One of the perks of grad school is that I occasionally get to travel to some amazing destination that I couldn’t otherwise afford. It’s enabled me to travel to Alaska, Portland (back when Oregon was exotic to me), Dublin and by proxy Paris, and Moscow. …Okay, it was Moscow, Idaho, but close enough.
My next grad school adventure is taking me to San Juan, Puerto Rico in June. I’m giving a talk about my research for the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution, which was a great conference when I attended in Dublin. I’ll be able to vacation in Puerto Rico for three days after the conference, since my department doesn’t mind if you take personal days as long as it doesn’t make the flight more expensive.
So the big question is…what the heck do I do while I’m there? Other than sit on a beach sipping rum, of course, which is how I plan to spend at least half of my vacation time. I’ll already be hiking in the El Yunque rainforest, which is a trip organized by the conference. I’m excited because not only have I never visited a tropical rainforest before, but I get to do it with other nerdy evolutionary biologists. I’m also considering visiting the Arecibo observatory. Contact is my favorite movie of all time, so I feel like I kind of have to visit the gigantic telescope.
Do any of you have suggestions on what I should check out? I’m still debating if I’ll stick around San Juan, or if I’ll rent a car and be more adventurous. I will be traveling alone, so I don’t know how brave I’ll be about heading to the opposite side of the island or a totally different all together. But if you’ve been to Puerto Rico, I’d love to hear what you think!
8 comments
king_aevil says:
May 12, 2014
The one thing I wanted to see in PR was Arecibo, and I didn’t get to, because it was too much of a working trip (giving a short course on statistical software) and because my traveling companions were no fun at all.
Lance Finney says:
May 13, 2014
I went there a few years ago for a wedding on Vieques, and we spent most of our time on that island instead of the main island. I think you would enjoy Vieques, but it’s probably too much of a bother given the time you have available.
I would recommend Arecibo for sure. Nearby are the Caguana Ceremonial Ball Courts Site, which are the interesting ruins of the indigenous people, and some big caverns in Parque Las Cavernas Rio Camuy (unfortunately, a tourist had been killed by falling rock just before we got there, so it was closed and I can’t give a personal recommendation).
We spent a little bit of time in El Yunque on the way back from Viequest, and we definitely could have spent more time.
We also tromped around San Juan for a day – the old Spanish fortresses are very impressive.
Some of our friends went south to the city of Ponce, which is poorer and less-traveled than San Juan, so that might be another option.
There are pictures from our trip on this blog post, if you want to see what I’m talking about: http://lmfinney.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/sun-and-fun-in-puerto-rico/
Tahlia De Maio says:
May 13, 2014
I was there for 10 days about a year ago and the best thing I did was kayak though one of the bioluminescent bays. It. was. stunning. Pitch black night, navigating through a mangrove tunnel with every paddle sending blue ripples outward. If you do nothing else, do that. There are several locations around Puerto Rico to see it- the closest one to San Juan, and the one I went to, was north of Fajardo in Laguna Grande.
I also went to Arecibo. I felt like because I’m a grad student in Astronomy and was so moved by Contact as a teenager, that it was a requirement. Honestly… I was a little underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s really sobering to stand next to a telescope as big as a mountain. But for the very long drive and general public science outreach sort of displays I admit I was disappointed. Maybe that’s just me being jaded.
I rented a car and was really glad of it. Apparently it’s possible to get around the island with public transportation but it’s complicated, especially if you want to get out to the middle of nowhere for Arecibo or anywhere else decently far from San Juan. Be prepared, the drivers are nuts.
Enjoy!!!
Abrahm Simons says:
May 13, 2014
I spent 7 days in Puerto Rico a few years back and it was fantastic. We stayed in Fajardo which is a beautiful, smaller sea-side town on the north-east coast. The ferries to Vieques and Culebra leave from Fajardo but they sort of run on island time so it might not work well for a short stay.
We spent two full days in El Yunque and we plan on going back in the future. It’s a great hike! They recommend wearing pants and it might be good to bring a light jacket, it can get a little chilly with the fog and elevation. The views can be gorgeous. The El Mina trail is really cool, but this is where the tourist vans drop you off for their “tour” so it can be really crowded.
I used this site quite a bit for planning information. They have a lot of detailed stuff. http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/el-yunque-overview/
When we were in Fajardo we took a day trip with this snorkeling tour and they are fantastic. http://www.egbc.net/daytrip.shtml
Seven Seas beach in Fajardo is very nice and close to Reserva Natural de las Cabezas de San Juan.
The beaches in Luquillo are beautiful as well and the shore is lined with food vendors which can be fun.
Have a good time and yes, the driving style down there is very different.
Greg Smith says:
May 13, 2014
Hope you have fun in Puerto Rico! Can’t give you any useful tips since I’ve never been there for any useful amount of time. And when you come back, I hope you consider coming back to visit Oregon again, even if it has lost its exotic luster to you now that you are a resident of the Pacific Northwest. I guarantee that there is amazing amounts of fun to be had in Portland and Oregon, and I imagine there is no shortage of natives, me among them, that would be happy to share tips about places to go and things to do.
Benjamin Goldman-Huertas says:
May 13, 2014
Hey Jen,
Don’t think I’ve ever commented here or at freethought or at blaghag, but I am going to SMBE to present a poster, so it’s probably a good time to delurk. I grew up in San Juan. If you don’t get a car there is a lot of close stuff; the Caribe Hilton is in the touristy part of San Juan between the Old City and Condado. As mentioned you’ll want to go to the old city and get a look at the forts and get a piragua (snow cone), and maybe buy a kite and fly it at the field in front of El Morro fort. If I remember the Caribe Hilton beach is not that great, but there is a small beach just across the bridge with some decent snorkling (and I saw a manatee near there once). I you go further East into Condado there are some larger beaches at the Marriott and Ocean Park. The best beaches are on the smaller islands (Culebra and Vieques), but they are schlep. Got to drive to Fajardo and try to get in early before the ferry sells out or get on a very tiny airplane…
The best way to see any of the island is to rent a car, but I will warn you the driving in PR is crazy (aggressive driving, traffic jams), and the signs are in Spanish, so take into account your anxiety tolerances. I’d say go to Arecibo observatory. I’m coming in with some Americanos from my program a few days early. We might try to get to Arecibo (they expressed some interest and have not seen it). Maybe we can arrange a carpool? It’s worth seeing. My wife in front of el radar is my phone startup image.
Ben
Jen says:
May 15, 2014
Thanks for all of the suggestions! I’ve added them all to my adventure list :)
Ben, thanks for the offer to carpool to Arecibo. Unfortunately I’m not arriving before the conference starts, and my vacation is going to be afterward, so I’ll have to decline. But maybe I can get some other scientists at SMBE to come with me.
Michael Busch says:
May 18, 2014
As a radar astronomer who makes frequent use of the telescope, I must also recommend the Observatory.
You may be able to invoke “I do science journalism and outreach” and get something more extensive than the usual public tour (i.e. getting to hike around or under the dish rather than just standing at the visitor center viewing platform).
Alessondra Springmann, who is finishing up a term as one of the radar astronomers working at the observatory and has been doing a bunch of outreach as well, would be a good person to ask about that. You can reach her through http://www.naic.edu/~sondy/ . Sondy is also the current head of an effort to tame, spay/neuter/vaccinate, and find homes for feral cats from around the observatory (e.g. http://observatorycats.tumblr.com ). You and anyone with you may be offered kittens-to-go.
Additionally:
If you have an evening free, the lake at Fajardo is indeed very cool. As others have mentioned, driving in Puerto Rico is an interesting experience – especially once you get off of the autopista. For example: my information is that there was a traffic jam of drunk people on horses on the road to the Observatory earlier tonight. This is not particularly unusual.
And for culinary tourism, there is mofongo.