San Juan
Driving in Puerto Rico was exactly the same as in my home state, Colorado – busy highways with traffic jams in peak hours and almost no cars in small towns where the main problem was jaywalking chickens. In Colorado, we have the same issue with squirrels that can appear out of nowhere and run across the road right in front of the car. Rural roads in Puerto Rico can be just wide enough for two small cars to pass one another. In some places, the roads are too narrow for that and one car must wait for the other to pass.
Alfredo was a perfect Airbnb host. He drove me around the area to show where everything was, helped to rent a car and disappeared. The apartment was sparkling clean and spacious, had a kitchen, A/C, fast WiFi, and all toiletries. When it was time to check out I locked the door, dropped off the keys and left.
Fajardo is famous for its Seven Seas Beach. The Atlantic Ocean was storming and spending time on the beach was pointless. I decided to see Las Cabezas de San Juan Nature Reserve which is right next to the beach. The gated entrance was locked. I asked the security guard permission to enter. He wrote down my name and contact details, and let me in. I walked through the reserve and did not see a single person around.
I went to the top of the hill to the lighthouse, a local attraction. Some websites said that the lighthouse had not been restored after Hurricane Maria that hit Puerto Rico in September 2017 ‒ the strongest hurricane there in more than 80 years. Other sites claimed that the lighthouse was open to visitors and even sold tickets. In reality, both were wrong ‒ the lighthouse was restored and still closed.
When I tried to take a picture of the lighthouse a staff member spotted me and demanded to leave right away. Nobody was supposed to be in this area. I did not understand why. The lighthouse looked perfectly renovated to me. Even if it was closed what was wrong with viewing it from the outside?
Anyway, I did not argue and turned back. The staff member got into a car and followed me while I was walking downhill to make sure that I was going in the right direction and did not “get lost accidentally”. When we reached the lagoon he made me to swear that I would not attempt to deviate from the route out of the reserve and drove away.
The natural reserve has a lovely beach protected from the ocean. I could not resist the temptation, changed into a swimsuit and leisured in warm, crystal clear waters for an hour. Did I break my promise not to stray away or not? I was not sure but no one was around to see that.
The lagoon in the reserve is known for its fluorescent phytoplankton. It glows at night and agencies offer kayaking tours to see it after dark. I called a company that I found online and booked a tour for the same day for $57. They told me to bring a change of clothes because I was going to be wet after kayaking.
In the evening, I drove to the tour starting point. Our group was 20 people, all couples except me and another middle-aged woman. The couples got tandem kayaks. The two of us, uncoupled, were offered to row in one kayak together. We looked at each other and both shook our heads at the same time.
The other woman was not athletic at all. She also said that it was going to be her first time kayaking. I thought I’d be better off by rowing by myself because my experience also was next to nothing. Perhaps, the other woman had similar doubts about me, so we got single kayaks.
First, we rowed across the bay, then in a single file into a narrow stream that led to the lagoon. Rowing was difficult. All kayaks had 2 pairs of hands while the other woman and I had only one. We had to row twice harder than the rest to keep up pace with them. The men in other kayaks did most of the work while the ladies enjoyed the ride.
The stream was overgrown with mangrove trees. Their branches hang low and intertwined over our heads forming a tunnel. Mangrove roots stuck out everywhere; we had to be careful to avoid them. I strove to keep in the middle of the group; the other woman soon fell behind and an instructor stayed with her to help.
We stopped in the lagoon and waited until it became darker. The sky was cloudless with a full moon ‒ too light for a visible plankton glow. We dipped our hands into water and moved them slowly to disturb the plankton and make it glow. That did not help much. The instructor told us to pull a piece of trap that was stored in each kayak, to completely cover ourselves with the tarp and repeat the exercise. I could see some sparkles but not much. The plankton was not in the mood for glowing that night. Anyway, it was lovely in the middle of the dark lagoon with bright stars, rather romantic, and I did not regret going there.
We rowed back in complete darkness. I am shortsighted and always wear glasses. This time, I had to leave my glasses on the shore, so I’d not drop them into water. I was worried that it would be hard to find the way out of lagoon without glasses and I might get lost but all kayaks had an orange light on the stern that was easy to follow, and I safely returned to the shore with everyone else.
Dear Natalia! Thank you. I read each your story with great attention. take carry.
Thank you for reading my posts!
Wow. what an experience! Strange rules they have there in the Natural Reserve. And you were quite brave to row the kayak – actually you look quite professional at it (although the phorographer was not professional at all:)
Anyone can pose professionally in a kayak 🙂