Travel around the world: Day 6 - Dry forests, vivid buildings and lots of food

Parque de Bombas in Ponce - possibly the most colorful firehouse ever

Today is our last day in the Puerto Rico countryside as we drive back to San Juan completing our tour of the island.

We start by driving the extraterrestrial highway which we don't know much about but is quite interesting after we do a bit more research about it as we find out that there is an intention to build an UFO landing site nearby as there are a lot of UFO sightings. Another interesting sight while driving to our next point of interest is a house in boat form..or is it a boat that has become a house?!


Extraterrestrial highway - Puerto Rico style	Houseboat - more or less

The first stop for the day is at Guanica Dry Forest which is actually quite green and probably dry just in comparison to the nearby rainforests. We park however to our surprise a ranger starts to shout at us that we parked wrong and should park differently even though we are the only car in the parking lot and there are no lines to tell you how you should park. At least this way we can ask for a map which is a precious commodity as later the ranger disappears and there is no other way to get a map. The trails are mostly old roads and the markings at the intersections are hit and miss but we get to our goal - a viewpoint of the valley below.


Entrance to Guanica Dry Forest	View of the forest from above


Guanica trail	Viewpoint view

There are a few birds that we see but what we hear most and feel are the mosquitoes which convince us to keep the pace throughout our hike. The plant life is quite diverse also with cacti, parasite plants and lianas seemingly everywhere. It is also quite hot also (south side of Puerto Rico is hotter and drier) so we are happy that we have enough water with us for the hike.


Embedded cacti	Forest growth


Parasite plant	Lianas

The next attraction that we intend to visit is the Tibes Indian Ceremonial Park which houses one of the major archeological discoveries made in the Carribean. It is quite difficult to get to it though as we have to pass through the nearby city of Ponce which has lots of one way streets in its downtown area. And when we arrive to our disappointment it is closed even though it was supposed to be open as it is the Friday after Thanksgiving. So after walking along the fence to see if there isn't anything visible from the outside we return to Ponce to visit its downtown area.


Tibes Indian Ceremonial Park - it is supposed to be open..	....but is not


Lizards can at least enter	Curious dog

We already know how difficult the driving is in downtown Ponce so we settle on a parking spot in the central square without looking for something cheaper on the side streets. The central area is interesting with quite a lot of old well maintained buildings including the Parque de Bombas fire station which is the major attraction in Ponce. We also take the time to visit a few of the tourists shops to buy some souvenirs.


Downtown building in Ponce	Parque de Bombas iconic building


Central hotel in Ponce	Street vendors

The other major downtown attraction that we visit before returning to our car is the Ponce cathedral whose history starts in 1670 and is quite large and impressive.


Another colorful building downtown	Ponce cathedral

After leaving Ponce we are famished but luckily our last stop for the day a lechoneria near Cayey should cure that. After staying in line for a short while we hit a problem as the girl behind the counter does not speak English but with help from a lot of people behind us in the line who give us advice we come out with a lot of varied food made from different pig parts. It is actually enough both for dinner and the next day lunch and dinner.


Lots of food at the lechoneria	Mix of pork meat from the lechoneria

We arrive at the Hampton Inn relatively late and while it looks nice from the outside it is under construction inside with a lot of work and hammering going on. Our room is far from the noise though and looks nice until we notice the termites in the bathroom. In the end we are too tired to care and fall asleep relatively fast.