Birdwatching at Laguna Cartagena

The Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge bursts with birds year-round, but also offers hiking and mountain biking trails and some pretty spectacular scenery. Managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, this wetland is one of the most important freshwater habitats for migrating and resident aquatic birds in Puerto Rico.

Almost half the birds recorded in Puerto Rico have been observed in the lagoon and its nearby hills. Visitors have a good chance of seeing a Magnificent Frigatebird, several species of herons, smooth-billed ani, the common moorhen, and occasionally the yellow-shouldered blackbird. I even saw white egrets and an osprey.

So if you’re anywhere near the southwest coast of the island, you should put on your hiking shoes, grab a pair of binoculars, a bottle of water, and a good camera, and spend a morning watching the avian activity and enjoying the birdsongs.

The trails are closed during nesting season – early March to late August – so time your visit well.

Enjoy Photos!

Info:

Fish & Wildlife
Birdfinding.org (Laguna info)
Birdfinding.org (Caribbean bird index)

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Mini-Tour: Bird’s-Eye View of Boquerón Beach

Balneario (Public Beach) Boquerón is one of our favorite beaches, and we showed it to you in an earlier video. But now Beto has a drone, and you’ll find the view is even better from the sky! 

The view of the crystal-clear water and the reefs and rocks below is astounding, with the stunning mountains in the distance. And Boquerón, which is a national park,  features many facilities you can’t see from the beach, including beach volleyball, a tennis court, a basketball court, a camping area (with cabins still being restored after damage from Hurricane Maria in 2018), and more.

INFO

Balneario Boquerón
Messy Suitcase Original Boquerón Beach Video

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Hiking the Cliffs at Playa Sucia

You feel as though you’ve gone to the end of the earth when you stand atop the stunning cliffs rimming the peninsula beyond pristine Playa Sucia, the beach at the extreme southwest corner of Puerto Rico, and look out across the vast turquoise sea.

Most hikers who come here take the breathtaking 1 ½ mile trail that encircles the iconic lighthouse Los Morrillos. We did it, ourselves, a couple of years ago. (Here’s the video) It was amazing!

But if you sneak off to the very left side of Playa Sucia (also known as Playuela), you’ll find a billy goat trail of about 2 ½ miles that gives you devastating beautiful views of the lighthouse from across the bay, with waves crashing into the cliffs below. You’ll also take in the crescent beach and the vast ocean beyond. The area is called Acantilados de Cabo Rojo, which translates to the Cliffs of Cabo Rojo. If you’re afraid of heights, don’t go too close to the edge! Otherwise, prepare to be blown away, by both wind and natural beauty.

There’s no shade, so wear sunscreen and a sunhat, and bring water to drink. But the most important accessory is your camera! We suggest you drop your beach chairs and swimsuits under a seagrape tree on the beach before hiking so you can cool off afterward with a dip in the warm waves.

PHOTOS

INFO

AllTrails Description

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Mini-Tour: Playa Tres Tubos

Playa Tres Tubos is a cozy neighborhood beach just a few short miles up the road from us in Joyuda, Cabo Rojo. There’s parking along the main road, but finding the pedestrian entryway was a bit of a challenge. The short path to the beach offered lovely mural art and shady trees.

Tres Tubos itself was a little gem of a beach, with soft sand; clear, calm water; but no shade. There are no facilities or shops nearby, so we brought our own lunch, and took the opportunity to test out our new shade tent for the beach.

INFO

Playa Tres Tubos – Sorry, no links to provide, there is no official info. Consider yourself scooped by an insider!

Pacific Breeze Easy Setup Beach Tent
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The Mask Maker of Boquerón

Amil Droz, an artisanal mask maker based in Boquerón,  Puerto Rico, took us for a walk through his rustic wooden home and art studio to see his vejigante masks and other 3D works of art he has created.

Amil (pronounced Ay-MEEL) is originally from Puerto Rico, but spent most of his life living in New York, which you will be able to tell from his accent. He calls his business Tuntuneco Arts. His masks are mostly made out of coconuts in the style found in Loiza, Puerto Rico. We purchased one to display above the bar of our Cabo Rojo home.

Amil Droz Torres is a certified cultural Artisan whose art studio and shop, Tuntuneco Arte Taino, is located above the Copy Hamburger bar in Boqueron, Puerto Rico. His masks sculptures and painting are found in museums, schools, and corporations in New York and PR. He also teaches and presents as a guest artist. We were lucky to meet him in a Cabo Rojo sports bar while watching the AFC Championship Game! He’s also a NY Yankees fan, but we can forgive him for that.

PHOTOS

INFO

Amil Droz, Tunteneco Arts, on Instagram
NY Digital Heritage Collection Profile

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Mini-Tour: La Poza del Obispo

La Poza del Obispo in Arecibo is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches on the North Coast of Puerto Rico. We wanted to know why so many people recommend it! 

Here’s why: Lots of parking right by the beach. Deep, soft golden sand. A few shady palm trees perfect for hanging hammocks. Incredible views of cliffs and turquoise sea in every shade imaginable. Food trucks nearby along the road to the beach. A “poza” (pool) of calm water protected by rocks from the jaw-dropping waves, which creates a perfect pool for kiddies to safely swim.

What’s not to love?

La Poza is also located right in the shadow of the beautiful Arecibo Lighthouse, so we hiked up a small mountain into a brisk wind to get a better view. Definitely worth it!

Photos

Info

Discover Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico Day Trips

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Emergencies, Money, and Travel Insurance: Be Prepared!

Traveling can be so much fun … until disaster strikes. You get sick. You break your leg skiing. Your pocket gets picked. Then what do you do?

This video will help you manage your money when traveling overseas in the safest, easiest way. We’ll cover how to handle cash, the credit cards with the best benefits for travel, the cheapest way to rent a car while being fully protected,  and more.

It will also help answer the question: do you need travel insurance?

INFO

Allianz Travel Insurance
Chase Sapphire Card
Marriott Bonvoy Amex Card

Taming the Beast at Toro Verde: We rode the longest zipline in America!

We traveled deep into the lush mountains of Puerto Rico to Toro Verde to take on the Monster, the longest zipline in America!

Come fly through the air with us on seven exciting ziplines, then get vertical and fly headfirst up to 95 miles an hour on the Monster (8,300 feet) and the Beast (4,745 feet)! Leave your fear of flying behind and join the birds at 380 meters above the ground.

Toro Verde also offers other activities, including bicycling on a zipline and several climbing walls, and several restaurants with awesome views of the mountains and the screaming zipliners.. Advance tickets are required.

INFO

Toro Verde 
Map 

Chasing Down the Caribbean Hurricane Hunters

We tried to go inside a Hurricane Hunter airplane! Alas, the rest of western Puerto Rico did, too.

NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the U.S. Air Force Reserve hosted a series of events this spring in preparation for hurricane season in Mexico and the Caribbean, to help people prepare for upcoming storms. They brought their big Hurricane Hunter plane to Aguadilla, about an hour from our Cabo Rojo home, and we headed north excited by the prospect of seeing the inside of the Air Force Reserve Command’s WC-130J “Hurricane Hunter” aircraft and learning how scientists collect data about hurricanes.

What we got was something completely different, a street-fair atmosphere of rescue workers, local communities, and emergency preparedness info — and an hours-long line to get inside the Hurricane Hunter aircraft. We decided to take a pass.

The National Hurricane Center held the event so that hurricane specialists could educate residents of vulnerable communities and discuss hurricane preparedness, resilience, and how they can become “weather-ready.”

The Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from June through November. The areas covered include the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.

Here is some valuable information from the NOAA website:

“During hurricanes, military air crews fly state-of-the-art WC-130J aircraft directly into the core of the storm to gather critical data for forecasting a hurricane’s intensity and landfall. The data are sent in real time via satellite from the aircraft directly to the NHC for analysis and use by hurricane forecasters.

“During the 2022 hurricane season, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flew 109 missions into 13 named storms in the Atlantic and east Pacific basins, including Hurricanes Ian and Nicole in the Atlantic and Hurricanes Agatha, Kay, Orlene, and Roslyn in the east Pacific.

“The NOAA Hurricane Hunters, stationed at the Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida, also fly missions into tropical cyclones to gather data to support storm forecasts and research. Their Lockheed WP-3D Orion and Gulfstream IV-SP aircraft are piloted by NOAA Commissioned Corps officers and crewed by NOAA meteorologists, technicians, and researchers.”

We never got inside the aircraft, but you can take a virtual tour here.

INFO

NOAA
Hurricane Hunters Awareness Tours
Hurricane Hunter Events

Touring El Capitolio, the Puerto Rican Capitol Building

El Capitolio, the capitol building of Puerto Rico, greets you as you drive into Old San Juan. It’s a century-old neoclassical structure with a commanding dome situated on a hilltop overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Bob decided it was time to take a tour inside!

For Puerto Ricans, El Capitolio de Puerto Rico stands as a powerful symbol of self-government. This video is packed with history, info, and photos, as well as a tour of the many fascinating monuments near the capitol building.

INFO

Map

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