Puerto Rico Trip - Day 3: A case of the mondays (5/2/11)

BJ decided to join me for today's adventure of driving aroudn the island to see a few things. Day started on the wrong foot as we were walking in the heat to try and find the rent a car place. After we found it, we got the car and headed towards the Arecibo Observatory, which has the world's largest radio telescope and was made famous in one of the James bond movies.

The sign at the entrance to the observatory.

We finally get to it and find out it is closed on mondays and tuesdays (there will be a trend here, see if you can find it) for 1-2 months out of the year; I have some good luck. We then head to the next stop, the Camuy Caves, which I heard were awesome. We stop on the way at a random roadside BBQ place which actually had some tasty food; we were both having reservations stopping at this place but I figure we were on an adventure so lets tempt fate. I am not sure what all I ordered, but the show stealer was this proper fried plantain that had been sliced open and then filled with meat and cheese. It was awesome!

Our lunch. I am waiting for B to take a bite first. Looks tasty doesnt it. I should have taken a picture of the place; to put it in perspective, there were more people playing pool at the pool table in the back than were eating lunch.

We continue on our way to the caves and when we get to the gates, they are closed on mondays as well. We decide to head south to cut through the island interior to ponce to get the highway that circles the island; bad idea! It took such a long time navigating the tiny roads (I was driving the equivalent of a golf cart sized car and it was almost too big for some of these 2 way roads) trying not to die and running into road closures not on the map. The scenery was gorgeous but the change in altitude and the lack of a straight road made this a challenging drive (unfortunately I didnt take any pictures as I was driving but wish I did so show examples of what I am talking about). Find the highway and start heading back to SJ thank goodness! On the way, we stop at Charco Azul, a watering hole that you are able to swim in – I do love swimming in cool bodies of water when I come across them :). We get there and we are the only car in the parking lot, so we hike to the lagoon and we have our own private lagoon to enjoy. I swam around and then went and hung with BJ in the lagoon when I realized nibbling on my feet; there are little fish in the lagoon that eat the dead skin off your feet if you stand still and let them. 

We have made it to the pool parking lot. Now lets hope we can find the pool. 

Saw this bad boy on our walk to the the pool. My foot is there for size comparison. That is a huge, fantastic leaf. Put 3 of those together and you have yourself a pretty decent bludgeoning tool.  

We have found the lagoon. Looks peaceful. After the stories I heard about this place from a friend, I am quite surprised no one was here. I aint going to complain though. 

And in I go. Swimming around in the lagoon. Just enjoying the water. Dont stare directly at that pasty body - you might hurt your eyes from the bright light. 

We dry off and head back to the hostel to shower before heading out with some guys from the hostel (Dan, Chance, and Shaggy) to Brickhaus in OSJ to watch the bball game (Bulls v Hawks). Eat and drink before heading back near the hostel to hit up La respuesta, but it wasn't happening so we head to another of Dan's haunts for some beers before heading back to the hostel to get ready for the next day.