Puerto Rico 2011

I attended and presented at a global sales meeting for my company at El Conquistador Resort in Fajardo, Puerto Rico.  I arrived January 29 and the meeting lasted till Feb. 4th.  Gayle flew out on the 4th and joined me after the meeting for some quality time together.  I had been to Puerto Rico twice before on business.  I love the island because the population is Spanish speaking, the weather is great, the island is very scenic, I like the food, and they have good surfing too (and the water's warm).  Here are some shots from the trip.

Our room was down below the main hotel areas.  One had to take the "funicular" (tram) to get there.  But we liked it because it was right next to the marina.  Here's a shot I took from the balcony the first day I got there - looking at the Caribbean.

Also from my balcony looking towards Palomino Island as the shuttle catamaran leaves with a group of guests to the resort's activities on the private island.

I made it over to Palomino before Gayle got there and this is a shot I took of the sun breaking through the clouds to the west.  Fajardo is not far from El Yunque rain forest, but since Gayle and I had been there before, and been to several rain forests, we didn't visit it this time.  Also, Vieques Island is not far off shore from this eastern end of Puerto Rico, in case you're interested.  For my team-building time (our one afternoon off from the meetings) I kayaked, snorkled, and stand-up paddle boarded - all at Palomino.

Palomino's main beach area.  As you can tell, it wasn't crowded.  Our company later had a great closing dinner on the island, complete with a very good band that even played some Juan Luis Guerra music at my request.

This gives you a flavor for the upper hotel area, looking at one of the pools overlooking the water towards Palomino Island.  My meetings overlooked this area.  By the way, our opening session included a mini-concert by "Nota."  They are a Puerto Rican a capella group that makes all their instrument sounds vocally, in addition to their fantastic singing.  They've been on TV and are quite good.  I got a signed CD from them.

I zoomed in looking out the other direction, to show the small island with condominiums on it.  I suppose the residents use watercraft to go to and from the main island.

Looking in the same direction, but not zoomed, so you can see more pools.  Note how strong the wind blows, bending the palms.  It kept things comfortable.  This was the first week of February and the temp ranged from the coldest at night of about 72 F, to the warmest of about 84 F.  It rained occasionally, but not for long.

Gayle arrived late on Friday.  We rented a car and drove back to Fajardo.  The next morning we enjoyed instant oatmeal in coffee cups.

Back at Palomino, just after getting out of the catamaran.

Wading in the warm Caribbean.

Just to show the palms.

Close-up -- enjoying the warmth, while Utah shivers.

  I got in my jog by criss-crossing the island on its horse and hiking trails.  I wore the rash guard (black top that is used under a wetsuit) to avoid having to use sun screen on my torso.

Gayle made me do another pose.

We later hiked up one of the trails I had jogged on so we could visit a gazebo.  Here's Gayle looking out from its deck at the beach and a smaller island below.  I had kayaked, paddle boarded, and snorkeled off the small island earlier in the week.

Back outside our room we took a few shots of the plants next to the building.

Just outside our room.

While it did rain, we saw a couple of rainbows, and it never got cold.

I had been waiting for a chance to have some good mofongo.  Mofongo is a Puerto Rican dish that is green plantain, smashed and cooked and lining a special bowl, into which various options can be placed (chicken, fish, shellfish, shrimp, etc.) and served in a creole sauce.  I had fish mofongo this night.  We ate at Pasión Por El Fogón, a restaurant not too far from the hotel.  It was highly recommended yet not too expensive.

Gayle enjoys her shrimp.  Here she's biting into an "amarillo" (literally, a yellow), which is a sweet banana deep fried.  They are very good.  I also like tostones, which are sliced plantains, smashed and fried.  They also have plantain chips in stores (like potato chips).  Guineos are the sweet bananas we're familiar with.  By the way, frijoles are called habichuelas in Caribbean Spanish speaking islands.

El Conquistador is right above what's known as BioBay.  It's one of the few places in the world where a type of dinoflagellates (micro-organisms) that bio-luminesce grow year round.  At night, in the lagoon, you can see the water glow whenever it is disturbed (like when you paddle).  You go with an excursion group and paddle from the bay in a channel through the dense mangrove stands into the lagoon.  Here's a photo of Gayle and me in our two person kayak, floating next to others out in the lagoon at night.  We had a blast, even though Gayle was very worried about how windy it was.  You don't really feel the wind once you get into the mangroves and even out on the lagoon it wasn't bad.  It reminded us of how at certain times out at Oxnard in California the sand would glow at night when disturbed, also from bio-luminescence.

Here's a photo (below) of the Fajardo branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  We attended their services.  I tried to interpret as best as I could for Gayle, but it's hard when they speak so fast in Puerto Rico.  When I try to translate, I lose the next few sentences.

We enjoyed their Relief Society, Priesthood, Gospel Doctrine, and Fast and Testimony meetings.  The Aaronic Priesthood young men wore white shirts and ties and looked very sharp.  The gospel doctrine teacher was a sister who had served a mission in Bakersfield, California.  Her husband is a local police officer.  The YM president was an immigrant from the Dominican Republic.  There was a great spirit in the meetings.

We walked through the "Coqui" water park at the resort.  Coquis are the famous Puerto Rican frogs that make a whistling sound at night.  I'm standing next to the water park with the Caribbean behind me.

After Gayle and I walked/jogged through the neighborhood next to the BioBay (where we saw our kayak company's owner's home) we packed up and left for our own adventures.  First stop, nearby Luquillo where I had to rent a board and try the surf at La Pared beach.  Luquillo faces north and is around the bend to the north west of Fajardo.  So this is the Atlantic you're looking at.  Gayle didn't get any good shots of me actually surfing, because I only stood up a few times, and for limited amounts of time.  It was quite windy and I had to catch the middle break.  I had a hard time getting out, and the current was pretty strong.  But I had a blast and didn't have to get used to the water temp.

 A kite surfer invaded my space after awhile.  Here's a short video clip.  The sound will give you a clue as to the windiness of the day.

I got a great work-out and enjoyed it.  After changing and a meal at McDonald's in Luquillo, we headed back south to explore the eastern and southern parts of the island.  We had been to the west and north years ago on a previous trip so we decided to explore this part of the island.

Somewhere south of Fajardo, on the east coast - to show what the scenery was like.

We stumbled upon "Inches," a well known surf spot on the southeastern part of the island.  I wish I had surfed here instead, but we saw no boards for rent, and we had already spent time at Luquillo earlier.  This spot required no effort to paddle out, since the waves only broke at the reef.  Note the boat at anchor mere yards from shore.  And the waves broke in a nice consistent left-hand break.  This is a Caribbean surf spot.  The waves won't be as regular or as large, but it sure looked fun.  Gayle even enjoyed just watching as several young guys, some girls, and a stand-up paddle boarder went out and rode waves.  We finished our adventure by driving to Ponce, where we really didn't do anything special, though we had more Puerto Rican cuisine that night at the hotel.  We spent the night in Ponce, spent time jogging and at the pool side in the morning, then crossed the island through Caguas up to San Juan, where we checked into the Howard Johnsons and immediatelly headed across the street onto the beach.  I swam while Gayle read and then we both watched several kite surfers.  These guys liked to go airborne for many yards.  We ate at another Puerto Rican place that night and were up bright and early to return the rental car and fly home to Utah.