So after the coconuts are harvested from the palm trees what happens? Well, as I mentioned in the previous post, they are mostly used for the coconut water. Fresh coconut water is so much better than any coconut water you can buy in a package. It is a great hydrator or drink mix. It has an interesting taste. Not sweet and not salty but something in between. And really doesn’t have a “coconut” flavor to it even though that is actually what it is!
Hanging out with the coconut guys
The other day we went down to La Placita, the little fruit stand/gas station down from our house, and bought a half gallon of freshly processed agua de coco for $6. We have plenty of coconuts at our house and often harvest and process them ourselves, but on this day we left it to the professionals. Here’s a little video snippet. Working with a machete can be dangerous, but these guys have been doing it for some time!
At La Placita with our coco water
Not only did we get some agua de coco but one of the men offered to make me one of his special rings! Always so much fun whenever we go out!
When we are out and about we often see things that we call “Island Scenes,” you know, scenes that you would never see if you didn’t live on a tropical island. Palm trees, especially coconut palms, to me are one of the quintessentially tropical markers. And as we were walking down a beach one day we came upon two men who were harvesting coconuts from tall 50 foot swaying palm trees. One of them climbed up using his spikes and the other one caught the heavy bundle of coconuts that descended from a rope.
Hola from on high!
These coconuts are mainly used for their coconut water, but of course can be used for any number of preparations from coconut oil, toasted coconut, coconut milk, even piña coladas! This is a great service for the beaches because a coconut that falls from that height could easily kill an unwitting person below. Win/win! Here’s a video of them at their work:
We hung out for a while nearby with a friend and enjoyed the sunset. I tried my monkey best to climb a coconut palm, but without the spikes I couldn’t get too far 🙂
My coconut tree climb is not nearly as impressive!
Horse riding and a pack of dogs on the beach
Classic sunset shot
We also watched another traditional method of living off the land and water when we saw a man setting up the fishing net at the edge of the sea as the tiny ripples lapped softly against the sand. I’m not exactly sure what he was fishing for, perhaps sardines as we often see them when we enter the water. This is the kind of economic activity that has been going on for hundreds of years and that you probably won’t hear much about on the news or through the government: a direct connection to nature and your livelihood.
Boat at sunset
A ceiling fan and a clock on a bamboo pole. Is this where island time came from? haha
We’ve been getting much further with the cabin. We now have the drywall installed and are working on the flooring. So close to moving in! But we’ve also been taking some time to go out and have a little fun! Staying close to home we spent a nice afternoon with some friends at Steps Beach. It was a bit rainy, but the water was warmer than the air! We slid around on the slimy mossy rocks, snorkeled and dove for pebbles and just lazed in the water and on the beach.
Silly girls!
My view as I floated around
I also found a great sturdy vine and I just had to climb and swing from it. I think I am becoming more and more monkey living on this island!
Hey, hey I’m a monkey!
Before our band practice I also had a chance to have a little chat with the horse that is pastured where we park. We’ve been watching him grow from a foal to a young horse and it’s pretty cool.
We go into what we call “town” about once a week now for materials for the cabin. Usually that means Mayaguez, but sometimes it’s to Aguadilla. This time when we went to Mayaguez we stopped at the area near the water that they use for the “ferry.”
We stopped at this hole in the wall across the street from the water -Grandpa’s Lighthouse
The ferry according to some guy there in this case isn’t a lancha but rather a small cruise ship that goes to “Santo Domingo.” And I don’t mean Santo Domingo the capital city, but rather the word you may hear here more often than not for the Dominican Republic as a whole. But apparently this nice cruise ship is being repaired in Africa….The things you learn just hanging out.
View of the water in Mayaguez near the “ferry” area
The monkey strikes again: I took the opportunity to climb a sea grape tree
And check out some of the cool defunct boats
Next we went searching for a little nightlife. It was not the weekend yet, so we weren’t sure where to go. We ended up down in Boquerón! I don’t think Britton and I had been in Boquerón since our honeymoon. It’s such a fun and lively place. I loved all the live music and all the restaurants that are right on the water. We even danced a little salsa! So fun!
Dancing in the street!
In Boquerón, most of the bars and restaurants back right up to the water!
Argh! Buy me a mojito, matey! I’m hooked!
We ate at a restaurant on the water that we could feed tarpon from the table. We went to this on our honeymoon! Crazy!
Whether we stay home in Rincón or venture out a little further, I am still just so delighted with this fun-loving island!
Here’s a quick video of our time in and around Boquerón.
One of my favorite words in Puerto Rico is chinchorreando. The verb chinchorrear could be translated as “to bar hop,” but it is much more fun and just sort of how going out simply is around here. We’ve been out chinchorreando a bit lately with some friends and having a good time.
Out for rum punches on Rob’s birthday
We tried to play a show at the Landing for the 4th of July but there were some logistical/local politics that literally locked us out, so we chinchorreado back to the jam space and played the after party there instead.
A quick stop at the Landing on the 4th
When we go into Mayaguez for cabin materials, sometimes we stop and visit friends. We like this little bar called Valle Hermoso. There’s a couple of pool tables and fairly decent food including grilled dorado and green salads. On the weekends they have live music too.
Britton playing pool. He has learned the phrase- “te toca a tí” because of it
I sometimes play pool but mostly just enjoy jangeando with the lively characters and the awesome mojitos
Yum fresh mojito with real lime, herba buena and brown sugar -no gross 7-up
We even got to talking about Puerto Rican food and one of the guys couldn’t believe I had never cooked tostones. I told him I like making amarillos, but he insisted it was so super easy to make tostones. He went to his car and brought me some avocados and plantains and then gave me an impromptu lesson on toston-making. Then all the other guys joined in on the tips. Check out this video. Haha. Gotta love this place!
