More Island Views - Day 3

Welcome back and thanks for stopping by again. I am making a tremendous effort to stay on top of my vacation photos selecting only the best from our daily excursions. For those of you that pop in every month or so, please check back daily as I have had plenty of time in the evenings to settle in and post some new images.

More Island Views - Day 3


"La Pared" Surf & Boogie Boarding HotSpot - Playa Luquillo, PR.

For local surfers, "La Pared" - or "The Wall" - is a favorite destination for catching a wave. We arrived at this beach closer to the evening yesterday shortly after sunset and I only had a few opportunities to take a few non-blurry photos. I look forward to coming back here during the daytime so that I can actually enjoy the water and catch a tan...or, sunburn on this white skin of mine.


Just a day or two ago I spotted my first iguana roaming in a local neighborhood and was thrilled to have a chance to photograph it from a distance. Yesterday, while bringing some things to the car in preparation to head out, I was fortunate to spot one lounging up in a palm tree on the outside wall near the entrances to the condominium complex. I took several photos from a distance, and once satisfied, moved in closer to see if I could actually get some closeups. Sure enough, this green reptile must have had enough confidence in its camoflauge to stay in defensive mode. After a few close shots, I let it be and went about my day.

Along our daily drive my mother and her good friend Hector took us high up in the mountains bordering Ceiba and Fajardo. As you can see by the proximity of the condos to the sea, she chose a wonderful place to retire. Her building offers a view to the mountains and to the Carribean on the northeast side of the island.




I photographed this neighborhood from the same mountainside we traveled on. This particular arrangement of homes is typical as are the varied bright colors. Homes have flat rooftops for storing large water tanks that serve as reservoirs whenever there are issues with city water and most every home I have seen has white or black iron window and doorway treatments. This serves as both a simple method of securing a house, but is also a typical adornment for island living. In the upper righthand corner of this picture is someone's property comlete with a few goats and sheep.


"Chalko Frio", or "Cold Stream", is a favorite off-the-beaten path for locals to swim and cool off. This particular stream is fed from the mountains of "El Yunque" which is a national rain forest. Just ahead from where I took this photo is a small park where people gather to barbecue and enjoy the stream.



This is a view of the river rocks from above. I hopped out of the car on the bridge and took several photos from this vantage point.





"Pepo el Caballo" - This is Pepo, my mother's friend Hector's horse. Pepo is kept in a small field along with another horse on the mountainside. The grass is always green for these animals and they always have a small creek to drink from.





"Marina Croabas"







Much of the coastline that I have seen is littered with small restaurants, businesses, or outposts for fresh seafood such as this one. I don't know whether they actually cook anything in this little building, but since they are near a dock I would assume it's a fisherman's storefront for selling the fresh catch of the day.