Imagine. Imagine you're standing under a waterfall, spread your arms, feel the drops on your skin. Close your eyes, open them again, and suddenly you're flying, flying between a blue sky above and a green sky beneath you.
Imagine the smell of cinnamon and pepper while you continue your hike, and imagine the taste of a pineapple you plucked in the rainforest, sitting on an empty street that was heated up by the sun.
It sounds like a meditative journey, like a dream. But Puerto Rico has everything to offer you can imagine, it is an amazing island that I instantly fell in love with.
It's incredible how lucky we are.
Thursday after work we hopped on yet another plane that too us to paradise.
After the first shock - despite booking for three adults on Expedia, our room only had two twin size beds - Puerto Rico turned out to be one of my favorite destinations so far.
After one phone call with el jefe everything was perfectly fine, we got another room for free, and at the latest after we slid into two jacuzzis on the rooftop with a nocturnal view over the
city, we knew it was the right decision to come here.
The Wave was a new hotel that just opened a week before, but they were exceptionally friendly and helpful.
After discovering the Old Town of San Juan the next morning we explored the Castillos, Castillo San Felipe del Morro and Castillo San Cristóbal. It was so empty that for a while we felt like the only people around there. Beautiful old castillos with a lot of history, and an unforgettable view on the city and the ocean.
We continued our trip, back to the Old Town, when an older man with a banner saying "You should be here" caught our attention. So, we thought, since we're already here - we should be there, and had a drink in his old bar that was covered in pictures and old newspaper articles and inspiring quotes.
After relaxing in the rooftop jacuzzi and a few hours of sleep we started very early the next day - we picked up our rental car to go to the ferry in Fajardo, that was supposed to get us to Flamenco Beach. That didn't work out so well, because when we got there around 8 am, the line was already waiting for the ferry at 3 pm. Alternative: a $120 private flight to the beach. Umm, leet me think about that - no!
So, we looked for other things to do - and not even an hour later we found ourselves on a private but cheap boat, that brought us to a smaller island, that they called the "turtle island". Well, we didn't see any turtles, but still, for the first few hours there was basically no one on this beautiful island, that was also one of the places they filmed "Pirated of the Caribbean" at.
It filled up later, so we fled to a very quiet corner, hearing nothing but the waves and going for a swim and some snorkeling in the warm Caribbean water... Fantastic.
In the night, we decided to follow the advice of the funny old man in the bar and Miguel from the hotel, because both told us to go to "La Factoria". We tried to find this specific bar, but for some reason, in the only street it could be there was no sign. People gave us the hint to take a closer look at an inconspicuous looking bar at the other side of the street. And indeed, there were quite a few, actually too many people coming out of the door that one easily could mistake for a restroom.
So, we went in, and discovered there was a wine bar behind this bar, and a salsa bar behind the wine bar, and a latin house / techno bar behind the salsa bar.
It reminded me so much of Berlin, it was amazing. We danced the night away, had one (or two, or three...) of the bar's signature drinks called lavender mule and just enjoyed the atmosphere of the location.
The next day started with another type of liquor - we took a tour (again, private, we got lucky) at the Bacardi factory with an unintentionally funny guide that told us everything about the history of Bacardi and Puerrrrrrto Rrrrrrrico. Of course we ended the day in the jacuzzi. At some point you just can't back out of a (new) tradition anymore.
The next day was one that I would call one of the best days in my life so far. Or maybe the best? I don't know. Very early in the morning the company, Acampa (if you check out their website, it will actually have a picture of me climbing up a waterfall), picked us up at the hotel. Our team consisted of two guides and a photographer, all three funny, laid back and experienced and definitely one of the reasons why this trip was so awesome. Oh, and a dog, that just followed us across the rainforest.
And then there were 10 or so of us, looking forward to an adventure.
We climbed up waterfalls and rappelled down another one, we jumped into the hole one of the waterfalls created (one of us lost his GoPro in there, but luckily our guide was able to dive down and get it back!), we went for a refreshing swim in natural pools and flew over the rainforest on a few zip lines. There was no one but our group, no noise, cars, bustle - just us exploring the nature around us. The last few hundred meters before returning to the camp our guides pointed out the plants around us - and it was actually a cinnamon plant, with beautiful red leaves, growing right next to a pepper tree. We plucked a ripe pineapple, and after a late lunch we sat down on the warm lonely road, shared and enjoyed said fruit, looking over the hills covered in green.
Breathing in, out, finding joy and peace in the Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence.
Unforgettable.
