Category Archives: Challenges

Around the Farm and Town

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The end of September was a hot and humid one. It took everything we had to keep up with the work on the farm. Thankfully we don’t have to be out there when we don’t want to, but when it is that sticky, it is rare to want to get more sweaty than we already are. So we have taken to waterfall hunting (which I’ll write about a little more in later posts) and gathering and planting new finds from nurseries and things that grow wild. Even that can take a lot of effort and exertion just to plant something, but it is not nearly as much as clearing out brush and maintaining/mowing thick areas. Despite the difficulties, the gardens are looking fantastic! When we take pictures and roam slowly throughout, I remember why we do put so much effort into our botanical gardens.

 
A few of the wonders of the gardens. Pride of Barbados, Vanilla, Weed flower, ornamental banana, bird garden art, rainy day market with flowers


Tried dragonfruit for the first time. We have it growing, and it flowers but hasn’t fruited yet


Cockscomb and yellow beehive ginger


We visited the old Coloso sugarcane factory that they are going to renovate and reopen and turn into a distillery. Sounds like a cool project


Randomly saw some peacocks walking around. How I want these on our farm!


Flowers (ground orchids and fragrant hedychiums)


Just a few things around the yard (avocados, bananas, turmeric, ginger). We are always eating straight from the trees/ground.

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We checked out a new restaurant/boutique inn in Aguada called Fusiones. It was like a fusion between a food truck and a fancy hotel.


At Fusiones


Still find lots of wild hermit crabs on the property!

These Vanda orchids love this huge almond tree!


Tried out another cute vegetarian food truck called Cafe Yoruba in Rincon at the old Carta Buena


Baby Spiders hatched! yay! Go after those mosquitoes!


An amazing lily bloomed after about 5 years since we planted it!


The gardens of Aeden (and Daddy)


Taking the long windy drives up the high hills of the Rincon peninsula!


We have passed our 2 year anniversary since Maria (and 6 years since moving here full time). So much has changed!


We planted a Titan Arum -a corpse flower! These are amazing! Now our gardens are even more like true botanical gardens!


Bromeliad in bloom


The Jungle Boys!

Besides our waterfall adventures I think that just about catches us up lately. We’ve also been dealing with some car issues (got a new-to-us transmission in the Mustang), we work the cabana rental and continue selling flowers and plants at the market and at the farm. Aeden’s getting big and nearly walking and is always with us on our adventures. He’s really starting to fit in with us and we love him so! That’s our life recently in a nutshell!


Thanks to Jessika Providence for this beautiful picture!

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Surfer’s Beach for Survival Beach

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Checking out Surfer’s Beach

I have been wanting to check out Survival Beach for some time. It is supposed to have some pretty picturesque sea rocks and caves and a really fun hike. One day we were out driving around and we thought we would run some errands in Aguadilla. I remembered that Survival Beach is accessed by foot with a 30-40 minute hike that starts at Surfer’s Beach. “Hey, let’s check it out!” I’m sure if we were surfers we would already know about it, but it was another first for us.


This sign cracked me up!

To get to Surfer’s Beach you must go through a gated area that looks to be owned by the Electric or Water Company. I assume it is always open, but it was strange that it was gated. Once in, the road is very beautiful lined with palm trees and flamboyans with a rock curb. Upon arrival there is a small skate park and a little coconut drink place that was closed when we arrived. It looked like maybe someone had parked their van to stay/live there with a grill, tarp, clothes hanging out, etc.


Little Coconut Kiosk


Pile of Coconuts (used for said kiosk I presume)


Small skate park and picnic tables


Nice (very tall) bench to watch the waves


Fun at Surfer’s Beach


De Camino a Survival Beach

We found the sign that pointed the way to the start of the hike, but weren’t prepared with the right shoes, food, water, etc. So we walked a few yards down the path that was strewn with fallen trees to one of the beach outcroppings, and said we would save that hike for another day. I am not sure what the story is about why it’s called Survival (or sometimes Survivor Beach), but it did look rough and that you would need to use your survival skills if you washed ashore out there with no road, but a hike of a trail to it.


Going under some fallen trees on the early part of Survival Beach trail

Looks like another adventure is in the queue! But until then we enjoyed our short time at Surfer’s Beach.

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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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Hurricane Season Life

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Sept 10 is the zenith of hurricane probability

Ever since Hurricane Maria, hurricane season has become something different in our minds. We came to Puerto Rico very naive about hurricanes, and we lived here for 4 years with basically nothing ever happening. We had an occasional tropical storm, but we’ve had stronger aguaceros (downpours) come out of the blue. But Maria changed all of that optimism and surety. We have a deep underlying trauma associated with hurricanes now. On the surface, our logical brain tells us that if we can survive 2 + months of living like primitive people we can survive anything! But underneath, our subconscious says “Ah, hell no. I don’t want to do that again!” So we have our conscious and subconscious minds competing against each other.


This time last year I was 8 months pregnant going through hurricane season!

I was particularly nervous last year for a few reasons, most notably that I was pregnant with a due date right around the climatic probability of storms. After the birth my medical care turned out to be VERY lacking as it was without a storm, so I can only imagine how bad it would have had there been no electricity, water or medical supplies. I am SO grateful everything turned out ok. It was iffy there for a bit. My medical care nightmare is probably for another day, but suffice it to say, I don’t  ever want to be in another major medical emergency in Puerto Rico with or without a hurricane looming.


Last year in our tropical gardens

One of our neighbors is currently about as pregnant as I was, so we thought it would be fun to do a photoshoot in our gardens that we have finally named. Since Puerto Rico is La Isla del Encanto (The Isle of Enchantment), we named our farm/gardens The Garden of Enchantment. You can check out our new Facebook page and give it a like if you want. Julie is about as nervous as I was having her first baby in an unfamiliar land and so we thought it would be a nice de-stressor to take a little of that anxiety away and focus on the beauty that she is emanating! I gathered materials from all over the gardens and made her a flower crown to make her a jungle queen.


Finished flower crown

Here’s a “How-to” Video on the making of the crown.

It turned out so nice.


What a gorgeous mama-to-be


Even Aeden got to check out his jungle friend in making

When we heard a storm called Dorian was forming and heading straight for us, our nerves started to fray a little. We turned on the hurricane brain and started prepping. Extra gas, water, food, batteries, clean out the cistern, shut the windows, check, check, check.


There are always runs on water. We just rinse out and refill our jugs


Day of Dorian right outside Econo…wouldn’t think anything was abnormal!

Dorian thankfully turned anticlimactic and didn’t even really have any rain. But it did bring back lots of memories. We ended up going to a pool party for a friend who is moving away. We had even partied at Yukayeke a lot after Maria, so the recollections are stacked. Strange how much that period of time is embedded in our psyches now.


Fun at Yukayeke


Yukayeke Resort in Anasco from the road

Living in the tropics of Puerto Rico is 90% awesome. We get to live like we’re on vacation! But interspersed are moments of sheer panic and annoyance. I guess there’s nowhere on Earth that is 100% paradise all the time. But to me, this sure comes close. Even in hurricane season. It gives us all a little something to get worked up about I guess. No one would read a story if it didn’t have some complications to resolve.


Most days are wonderful


Calm, serene and peaceful on the farm

 
Fun family times

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