The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
TRAVELERS’ CHECKS
The Puerto Rican Tourism Company has resources for planning a trip. Contact them at 800-866-7827 or visit welcome.topuertorico.org.
Tour company offering several excursions including an El Yunque rainforest and bioluminescent bay kayaking combination, with round trip transportation. yokahukayaks.com. Route 987 Las Croabas, Fajardo, Puerto Rico. 787-604-7315.
The fortress built by Spaniards to fire at enemy ships has become an iconic attraction in Old San Juan. 501 Norzagaray St., San Juan, Puerto Rico. nps.gov/saju/learn/historyculture/el-morro. htm. 787-729-6960
Resort in Isla Verde with modern decor, ocean view rooms, a pool and beach access. 6165 Isla Verde Ave., Carolina, Puerto Rico. stclaircollection.com/ myportfolio/mare-st-clair. 787-791-5151.
Juan and drove us an hour to El Yunque National Forest, which is the only tropical rain forest that belongs to the U.S. Forest Service. Our driver and guide Ramón González pointed out how much lusher the landscape in this region was, but that it wasn’t always like that.
“After Maria, it was all dried up. Never seen something like that in Puerto Rico. Seeing it like it was fall was quite amazing,” González said. “Still in recovery process but for the most part everything is back to normal.”
Inside El Yunque, we walked to the top of Yokahu
Tower and saw green for acres. Though it appears back to normal, many trails are closed to the public. But after climbing up the side of the La Coca Falls waterfall, I felt I got to take in the essence of the rain forest.
We stopped for lunch at nearby Luquillo Beach, which is known for having a strip of exactly 60 food kiosks, numbered accordingly. At No. 20, I ate mofongo, a traditional Puerto Rican dish of mashed plantains stuffed with chicken, pork, seafood, or other filling.
A magical experience awaited us farther east in Fajardo. At sunset, we put on life jackets and began a night kayaking journey through a red mangrove channel into Laguna Grande. The lagoon has one of the world’s five bioluminescent bays, three of which are in Puerto Rico. As I paddled to the middle of the lagoon, I noticed flickers of light with every splash. Dipping my hand in the water, I got sparkles at my fingertips. The singlecelled plankton that light up when disturbed were back after Maria.
“We helped to take trees out of the way and then it was amazing bioluminescence,” out kayaking guide Luis Mendez said.
Another day was well spent relaxing on San Juan’s beaches. I walked along El Condado, which has many high-rise hotels, restaurants and bars, and Ocean Park Beach, an upscale beachfront community. At scenic Isla Verde Beach, I met Desiree Rivera, who told me she met a woman who lost the roof of her house and still greeted her by offering coffee — and her “panoramic view.”
“Maria taught us to be resilient, to not stay quiet, to fight for our rights, for the things that we want and the things that we need,” Rivera said in Spanish. “We reinvented ourselves strongly.”