We are going to Puerto Rico for a little over two weeks. We bought our tickets on Expedia. We leave January 28 in the morning and arrive in Puerto Rico about 12 hours later-in Puerto Rican time. Puerto Rico doesn’t observe Daylight Saving Time so the time difference between Colorado and Puerto Rico is larger during the winter with a three hour difference. We will be returning on February 12 and on that return trip we will be going back in time, so it will only take us 5 hours in local time. I am not sure what all will be going on in Puerto Rico during that time (festivals and such), but we have a few things we need to take care of including (not in any order):
The last time Britton and I were there together Aug 2005
1) Find rental car on the cheap (or other mode of transportation)
2) Go Snorkeling
3) Go salsa dancing
4) Visit the bank we are working with to buy property
5) Vist the Dept of Natural Resources to see how things are going with title/easement
6) Visit Carlos, the lawyer
7) Learn about growing the various crops
-8) Visit a couple of farmers’ markets (where are these? I’ve heard there is one in San Sebastian and Rincon)
9) Walk the property
10) Research possible electricity generators -microhydro- and how that would work
11) Determine hot water and water pressure situation
12) Try surfing for first time?
13) Make pasteles and deliver them with Awilda, the current owner
14) Visit bioilluminescence bay -Bio Bay- in either Paguera or Vieques early in trip since full moon will be there at end of trip
15) Go swimming
And probably many other things that we can’t foresee.
Hibiscus in PR
How exciting you’ll finally be able to make the trip. A few years ago when Steve and I went back for a couple of weeks that involved visits to government agencies regarding our finca, I made a list similar to yours. It was a spreadsheet with about 30 things we HAD to do (including beach time). It was quite helpful, as I was able to update it with progress. So many delays and contratiempos happened, I wouldn’t have been able to track everything without the list! Thanks to the list, we were able to accomplish most of it, including ALL the fun stuff! That’s a nice picture of you guys. Somewhere near the center of island, I presume? Fran
Hey Fran! Yes we are very excited to go back. Britton hasn’t even seen the property yet, so it will be fun for him. I just hope things start to move a little bit after we go…maybe even before if we are lucky, so we can close on the deal. You are lucky you already own your finca. I looked up Manaubo and it looks like a nice part of the island. I hear what you are saying with the delays…could be a Puerto Rican pass time I think 🙂
The picture was taken somewhere near the center of the island, I can’t remember where I think it was off of the Ruta Panoramica somewhere in a state park type place.
-Cassie
Hello. I am a new reader to this blog and I wanted to comment on some things you metioned.
Some cheaper car rental places are Thrifty, Payless & Dollar car rental. & if you pay with a credit card you probably dont need to purchase the extra insurance b/c your card usually covers it.
& I think you shouldnt bother going to La Parguera. Its a cool place, you can go if you want to hang out in a night time carnival type of area, but for the bay its not worth it. Its nice but not nearly as good as Mosquito Bay in Vieques or even Las Croabas Lagoon in Fajardo. Those are both brighter bio-bays you can check out. Good luck 🙂
Hi Cris!
Welcome to the site! Thanks for the recommendations, it sounds like you know a lot about la isla. I can’t remember which rental car place we got last time, but it was only like 200 bucks for 2 weeks. We are having trouble finding deals like again.
As far as la Paguera and Vieques, I think that’s probably a good idea. The problem is that we will be staying in Lares, in the middle of the island and that might be a pretty far trip unless we stay the night in Vieques since the bio bay will obviously be at night.
We went to Paguera when we were there in PR on our honeymoon and it was a cool carnival atmosphere but we forgot our bathing suits in the hotel room, so didn’t want to do the bio-bay there. We also went to Vieques, but they said the moon was too bright the day we were there. I’ve never heard of Las Croabas Lagoon, so that might be a good alternative to Vieques (avoiding the ferry and then finding transportation across the little island to Mosquito Bay).
Thanks again!
-Cassie