Travel In Sandals: Day 8 – Boats, Cars, Rainforests and a Night in Old San Juan

Day eight consisted of travel, exploring the El Yunque rainforest and finally making it to the bustling Puerto Rican capital of San Juan!

We left Vieques around 10am to catch the ferry back to the main island of Puerto Rico. Once we docked in the port city of Fajardo, we hopped back in Destello Blanco, “White Flash,” our mini-van rental car, and hit the road.

The crew loaded up in Destello Blanco

El Yunque is between Fajardo and San Juan so it didn’t take long for us to get there. One of the big benefits of Puerto Rico is everything is pretty close. Also, by “traffic” they mean a handful of cars on the road going 45 MPH; we’d take that any day of the week in Los Angeles.

The El Yunque rainforest is a major attraction in Puerto Rico, and all of the locals we had met recommended doing a self-guided tour of the area. We took the slim, windy road up the mountains into the rainforest stopping at a handful of turnouts to snap photos of the scenic views and waterfalls. There were lots of hiking trails you can take but we opted for The La Mina Trail, which appeared to be one of the main trails. It was said to be a 40 minute hike each way but those must have been old, out-of-shape people because we did each way in 20 minutes. At the end of the windy path that ran along the hillside under the massive green rainforest overhang was a massive waterfall. Mo and Matt climbed the rocks, jumped in the water, and pretended to be wild jungle boys.

La Coca falls, the first of the big waterfalls at El Yunque

Mo and Matt going a bit higher at La Coca falls

40 minutes? Yeah, right!

Mo, Garrett, Lauren and Greg walking the La Mina Trail

Greg, Lauren and Garrett overlooking the massive La Mina waterfall

Garrett and Lauren in front of La Mina falls

Man vs. Nature - Mo prepares to take on the La Mina waterfall

"It's not that bad...you go first"

A couple of wild boys exploring the rocks and falls of El Yunque

After a bit of fun and splashing in the water, we all made our way back up the path to the car and began our descent back down the mountain.

We finally arrived in San Juan and checked in at the Doubletree in Sancturce (very centrally located), one of the nicer parts of town. We unpacked, showered up and headed off to dinner in Old San Juan at an upbeat Latin-Asian fusion place called DRAGONFLY. The restaurant was right in the heart of Old San Juan’s lively night life so after a delicious tapas feast we bar-hopped to several places including Tres Cuernos, a place popular for chichaito, a flavored liquor infused rum. They didn’t taste great, but we managed to put a few down!

A couple pre-party shots

Bebidas!

The crew at Dragonfly

Matt makes friends with the surf-loving Tres Cuernos bartender

Garrett and Greg take shots of pineapple flavored chichaito

Mo making his bi-daily call to his lady

The crew walks the cobble stone streets of Old San Juan

Almost every album cover in the Puerto Rican juke box had an hombre with a mustache

Greg's one work out of the trip

At Maria's Bar in Old San Juan enjoying some grub and drinks

After mingling with the locals at several bars, Garrett and Lauren headed home while Greg, Mo and Matt made their way to Club Bahia casino inside the Sheraton. Fortunately, everybody left with more cash than they came with! Eventually, the trio headed back to the hotel only to be pleasantly surprised by oversized board games such as connect four and chess.