Tag Archives: Gozalandia

More Fun with Family: Gozalandia and Beyond

Summer and Brandom’s stay was pretty short, so we tried to pack in all the stops we could. It’s hard when people come to visit because they are in vacation mode and we are not used to partying every night. Every other, maybe… (haha). But we had a lot of fun even if we are now completely exhausted!

Summer Brandon
Summer and Brandon at Gozalandia

We often go to Gozalandia with guests because it is just simply spectacular and close. This was probably our favorite trip because it was hot out and though there were more people, it was a Wednesday so it wasn’t too crowded. We each swung from the rope swing a few times and even jumped from the skull face. It was a great time.

Summer jump
Summer swinging from the rope

Group waterfall
Group pic!

Cassie climbing out of water
So much fun climbing, jumping and swimming!

 


Me swinging off the rope

Summer wanted to go to Villa Cofresí in Rincón again to share with Brandon the famed pirata drink out of a coconut and watch the sunset before heading over to the Art Walk.

Summer and Brandon
Something so fun about drinking out of a fruit!

Britton and Cassie
Sunset from Villa Cofresí

During the day I caught them a little iguana to hold. The darn thing kept snapping at me and trying to eat my diamond! But at least I haven’t lost my iguana catching skills!

Cassie lizard catcher
Cassie the Iguana-catcher extraordinaire!

On their final night here we went out with our friend Patrik in his nice Mercedes. Hanging out with Patrik is like being in real-life Grand Theft Auto. He is Swedish and very loud and intense, but a great guy. It was a lot of fun.

GTA night
Brandon, BK and Patrik

Brandon Summer BK
Brandon, Summer and BK

Bill Jenn Cassie
And it’s always a silly good time with the Kersches

They even got to see the Rincón Lighthouse, but of course! Overall, I think Brandon got a good dose of the Rincón/west coast vibe.

Summer and Brandon lighthouse
Summer and Brandon at the Rincón Faro

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Island Beauty: San Sebastian and Aguada

We took a day to go out with our guests to one of our favorite spots: Gozalandia in San Sebastian. It is the quintessential tropical waterfall getaway. I always feel that it couldn’t have been designed any better had it been in a movie set. It’s just magical!

Gozalandia
Gozalandia -Main waterfall

gozalandia 2nd fall
Gozalandia secondary waterfall

Petra and Cassie
In Gozalandia with friend Petra

In the Jungle
Jungle Monkey Cassie

turtle
It’s fun to see the turtles too

Compare this to our first trip to Gozalandia!

We also spent some time in Aguada recently and enjoyed a beautiful sunset off the cruising coast.

Cassie stairs
Cool that someone built these steps!

Cassie rock 2

 

Cassie ledge 3
Living on the edge

Sunset Aguada
And another amazing sunset

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Gozalandia and Salto Collazo

For our last day with our friend Sean here in PR we decided to show him Gozalandia. The owner of the property has done some major work with accessibility since the last time we visited and almost all the paths are paved now!

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Path through Gozalandia to each of the waterfalls

We came in January as it happens again so it was much quieter than it can be in the summer months though the water is a bit chillier too. Such a beautiful movie-perfect spot.  

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But the chilly water wasn’t stopping me this time. I decided I was going to swing off the rope into the water.

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Getting ready

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Now hang tight then swing, release… and splash!

So much fun. With a splash I was suddenly under water in the most deliciously cool freshwater ever. I climbed up the  rocks and let the water from the cascade wash over me as a natural shower. The boys weren’t interested in swimming and just enjoyed the beauty of the place.

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Hi from behind the waterfall!

Then we walked to the larger more well-known waterfall. It was interesting seeing it from above and looking down because of the new paths. It really made me remember just how crazy those guys are who not only jump but dive head first from that height! It was also pretty slick and mossy and Sean gave us quite the scare when he slipped on his butt up there! ¡Cuidado!

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Imagine jumping (or slipping) from here!

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I think it is the coolest looking rock face

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Sean enjoying the view


We spent some time talking with new friends we met there at Gozalandia and I was asked again by someone else if I was Puerto Rican! I think that is the most awesome thing that with my Spanish I can “pass” as Boricua de pura cepa as he called it. The final test was for me to yell out “¡Wepa!” which I did loudly and without hesitation and so I passed -haha. Accordingly I am now officially adopted as a Puerto Rican 😉

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¡Wepa!

We stopped in Lares for some lechón, but they were sold out for the day so we had chicken, pasteles and arroz con gandules instead. An employee told Britton we could come back tomorrow for the lechón. They had about 8 spits and walked Britton into the cooler where 10-15 pig carcasses were hung. He told Britton that people from the area raise the pigs and then bring them to this little restaurant to be processed. Very local and fresh pork.

When we left we drove by and then stopped to see Salto Collazo.  This waterfall really isn’t much in comparison to the ones at Gozalandia except on the other side of the road is a huge cliff drop off.

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Little Salto Collazo is right on the road and there is no real pond/pool

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And we ended the day enjoying a wonderful sunset over the mountains

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Gozalandia Waterfalls in San Sebastian Puerto Rico

Waterfall1

We were trying to think of a fun activity for my mom and Anthony while they were visiting us. We have visited the beaches and checked out the lighthouse area in Rincón with them, but there was something Britton and I had been wanting to check out for a while: the waterfalls of San Sebastian also known as Gozalandia (loosely: Enjoymentlandia).

At the waterfall
Lots of photo ops

It’s not too hard to find these waterfalls. If you can find San Sebastian, you can find it and everyone in the town knows where they are. Basically you just go from the Walgreens up to the bridge and hang a right and keep going up until you see the signs and parking for $5.

These are very beautiful waterfalls and it sort of makes you feel like you are in some kind of tropical movie like the Blue Lagoon -especially because one of the rock faces actually looks vaguely like a skull face. There are virtually no rules and you are free to do pretty much whatever stunts cliff diving or swimming into the underwater caves. One of the waterfalls even has a rope with which you can swing and jump and you can stand behind the water as it falls. It was a little chilly for us to do much swimming in the cool river/spring water, but we watched the crazy cliff divers and we climbed around a lot.

Steps

It is not an easy climb to either of the waterfalls and so you would need to be moderately fit to traverse the wet and slippery steps and be able to hang on to the rope knots on the way down or fit your foot into tree roots. A helpful and funny man can walk you through it step by step if you need. But all the trouble getting to them is well worth it. Unlike most government sanctioned nature areas, this private park felt pretty much like it probably did when the native Taino Indians lived on the island and probably played in these cascadas. It wasn’t until just recently that the stairs were even installed!

Other waterfall
The other lesser known waterfall has the rope and reminded me of the cenotes or sinkholes of the Yucatan in Mexico

I talked with one of the owners and he said it is a piece of property that has been in his family for many years and up until about 40 years ago it had been a 70 acre sugarcane plantation, but now it is just known for the waterfalls and natural beauty. He said that in the depth of summer on the weekends it can be crammed with as many as 150 full cars, so we enjoyed the relaxed and quiet vibe we had there on a January weekday with maybe 10 other people.

On the walk/hike to the secondary waterfall there are smaller dipping pools as well. I think I would like to go back and do some exploring under the water and do some jumping when the weather is a little warmer on a summer weekday. It was a stunning find and I would highly recommend it!

Cassie at the waterfall

2016 Update: Here is our second trip to Gozalandia. Some improvements have been made to the property.

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