By March we were back into the swing of our little island life. We visited a quaint spot in Hatillo called Villa Madera and nearby spots in Utuado, went to the Volkis Fest and other car shows, kept growing lots of flowers and fruits, and took a trip to some new beaches and spots in Guanica. A nice month in Puerto Rico!
Puerto Rico was dealt yet another major blow when it was hit by a series of major earthquakes in the southwestern region of the island especially Guanica and Guayanilla and then later other cities including Ponce. The first major event occurred on the morning of Three Kings and destroyed a beautiful geological landmark as well as the front wall to the old Lighthouse in Guanica and collapsing a couple of houses. We felt that one and it was pretty scary.
We were just at this site in August!
(sourced from FB)
I am so sad we never saw this wonder in person! (Source FB)
The next day at about 4:25am we were abruptly awoken from a sound sleep with the house jumping up and down. It felt even bigger and seemed to last forever. Since we were already rattled from the one before and reading all the news of the damage, we got a little nervous because we knew it would certainly be bigger and cause more damage. That one knocked out the power (and it stayed out for about 2 days).
Ready for survival life once again. Solar lights, gas can, generator and a hose shower
Soon reports and photos were coming in of pretty major damage throughout the entire region. We weren’t sure if we should leave to see the damage or stay home and ration since there were lines at the gas stations and grocery stores much as during the hurricane days, but we took a leap. We couldn’t stay at home another day just waiting. We headed out on the road to see what we would find. It was much worse than I expected, and yet sometimes there were nearly identical buildings and one was just fine and the other completely destroyed. Here is our account in photo and video documentation.
Beautiful old church in Guayanilla
It was so damaged you could see the cathedral from the outside
Near the coast in Guanica
House falls and smashes car in Guayanilla
Modern style house completely on its side
We saw at least 5 electrical transformers on the ground
Three story school in Guanica, Agripina de Seda was reduced to only two stories!
Help was arriving on the scene to provide resources and clean up
But there is a lot to clean up
Lower level is completely gone in this house
Adding the threat of tsunami must have been terrifying to residents
As well as landslides
Here in Rincon we lived in survival mode for a while, but the power just recently came back and there is no obvious damage to any buildings. Unfortunately for the towns down south, a full recovery will likely take much longer. Additionally, one of the main power plants to the island was located there and sustained major damage and which will continue to affect all of us on the island. Please help in any way, including continuing to visit Puerto Rico.
UPDATE: We were without power and water on and off for about a week after this occurred, but are now back pretty much to normal though we still feel some tremors. Unfortunately for people down south, some have lost their homes and some still are terrified to return. There are many ways to help and to donate for this and future disasters. Please see the video for a list of many organizations that are helping.
Copamarina Resort
We have been trying to check out new places that we haven’t seen in our time in Puerto Rico. We tend to stay close to the west coast because we can make it a day trip and get home before it is too dark so as to put Aeden to sleep. Since it was our anniversary we decided to head a little further south to Guanica thanks to a suggestion from some readers! (PS if you ever have a place you’d like us to check out, or a topic you’d like us to discuss, send us a message and we’ll do our best to make it happen.)
First stop: Guanica Lighthouse Ruins
We stopped at the Guanica Lighthouse Ruins on our way to the Copamarina because it was literally just on the side of the road we were driving. It reminded me of the Aguadilla Ruins except that it isn’t directly on the ocean. The view was beautiful and if we hadn’t been a little dressed up I might have scrambled around the area a bit more. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the area.
Fun in Guanica
Hey!
Family pic
Smile!
Next we were off to the resort. It was only about 5-10 minutes down from the lighthouse and super easy to find. A lush oasis in the desert. The most striking thing about the Guanica area in general is how very, very dry it is. For people who are looking to live in an arid environment, this southwestern region of Puerto Rico is where it’s at. For me, while I loved the way the resort maintained a tropical and lush environment with what must be a LOT of watering, I prefer it to be that way a little more naturally. The resort itself had all the classic feel with loungers, pools, hammocks and even a pier that they use to take people on sunset boat rides and you can rent kayaks to go to nearby Gilligan’s Island which I still very much want to see.
Beautiful setting
A little bit expensive ($30 for a tiny pizza and 2 beers) and they didn’t let us use their pool, but we enjoyed the ocean instead and they at least let us use the outdoor showers
I enjoyed their landscaping/gardening a lot and it gave me ideas for our gardens
We drove home and caught the tail end of a beautiful sunset in Mayaguez. It was a wonderful day!
Here’s a short video of our time there.