Cruising for Saints in the Caribbean Day 3: Today we headed west of Puerto Rico to visit the Arecibo Observatory and get lost in the Rio Camuy Cave Park. With a planned early start, our group of eight had a quick breakfast at the hotel before packing into our two rentals and tackling the road. … Continue reading Arecibo Observatory and Rio Camuy Cave Park
Cruising for Saints in the Caribbean Our objective today was to head east and explore the largest and most visited National Forest in Puerto Rico, El Yunque, then stop by a beach and having a fancy dinner in Old San Juan. Our group slowly emerged from our rooms and had breakfast at the hotel. We … Continue reading Tropical Showers in El Yunque National Forest
Cruising for Saints in the Caribbean First time in Puerto Rico – arrival, hot, no parking, artsy hotel, too many mojitos, stroll around Old San Juan, old cathedral, tourists. Puerto Rico A Caribbean island settled by Christopher Columbus for Spain because a US territory when the Spanish lost in the Spanish-American War in 1898. It … Continue reading A First Impression of Old San Juan
Cruising for Saints in the Caribbean Checking out Puerto Rico, three new countries, and several territories on a weeklong Caribbean cruise, bringing my country count to 45. An area previously known for colonization, pirates, and slavery, the Caribbean is now synonymous with paradise. A short flight away from most places in North and South America, … Continue reading Cruising for Saints in the Caribbean
Day 8 Continued. Houston, USA. We made it to Houston! Freedom! I noticed that we were delayed so I asked the flight attendant what the process was for catching our connection. The flight attendant said not to worry because there was a 9 pm flight in case we missed the 7 pm. So that was … Continue reading Day 8 and 9 Continued – Awful Experience with Continental-United
Antigua, Guatemala Since it was still pitch black out when we woke up, we barely made it. Our alarms were blasting though so we hustled and got ready. The front desk guy was sleeping on the couch and seemed surprised that we were awake on time. He told us the guy wasn’t here yet. So … Continue reading Day 8: Guatemala Antigua, Pacaya, Guatemala City
Ocotepeque, Honduras After a quick shower, we checked out and were back on the road. We hopped into the first cab we saw and got to the border. We were there by 8 am. The Honduran border was simple to cross. Stamp and go. The El Salvador border was much more diligent. They had a … Continue reading Day 7: Honduras to El Salvador to Guatemala
Alarm buzzing again… so disoriented. I showered then woke up Bill. I went out to see the pool that the hotel advertised, which was quite inviting. Too bad we didn’t have time for a swim. We checked out and walked to the bus station a few blocks away. It was a different station for buses … Continue reading Day 6: Guatemala, Chiquimula to Honduras, Ocotepeque
Both our alarms were going off when I finally woke up. It was 6:45 am, so tired. We left our bags at the hotel and waited for our ride. The bus was late and the first one that showed was our tour company, but it wasn’t our bus! Eventually we got on our bus to … Continue reading Day 5: Guatemala – Tikal
Our alarm sounded at 6:45 am. It was difficult to get up. We packed our stuff, not forgetting my passport hidden under my mattress (separate from my pack in case of a mid-night robbery). Then checked out of the hotel. We headed across the street where the vans were picking us up. We were on time … Continue reading Day 4: Belize, San Ignacio to Guatemala, Flores