Photos stories: Puerto Rico

A pebble rolled in from the surf. Beach view near Isabella on the northwest coast.

Road food! Trucks like these--or even a small tent with a picnic table--can be found on the sides of highways for snacks in this car-driven culture. We had "mofongo" here, which is a wad of green banana (and maybe some other tubers) mashed up around ground meat. Not the most attractive food, but certainly tasty.

The requisite tourist photo on the narrow brick streets of old San Juan. The houses are painted in festive colors like this, with ornate little balconies, and beguiling tropical plants. A pleasure to pad around indeed.

Haha, maybe the sign in the background indicates what happens if you have too many of these. This one was cucumber-infused.

"Breaded Fried Skirt Con Rice and Maduros"--gotta love the mix of Spanish and English. But skirt?

The botanic gardens of the University of San Juan were a sanctuary indeed. Here a heliconia flower bathes in the sun. I walked from bamboo to palms, holding a small cardboard cup of coffee, and blissed out on the glorious diversity of plant forms. Few people were on the grounds, and the place was thick with trees and trails, so one could meander so they felt lost...admiring the iguanas and listening to the birds. It was more church than church.

In the right conditions, some bamboo can grow up to 4 feet per day (according to my brochure)!

Driving the south-east part of the island was an experience wholly different from the rest of the land. Instead of lush thick forest or even thick cities, the area between Ponce and San Juan felt like the American southwest. Jutty hills and mountains formed a broad backdrop with no more ground cover than a few cacti and wizened yellow plants. The views were spectacular as we curved up and around and down along our smooth road.

The scene of my kayak trip last night. The clouds were absolutely captivating in this way, with the sun tinting only their edges, eventually fading the whole lot to a rosy purple.

Mi cama. Although no malaria here, one still doesn't want to sleep with the mosquitoes. I remember when my sister was little, she yearned for a princess style bed like this.