Category Archives: Strange Sights

Lares Adventure to Haunted La Rambla and Cafe Lareño

This week for our adventure we headed to Lares. I had heard about a beautiful place that I just had to check out: La Rambla, also known as The Levy Mansion. There are so many legends and stories about this place, but some consensus says that it was at one point in time going to be a hotel/casino, but then became the island’s first bottled water company because of the sweet spring water that came from a blessed source: La Santa Rosa spring. But there is much more to this story, from a wonderful start to complete abandonment. What happened exactly is unclear, but there are some theories including the violent death of a beloved daughter.

At the Famous Original Lares Heladeria

We started our journey traveling with our friend Anthony from Rincon to the Lares Plaza where we stopped in at the Famous Lares Heladeria. It had been MANY years since we stopped in there, but not a whole lot had changed except, that a copy-cat shop opened up just a few doors down selling the strange concoction (rice and bean, garlic, sausage flavor among others) ice creams as well!

With friends at the new El Grito Heladeria also

Fun with friends in Lares!

Then we rambled on down to La Rambla. Even though it is marked as “No Trespassing” we asked around downtown and they said there was a boquete in the fence that everyone uses and no one cares as long as you are respectful of the area. So we walked from downtown a couple of blocks and spotted the beautiful mansion from the road.

Details of the house

The mansion and grounds were themselves amazing, but the area over the spring was something altogether magical! It was a great place for a photoshoot and I am glad I brought along a skirt to add a little elegance to the photos and to honor what an amazing place it is!

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(these two awesome photos above thanks to Anthony Perez)

Finally afterward, we met up with more friends drove up the hills and checked out the Cafe Lareño factory. It was not officially open to customers, but we met the very nice owner, Don Luis Alcover who showed us around and let us eat and drink a picnic lunch at his place. It was very interesting to see that much of the coffee doesn’t come from Puerto Rico, but rather Mexico! It is depulped, roasted, ground and packaged in Puerto Rico mainly. There were some premium bags of purely Puerto Rican coffee, but not many. I hope that the Puerto Rican coffee industry is able to get stronger and stronger over time.

With my friend Berkley and the owner of Cafe Lareño, Luis Alcover

In the rest area below the newly opened coffee shop (that was closed but available to us courtesy the owner)

A beautiful tour of the coffee grounds (haha pun intended)!

A wonderful day in Lares, Puerto Rico!

Check out the video for more about La Rambla and our awesome day!

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Wild Guajataca Adventure: Trip to Two Tunnels, Indian Head, Ermita and More

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Tunel Negro…is so dark and quietly spooky!

We have been trying to get out at least once a week for an island exploration. And while we don’t mind going to some of our favorites, we LOVE finding new ones. We had been to the Guajataca Tunnel a long while ago, but we heard about another more challenging tunnel nearby called the Tunel Negro which means Black Tunnel. It is called this because it is long enough to become completely pitch black in the middle unlike the shorter and lighter Guajataca tunnel near the beach.

As we approached Tunel Negro

The trailhead was surprisingly easy to find (coming from Rincon it is just off the 2 on the right side before the lookout point which would be on the left). We were the only ones parked by an abandoned little kiosk and headed off down the trail. It was somewhat challenging mostly because of all the fallen trees that still were down since Maria I am guessing. Otherwise, it was flat and nice although we did need to watch for carrasco and other stinging plants a little. There were also some offshoot trails going up the mountain and down to the lake. We scrambled up a bit to see a lookout, but didn’t go too far. Maybe someday we can go all the way into the river. It looked beautiful from on high.

The lake down below

After that we also went to the other “easy” tunnel for a few pictures and also stopped by the Taino Indian Head. As we were headed back I saw a sign for Ermita San Antonio Historic Site so we took a quick detour there as well. Overall, it was a really fun and fulfilling day. Check out the video for the full adventure!

Taino Indian Head Monument on Highway 2 off Isabela

Monument to Cacicato de Mabodamaca

Mabodamaca was a chief (Cacique) of the Taino Indians (a subgroup of Caribbean Arawaks) that lived on the island of Boriken (the ancient name for the island of Puerto Rico). Chiefs had the privilege of wearing a golden pendant called a guani, which immediately distinguished him as the leader among the people. Local legend has it that during an ongoing battle with the Spanish invaders, Cacique Mabodamaca led his people up the Guajataca River and they disappeared into Puerto Rico’s central mountain range but along the way he lost his golden pendant and it remains embedded in the island forever as does the memory of his bravery.

On the path of the Guajataca Tunnel

On the drive in- What beauty peeking through these walls!

Some of the murals and artwork at Guajataca Tunnel have been updated

At the overlook stop where down below you can see the Guajataca Tunnel

Ermita San Antonio of the Antiguo Pueblo “Tuna”

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Major Earthquakes in Puerto Rico (and our Trip to See the Damage)

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Puerto Rico was dealt yet another major blow when it was hit by a series of major earthquakes in the southwestern region of the island especially Guanica and Guayanilla and then later other cities including Ponce. The first major event occurred on the morning of Three Kings and destroyed a beautiful geological landmark as well as the front wall to the old Lighthouse in Guanica and collapsing a couple of houses. We felt that one and it was pretty scary.

We were just at this site in August!
(sourced from FB)

I am so sad we never saw this wonder in person! (Source FB)

The next day at about 4:25am we were abruptly awoken from a sound sleep with the house jumping up and down. It felt even bigger and seemed to last forever. Since we were already rattled from the one before and reading all the news of the damage, we got a little nervous because we knew it would certainly be bigger and cause more damage. That one knocked out the power (and it stayed out for about 2 days).

Ready for survival life once again. Solar lights, gas can, generator and a hose shower

Soon reports and photos were coming in of pretty major damage throughout the entire region. We weren’t sure if we should leave to see the damage or stay home and ration since there were lines at the gas stations and grocery stores much as during the hurricane days, but we took a leap. We couldn’t stay at home another day just waiting. We headed out on the road to see what we would find. It was much worse than I expected, and yet sometimes there were nearly identical buildings and one was just fine and the other completely destroyed. Here is our account in photo and video documentation.

Beautiful old church in Guayanilla

It was so damaged you could see the cathedral from the outside

Near the coast in Guanica

House falls and smashes car in Guayanilla

Modern style house completely on its side

We saw at least 5 electrical transformers on the ground

Three story school in Guanica, Agripina de Seda was reduced to only two stories!

Help was arriving on the scene to provide resources and clean up

But there is a lot to clean up

Lower level is completely gone in this house

Adding the threat of tsunami must have been terrifying to residents

As well as landslides

Here in Rincon we lived in survival mode for a while, but the power just recently came back and there is no obvious damage to any buildings. Unfortunately for the towns down south, a full recovery will likely take much longer. Additionally, one of the main power plants to the island was located there and sustained major damage and which will continue to affect all of us on the island. Please help in any way, including continuing to visit Puerto Rico.

UPDATE: We were without power and water on and off for about a week after this occurred, but are now back pretty much to normal though we still feel some tremors. Unfortunately for people down south, some have lost their homes and some still are terrified to return. There are many ways to help and to donate for this and future disasters. Please see the video for a list of many organizations that are helping.

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The Holiday Season in Puerto Rico 2019

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The holidays are in full swing here in Puerto Rico this year. The festivities are on fire and it seems that every other day we have one party or another to attend. It has been so much fun! Thanksgiving with our neighbors, birthday parties, cookie exchanges, encendidos, parrandas, school parties and more. It has been non-stop. It is so true that Puerto Rico knows how to party and the winter Christmas season is the best for that!

When we haven’t been out having fun, we’ve been trying to take advantage of the extra time we have with Aeden in daycare and the fact that it has been so much cooler in order to expand the gardens. We recently planted over 35 new cultivars of heliconias and are so excited to see them grow! The cabana has been steadily booked with guests and so that keeps us busy with maintenance, tours and turnover. It’s been a very fufiling time in our lives. I’ve been trying to make more videos in order to capture the essence of life these days, sort of “vlog” style if you’d like to watch some other things that we’ve been up to. Here’s our channel: LIFETRANSPLANET YOUTUBE

Christmas Fun