Cueva Ventana and Much More in Utuado and Arecibo

At the famous spot! Cueva Ventana

It’s hard to believe that we had never been to Cueva Ventana! It is one of the most famous landmarks in all of Puerto Rico and the famous window scene is used in many tourism campaigns and even things like bank website pan screens. But, I suppose there is a first time for everything. Apparently since 2013 it has become a truly “tourist” destination that is only accessible with a paid tour. This isn’t usually our style of adventure, but since it was the only way to see it and we really DID want to see it, we didn’t hesitate when a friend mentioned they were heading up and if we would like to join. We had to make sure it would work out with Aeden’s daycare, but once that was settled, we made arrangements with our friends who are visiting, Petra and Brian to take the trek up there and meet the larger group.

Ancient Taino petroglyphs in the cave are said to protect the entrances

Fun in the cave. It was light enough throughout most of it to take pretty good photos without flash

We had to wear safety helmets and the group was huge! Things we’re not used to!

The tour was fun and the caves were super neat, but I yearned for the days before the paid tour. It didn’t cost too much ($11 for PR residents with ID, $22 for non-residents), but it was just so slow and lumbering and very basic. The guide was pointing out things like snails on the trees and tarantula holes in the ground. Things that might be interesting to a visitor, but are daily sightings for us jungle dwellers. So we tried to make the most of the slow moving train taking pictures and looking for cool plants along the way. We found mamey, corazon, seeds that are often used in jewelry and other neat plants.

Lago Dos Bocas

I had researched the area before and found that Lago Dos Bocas is just a hop skip and a jump away. I wasn’t sure how it would be since it had been over a decade since we’d been there! When we arrived, it was obvious that it had not been fully repaired since Hurricane Maria and the ferry boats weren’t running. Apparently on the weekends there are private boats that will take you to a couple of restaurants on the lake, but they weren’t going. It was intermittently rainy, so we just enjoyed the lakeview for a bit and then headed down the road.

Pretty spot, the Lake of Two Mouths

Wouldn’t you stop if you saw this??!

While were were driving along, I spotted a mural that said “La Hamaca”. I had heard of La Hamaca Bridge in Adjuntas, but I didn’t think we were quite that far inland. Still, I encouraged us all to stop and check it out. Sure enough, it was another Hammock or suspension bridge crossing a river in Utuado!

Suspension Bridge La Hamaca Salto Abajo, Utuado

A fun little stop!

Shortly after this picture was taken my hat took sail and Britton had to wade out to get it haha

We had a nice meal of comida criolla by the river and then checked out downtown Utuado. It was an old colonial plaza with some cool architectureand a quiet vibe. There were still some areas cordoned off because of earthquake damage which surprised me this deep in the island’s interior.

Colorful Utuado

Finally as we were driving back down the curving back roads we passed the Caguana Ceremonial Park and stopped. My vague memory of this on our honeymoon is so different than what it looks like now. They didn’t even have the little grass replica huts, but they did have the large ceremonial roads and fields and some very impressive huge ceiba trees as well as achiote/annato trees which was used, among other things, as a skin paint for the Tainos. It was beautiful and vast, but the museum was closed, so there wasn’t much else to see. But for $3 it was worth a stop to support them in hopefully fully opening up again. .