Tag Archives: chasing waterfalls

San German Adventure to Porta Coeli and Waterfall Charco La Cabra

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It had been a long while since we last visited San German and Porta Coeli church. Every time we’ve gone there, it has been closed. But this time, we lucked out! We got to tour the inside and even heard ghost stories. It cost $5 per person which seemed a bit high for how small the church is, but it’s good to help keep it and the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena going. It is one of the oldest churches in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean in general so it was nice to see that it hadn’t been damaged by the recent earthquakes. I learned that Porta Coeli is pronounced Cheli and that it means the door to heaven! As we were there, they were setting up for the jazz night in the plaza that happens pretty regularly on Thursday nights.


Outside the church


Inside the cathedral that is only very rarely used


I loved the arched doorways


Through the arch you can see the old colonial town


We enjoyed walking around downtown to the other church area

Here’s the full video:

Next up in our day trip, we thought we would check out Charco El Pilon in San German. From the map it looked like it was only about 20 minutes from the downtown.  However, once we got on the road, and especially as we entered the natural forest reserve we realized this was going to be a much more difficult drive and require a 4×4 vehicle. So we decided to stop and walk around a bit in the jungle near a river when lo and behold, we found another beautiful waterfall! Later I asked what waterfall it could be and it is called Charco La Cabra, a very unknown little fall and pool. It is always so cool to find the off-the-road waterfalls because places like Gozalandia are now getting WAY too crowded and touristy.


Walking into Charco La Cabra


I didn’t see any cabras (goats) but we did see a cow, a duck and a pig!


Scrambling over rocks in the river


Britton at La Cabra


A cool natural grotto we found


Chillin’ riverside

It was a wonderful day out and we’ll be back to search for Charco El Pilon and Charco La Iglesia in San German soon!

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The Hunt for El Saltillo

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On the Hunt for El Saltillo we found this gem!

Waterfall chasing has become one of our new favorite hobbies. Especially on hot, humid summer days, the clean river water is so much more refreshing than salty sea water, hot sand and blaring sun on the beach. I still love the beach, but the best beach days are in the winter when it is less crowded and slightly cooler water. We had heard of a new waterfall to check out called “El Saltillo” in San Sebastian and attempted to find it the other day.


Britton and Aeden in the river

Since we go to the San Sebastian pulguero almost every Friday now, we decided that would be the best day to go on the hunt. Our car broke down as we were eating lunch afterwards at El Meson, but thankfully El Meson in San Sebastian is right next to Pep Boys and Britton managed to put on new wheel bearings even as it began to rain. Then we were off. We weren’t sure how much exploring we would do given that it was raining, but we thought we could at least scope out the area.


Turn at this corner near “El Castillo” Hotel

We found the little road that would lead us closest to the river access point. We gathered a few supplies from a local watering hole and parked at a pull-off next to a strange little dump/hang out site (an overturned washing machine and a makeshift bamboo hut).


Where we parked. Was this a hangout spot??

From there on, what little we found about the waterfall said we would have to walk through the river to find it. That isn’t new to us, and is a common way of approaching falls. It’s easier to go barefoot so we parked and changed into our swimsuits and kicked off our shoes. While we were changing we saw an older man in the river. He was changing his clothes too, so we gave him a moment. Then he emerged and began talking to Britton in a mix of Spanish and English. He told Britton that he knew the area well and that the “Big One” (El Saltillo) was much further down, but that if walk a little further down the road we would find another beautiful waterfall. It was like the part in the video game where the character gives you just enough clues to help you find the treasure.


Britton talking with the man as steam rose from the asphalt and clouds settled into the jungle

So we all headed in the direction he recommended. We figured at this late point in the afternoon we wouldn’t be up for a huge hike to find El Saltillo anyway, so we were blown away when we saw this secondary waterfall with no name.


Absolutely incredible! Like a movie set!


What a gorgeous fall! Soft and mossy steps and so much plant life!


I don’t even think this other one has an official name, but it was just so perfect!


Aeden’s point of view (our little cyclone head haha)


Fun at the falls

The only drawback to this fall, was that there wasn’t much of a pond for swimming and we heard that El Saltillo has a nice pool beneath the cascading water. So if this little beauty was the warm-up, I can’t wait to see the “Big One.” The hunt is on! Stay tuned to see if we find it in the weeks to come.

Check out the video

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