to explore the beach just outside of our apartment (really long stretch of nice beach) and ended up getting in and doing lots of shell searching. We found quite a few nice shells! We were hoping to get some sand dollars (saw a few but they kept washing back to the ocean too fast) but we couldn't catch them. It started pouring rain so we eventually headed back for lunch at the apartment. After, we went to see the rest of the old San Juan fort we hadn't seen yet. It was neat although the other fort was more impressive. But they did have a really cool dungeon there that a ship captain was held until exectution and he drew pictures on the walls of his ship. It rained quite a bit which gave us a beautiful rainbow which was awesome! After that we went home and made spaghetti and watched grudge match.
Day 5: Today we took the ferry to the island of Culebra. We had to wake up at 5:50am to try and catch the ferry and got there at 7:20 and actually got tickets! Lots of people go all the way there and don't get tickets. Then we waited until 9 to board the ferry. The ride was an hour long and bumpy so I got a bit sea sick which wasn't fun. But once we got there we took a taxi ($3 each) and drove to flamenco beach (supposed to be one of the top 3 most beautiful beaches in the world) and it did not disappoint! It was gorgeous! The softest white sand I've ever walked on, every color of blue and greens in the ocean, shady spots, some spots had waves, other spots were calm, there were 2 super old tanks on the beach which were cool to explore, and the weather was perfect. We went out snorkeling a bit at first and saw a couple stingrays buried in the sand and some fish but nothing too impressive. The cool thing is the water was SO clear! Then we walked down the beach and I relaxed while Darrin did more snorkeling. He called me out to come see something which was a big sea snap slithering across the ocean floor! I picked it up and we went to shore to take pictures of it. Then we tried to let it go but really wanted to keep it so we did... Then Darrin dug a massive hole in the sand down to the water which we played in. Then back to town for dinner (we had pizza) and to catch the ferry back. It was a long wait for the ferry (1hr 45 min) but the workers gave us special treatment (I'm assuming its because I'm pregnant) and put us under the shade with chairs to wait. Then the ferry ride back was long but at least I didn't get sea sick that time. Then we drove home. Such an incredible beach day and the whole day was super cheap.
Day 6: Today we went to Las Americas Mall (gigantic!!!!) Which had every store imaginable (3 huge floors). I got a necklace and maxi skirt. Darrin was so patient while shopping :). We then went to the movie theater in the mall ($7.75/ticket for a matinee :() and saw the new captain America. It was pretty good but some parts were confusing. After the movie we had to rush off to get to Fajardo again to make it for our Bioilluminesent bay tour we booked that morning. We were stuck in traffic and really worried we wouldn't make it in time but our prayers were answered and we made it barely! It was getting really dark and we got our lifejackets and paddles and headed to the kayaks that had glow sticks on the front and back. We then paddled with our tour in a single line (Darrin and I shared a kayak) and went into the mangrove (big tree) covered river type path to the lagoon. Soon our paddles were GLOWING every time they hit the water! We played with the water in our hands that sparkled and glowed neon. I felt like I was in a Disney movie it was so magical! When we made it to the lagoon the sky was full of stars and the glowing water was so beautiful! When you would bang your kayak the fish would swim which made them glow and leave trails of glow. There were hundreds of fish. SO so amazingly beautiful and magical! Well worth the $54/person we paid!
Day 7: We started today with the Caves of Camuy. They gave us a discount randomly which was nice (we only had to pay $10/person when the sign said $12 and reviews said $15). They took us on a tram to the start of the caves and a guide took us through and explained the history of the caves (huge) and some cool facts. We saw some bays and some water pools (water slowly dripped all through the cave from the ceiling too). It was pretty cool. Then we headed to the Arecibo Observatory which is a massive satellite here in PR that senses all kinds of radio sound and light waves from long distances. It was so huge and cool to see. They also had a visitor's center there which had some neat things. After that, we stopped at a local bakery for lunch on the way to our next destination. No one spoke much English, everything was pretty cheap, and there was a homeless looking guy there who was making fun of us to the workers in spanish the entire time. Haha. Darrin could tell he was saying we needed to learn the way things worked there and why were we in such a hurry to pay for our food etc. Pretty funny. The sandwhich I got was amazing there! Our next stop was the Indian caves which turned out to be so incredible! You pay $2 to park $0.50/person. To get in and then you have the option of taking a tour with a local guide who works for tips. Our guides name was Jacob. He was so awesome! He led us on top of this cave to some of the most gorgeous views either Darrin or I had ever seen. Lots of movies were filmed here like pirates of the carribean. The waves were just crashing against the beautiful colored rocks and caves. There were beautiful arches on the outside, ancient Indian petroglyphs on the inside and beautiful views everywhere! Our guide kept offering to take loads of pictures for us and was telling us awesome facts and stories like when lightening strikes the rock it leaves behind spider web like patterns and we saw bee hives, tons of bats in the caves and even a turtle in the ocean. We had to climb through a small hole in t eve rock high above ground which was scary for a prego like me but I did it! Just such a cool experience here. We then went to the beach there which was cool. Darrin went snorkeling and saw some cool coral, lots of sea urchins, and found a really neat in tact shell really deep down. We saw a bunch of crabs and small fish close to shore too.
Day 8: we drove to Ponce which took almost 2 hours. We went to the old fire station, history museum, lunch at a cafe (it was delicious), some street shopping (nothing worth buying), then drove to the large ponce cross up on the mountain which appeared to be closed so we couldn't climb to the top. The view was pretty though. Then we drove to a beach there that was probably the least impressive beach we've ever been to. So our drive was pretty much for nothing. The old fire station was cool but it was small, you couldn't touch anything and all the plaques were in Spanish. The history museum was all Spanish too so pretty pointless. We went to walmart and got a few groceries and browsed. Then came back to the apartment for a red box movie (delivery man) and dinner (leftover spaghetti).
Day 9: We got a late start today and headed to San Sebastian falls. It took about an hour and 40 minutes to get there. We paid $5 for parking and headed down to the first falls which were about 50 feet high and there were all sorts of heights and rocks you could jump from. There were tons of fish at the pool at the bottom of the falls we swam in. We got it and went to the underwater cave which had an air pocket. That was cool. Then we swam over to club up behind the waterfall-so the waterfall was right in front of us and you could just reach out and touch it. We then hiked up about 15 minutes to the smaller waterfall which had a rope swing and you could climb up to the fall and gt a high pressured shower. Darrin did the rope swing and we both swam up to the waterfall. There were cool small jumping lizards everywhere here! We then left here and went to a beach where Darrin tried out some snorkeling and then we went up on some high rocks to watch the sunset by the lighthouse. The clouds were coving the sun mostly but it was still beautiful- especially right up by the lighthouse. We drove home and listened to the audio book we've been listening to this trip (Elizabeth smart- my story) and grabbed a red box (Walter Mitty which we liked) and had top ramen and salad for dinner.
Day 10: We decided to take the long drive to first, Carr municipal where shacks beach was. We snorkeled here for quite a while and saw some cool coral, reefs and fish (but nothing we haven't seen before) and we kept searching for the "blue hole" that reviews said was a really cool deep hole among shallow coral. We asked several people who all gave us some sort of pointing as to where it was bit we never found it. That was disappointing but the day was beautiful, the beach wasn't crowded at all, and the snorkeling was fun. We also found a bunch of shells here. Then we drove to Rincon which was about 40 minutes away and we went beach hopping there. Steps beach, Antonio beach, sandy beach, and then the Rincon lighthouse which had a nice overlook of domes beach where all the surfers are and we got to watch some surfing. We got suuuuper sandy at Sandy beach (it was coarse sand everywhere-we tried to rinse off in the ocean but the waves would just crash more sand onto us. So the 2.5 hour drive home was uncomfortable. We did finish our Elizabeth smart audio book though which was really good. We picked up a movie and food for Sunday and headed back to the apartment.
Day 11: we woke up at 5:40am to head to Ponce where our excursion for the day was headed out of. We got there at 7:30 and waited to board the "island adventures" boat that would take us to the island of island de caja de muertos. We paid $25/person for it. We sat in front of this really nice coupe-Grey and Kelen from North Carolina. They were in PR as biologists and they were about our age. The boat ride was 45 minutes and we arrived. It was HOT! There's no one living on the island and the only food and water was on the ship we came on so luckily we brought all we needed with us although we certainly could have brought more water :). Luckily there were shaded gazebos with picnic tables to sit at. We sat and at some food we brought, then visited the small museum and decided to head to the lighthouse. It was a mile hike and the trail was covered in huge cactus, lizards and other greenery on both sides. The lighthouse was really old and ancient looking with a beautiful lookout point of the island. Then we headed back down and ran onto grey and kelen who came with us down another path that lead to a beach where there were a few private yachts and loud PR music. We went out into the ocean to get cooled off and see if there was anything to see snorkeling. There wasn't but it was still fun. The other trail off the main trail we wanted to go on was blocked off by a rope. We decided that wed go anyway :). So we crossed the rope with our new friends. After a while of walking and getting to know them we came across a TON of old conk shells that some online reviews called "the conk graveyard" hundreds and hundreds of empty conk shells. Most of them so old that they just looked like cement. Just piles and piles of them washed up from shore! It was SO cool to see and there were so many to pick from! We found some really neat ones we're going to bring home. We went to the end of the trail and found a nice beach we went to for snorkeling. We were the only ones there which made it really fun. We snorkeled for quite a while and mostly just saw hundreds of small fish, a pretty big tarpen fish and found some sand dollars. There were also a ton of conks in the ocean. Most inhabited. Kelen got sting by a jellyfish but was OK. We then headed back to the shaded gazebos after spending a couple hours at the beach and they shared their cold pineapple with us they bought at a fruit stand. It was one of the best pineapples we've ever had! Yum!!! Then we headed back to ponce and walked the boardwalk there which had a bunch of Crane's waiting for people to feed them fish, seagulls and huge tarpen fish (a ton of them) right off the boardwalk who would also eat the fish people threw in. We headed back to the apartment to eat dinner and start packing.
Day 12: Traveling all day to get home to our boys! Arrived late (10:45pm)and my parents were sweet enough to pick us up from the airport. They even had cute signs to welcome us home and my favorite chocolate! Then we drove to pick up the boys at Darrin's parents house and took them home. The next morning they both woke up at 6:30am and came in our bed to cuddle for an hour. We showed them all the shells we brought back and the presents we brought back for them. So great to be back home with the boys but hard to get back to "real life" :).
