My Puerto Rican Adventure

This is My Puerto Rican Adventure

Puerto Rico was my spring break destination a few years ago. I had no clue how amazing a trip it was going to be. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that the more pain and difficulty. The more fun. My trip to Costa Rica, I was 12 years old on a plane 30,000 feet in the air. And my eardrum blew itself up. It’s one of my favorite memories. Because I’ve come to realize there’s two types of good memories. The bad ones that you can turn into great stories or the good ones that are just good. So tough times are really what makes good stories. That’s why I chose to write about Puerto Rico. There were some great moments and some pretty tough ones.

It all started when we landed on the island around 1 am. We got ourselves in our car rental after waiting for an eternity. And found ourselves driving through a mysterious island in the dark. My dad was going down the road around 50 mph and slammed what must’ve been a 5 feet tall speed bump. We smack our heads on the top of the little car. I knew right then it was going to be an interesting trip. A little dazed we drive down the road and get stopped by a crap ton of police. Who explain to us we can’t go this way and give us the worst directions. Now it’s 3 am in the morning and we find ourselves at this little apartment building. And enter this nice 2 bedroom apartment, and catch some shut eye.

We wake up the next morning and walk outside and find ourselves in our own little paradise. There were a whole bunch of people in the apartment buildings. But no one was on the beach for miles. Unspoiled beach seemed to go on forever, a breath of fresh air compared to a packed Florida beach. On the beach we’re these small destroyed houses and uprooted trees lying along the beach from a past hurricane. Small sofas sat on the sand, I imagined couples sitting and watching the sun lower beneath the horizon. We ate at a small restaurant on the beach, and headed home to sleep off the sun.

Old San Juan

The next day we traveled to the old town part of San Juan. I soaked in the streets the Puerto Ricans walked hundreds of years ago. To a small bank that today is a Gelato shop. The Gelato was amazing in Old San Juan. But I remember the streets being really dirty. I always felt like there was flies buzzing around me, and so many stray cats. But it was a new place to explore so I didn’t care. There were a lot of great places to eat food. In one of them I was offered beer, sadly my dad said no. At the edge of Old San Juan was one of the many old forts. We walked around in the heat and found our only enjoyment in the big iguanas. Old San Juan was my first taste of a European like city. I fell in love.

If you haven’t noticed, my family loves the ocean!

Playa Escondida

I wanted to visit this hidden beach I had found a few months before. It was called Playa Esconidida. It sounds like paradise. It was. I knew it would be a 30 -minute hike. I wasn’t really looking forward to that part. But I thought the longer the walk the more enjoyment. So, we got to a restaurant and ordered some cold drinks. Then we set of on our trip. One minute in I realized that there was another beach right by the restaurant it must’ve been the towns beach. It had beautiful crystal clear water and barely any people. Probably the most amazing beach I had ever seen. But I said decided to push further to the hidden beach. Which at this point I assumed wasn’t very hidden anymore. The walk was not fun at all. It was steaming hot and not very pretty. Just sweating in between a whole bunch of dead trees. I spent most of my time complaining. Which is ironic since it was my idea. There was a lot of tripping on thick roots. Finally, I saw a sign. My excitement rose. Playa Calor it read. Oh great, the beach that was the halfway point. Just what I wanted to see. We kept on trudging down the path. Then I started to hear some oceany sounds and my little brother sprinted to the end. I was starting to get really excited. I made it to the opening and stood there in awe. The water was a mix of blues and greens. The sand was soft and untouched. It was all so pretty. And only a couple people on the whole beach. It was amazing. I threw my stuff onto the ground and ran into the water. I had never enjoyed a place so much in my life. I walked along the beach to see what it was all like. I found a little coral reef and watched all of the little animals crawl along the rocks. I walked back into the water and swam out to my brother and dad. I was enjoying myself in the water when I felt something heavy in my pocket. My eyes widened and I slowly turned around making sure not to alert my dad. Then swam and swam until I got to the beach. I ran up the beach like bugs bunny would and started blaring loud music to get all of the water out of my speakers. I was freaking out and only relaxed when my phone looked fine. Then went back out into the ocean. What an amazing place!

Playa Escondida Location

El Yunque

El Yunque was made up of many small mountains covered in green trees. I remember arriving and bathing in mosquito repellant. I’ve had bad experiences with those bastards. In Costa Rica I woke up with 30 something bites. Not fun. So I wasn’t taking any chances. We went up to the waterfalls in our car and found a waterfall with three different pools to swim in. We went up to each level and took photos. I’ll remind you it’s a rainforest so the jungle is really thick except for the trail. It was at some point that we realized our group now consisted of 3 people instead of 4. Oh boy. Now were stuck in the rainforest looking for my mom with no phone service. So were climbing in spots that shouldn’t be climbed and calling out her name. Nothing. At this point my brother and dad were sh*tting their pants. She was nowhere to be found. I trudged behind them knowing my mom probably just walked on ahead. But we kept climbing to find her. Until after half an hour my dad finally decided to get into the car and go to the next point hoping my mom would be there. As we drove up we saw this short woman with black hair. There she was. My dad pulled up pissed. We got her, my dad yelled at her for being stupid, and we left. The hunt was over and we went back home. The tension was still pretty high but its impossible to stay mad when you’re by the ocean.

El Yunque Website

Power Outage

That night we went out to eat at this restaurant on a farm. And as we sat the rain slowly got worse and worse. Then the rained turned into a thunderstorm and we had to run inside. As I sat eating my mozzarella sticks the lights cut off. Since Puerto Rico is technically a part of America I thought the technology would be similar. No, it was not. We ended up leaving the restaurant in the dark and rain. Puerto Rican driving is crazy but with no stop lights words can’t describe how scary it is. Luckily we made it safely home. The worst part of it all was sleeping in 80 degree weather with no air conditioning. I slept a few hours in a puddle of my sweat. I have never enjoyed waking up before that.

In the End

I’ve noticed in the midst of bad things, I hate it . But when I look back on it, I love it. Puerto Rico was a pretty bad trip if you think of the bad events. Now I hope every trip is just like it. What type of life would I have if there was no bad? What type of life would you have?