Post 12 - Puerto Rico - Day 5 - Blogathon 2017

Woke up leisurely and then went for brunch to a Mexican Restaurant, it was great Mexican food , fajitas, sizzlers, enchiladas yummm.
Then with no really fixed agenda we went to a nearby gaming area, they had pont rides, ATV rides and Go-Karting. Since the little one was not allowed on ATV me an Ritvik decided to go on the ATV whereas father-daughter stayed back. It was an awesome 1 hr ride, middle the guide took us to a secluded place where all of us dived in a beautiful naturally formed pool. We got back and did some Go-Karting and then off to the resort, after a nap all of us went to the resort beach, the little one not being used to sand did not want to get down from my lap, the son had lots of fun.
We then returned to the swimming pool and the kids had a great time.
We also walked around the resort a lot as that was the last day for us there and we were checking out to another place in the morning.
 

Post 9 - Puerto Rico - Day 4 Blogathon 2017

***Recap of Puerto Rico Trip***
For Day 3 go here
For Day 2 go here
For Day 1 go here

We did not have any itenary for this day, so we browsed on the attractions and decided to do the Camuy Caves.
The Camuy River Cave Park  is a cave system in Puerto Rico. It is located  in northwestern Puerto Rico The caverns are part of a large network of natural limestone caves and underground waterways carved out by the third-largest underground river in the world, the Río Camuy.
We got our tickets and waited for the trolley ride that would take us down to the caves, we passed a lot of rich foliage.
Once inside the caves we did see a lot of stalactites hanging down , there were steps to walk through the caves and the guide gave us some insights on the formation of the caves. Then we walked about and went to the mouth of the cave, took a lot of pictures and returned back. Normally I do not enjoy being in caves a lot but this one was good, a must try for all those who visit Puerto Rico.
We had booked our next two nights at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa, Fajardo. It was a long drive to the resort, even longer was getting parking and then getting checked in, well, it was a typical resort with huge shops, eating areas, casino. We quickly went and checked in our room but unfortunately there was no microwave in the room, if we wanted anything heated up like milk etc we had to go to a nearby pastry shop and ask them to heat stuff(it really sucked). A friend of mine had told that there was a eating strip and the tacos were very famous, so we decided to do dinner there, I did not find any taco place so we just went with the delicacies there like crab something/lobster/fish --I don't remember the names exactly now.
It was great to be seated out on the patio and have our dinner, we then returned back to the resort and off to bed.


 

Post 4- Puerto Rico - Day 3 - Blogathon 2017

This Blogathon will also see me recapping my Puerto Rico trip
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For Day 2 go here
For Day 1 go here


Day 3 , morning we had our breakfast of bread and jam and then checked out from the hotel. We were covering the North Side of the island. We drove to our hotel along the beaches and on the way we stopped at the "Arecibo Lighthouse and Historical Park" . It looked like a tiny park and we thought we would skip it and keep going but the kids needed a break and so we went in, it turned out to be beautiful, the ocean view was spectacular, the light house was closed, we could just walk up to it, there was sort of a mini zoo with different kinds of birds and animals, there was also a water park, the son had loads of fun splashing in the water, there was a car water ride that me and the daughter got into, on the way to the hotel both the kids slept in the car,  as it was getting eve we started searching for an eatery to stop by. We decided on Panda Express and I wanted to eat some Chinese. The GPS kept giving some directions and we reached our hotel signal, so if we took a right we would go to the hotel where a left would be to panda Express. G said we should just go to the hotel and get something to eat whereas I was adamant to go to Panda Express and we drove through some inner roads and it really looked like a farmland with no hotel in near sight. Dismayed we turned back and headed for the hotel itself. We had some sandwiches to eat at the hotel restaurant , checked in , changed and then went to another nearby park, it was getting dark by now, so we strolled a little and then drove back to the hotel, had curd/rice, and then went to bed.

Puerto Rico - Day 2

Day 2 : We woke up in the morning , had breakfast of bread and jam (which we had bought the previous day) got ready and then went to Old San Juan. I had heard that parking here is difficult, luckily we got a spot near the Old Fort and we set out to visit the cemetery at the bottom and then walked our way atop the fort.
Weather was cloudy and very pleasant, we took lots of pictures here, my baby boy being the photographer for a change. We also saw a very big iguana over here, it was the first of the many iguanas that we saw. After posing for a lot of pics and going around the fort we walked back to our car. We then drove to the Old San Juan town and wanted to find a place to park but unfortunately there was no parking space, we drove in 3-4 lanes and then decided instead of going around in circles to find a place little further. thus we drove out and found some cozy restaurants on the street side. luckily we got parking and we ordered our food and drinks. it was very breezy and windy and a glorious day to be out in the open. Kids were running around, while we had our food.

We were very relaxed and just spend a lot of time there, then we decided to visit a Kids museum in the town and drove back, but again parking was full and it was time for the museum to close, so we just drove back to our hotel and rested. Dinner we eat some rice mixed with tomato chutney that I had packed. We had a Bioluminiscence tour planned for the nite. it was a 1 hr drive , so we left by 6:30 and reached the place by 7:30 pm. Our tour(mine and Ritvik) was at 8:30 pm. We were all taken in a boat and we would drive through the mangroves to the Bioluminiscence Bay. It was pitch dark and we saw a lot of Iguanas on the trees, there were a lot of kayaks that were also going through. Our guide Mario gave us a good talking tour all the while and he and Ritvik became good friends. Once we reached the Bay, if we put our hands in the water it would glow, it was because of a special kind of bacteria there which emitted light on contact. We were there for quite some time and then returned back where my dear baby and hubby were waiting. it was 10 pm by then and we drove back to our hotel.
 

Welcome to Puerto Rico - Dec 10th 2015

Was I excited? Was I nervous? Was I biting my nails ? Not really..I did not even have time to think or plan about the trip. What with MIL leaving and me deciding to WFH for 2 months with a toddler, days have been super busy. I just decided in mid - August that we needed a family vacation. Since most of US is covered I needed a destination that was not in US and did not need visa checking, so Puerto Rico it was. Flight tickets were booked and then I asked G to do the hotel bookings. The only thing I booked in advance was the Bio Bay as someone said it gets sold out pretty quick.

We had a 7 am flight to catch(Sun Country) and since it is considered an International Destination we had to reach there 2 hrs ahead. I got up at 4 am, got ready woke the kids by 4:30 am, got both dressed and we were out by 5, both the kids were wide awake and ready for the trip. We reached the airport by 5:30 am, did the check-in's , went through the Security Checks and were in the flight by 6:50 am. The first leg a 3 hr flight was till Ft Meyers, FL. As soon as the flight departed we all slept for an hour, when we woke up the beverage service was on, after having juices, soon it was time to reach Florida. We were asked to stay in the flight itself, we had palak paneer and chapatti(which I had packed), the it was a 2 hr flight to San Juan, luckily Baby girl R slept again and it was an easy flight till there. While landing we saw the beautiful oceans from the flight and it was a beautiful scene.

We reached San Juan by 2:00 EST time. We then went to the Rental and got our car, the climate was hot, our jackets were off. We then went to the hotel Villa del Sol which was very near to the Rental Car Office. The hotel was colorful ,w e were in the 2nd floor and there was a courtyard which was good as the kid could run out and play. After freshing we went for a stroll outside and to have dinner, we chose El Café restaurant and I had the famous Mofongo(Shrimp) but sadly it did not taste good at all, we ended up with having Tres Leche cake as dessert, we then walked around and went to Walgreens to get some other essential stuff like milk, bread....

Ritvik was all ready to go back home to his friends and was all the time asking when we will return, he convinced his Dad to get him a lego set, we then went to the hotel and were lazing around on the courtyard. After some time Ritvik started crying saying he was missing his friends and wanted to go back, I then gave him a big lecture on spending time with family blah blah and when I told him we will go after 5 days, he was like 5 days, that is too much, can we go back in 2.
All said and done we were all tired with our flight journey and went to sleep for the night.




 

Back from Vacation

We went on a week vacation to Puerto Rico and it was Fun ! Fun! with much needed hot weather and loads of family time..Will post details soon.