Puerto Rico: Exploring the Interior, 2007

Some of Puerto Rico's tourist booklets encourage the visitor to "explore beyond the shore." One of the ways to explore is by taking some of the twisting mountain roads. The "Luis Munoz Marin" panoramic route, named after a former governor of the island, crosses the length of Puerto Rico from west to east, and would take a few days to cover well.

I started on the western side near Mayaguez and continued to the areas directly north of Ponce, which was manageable in an afternoon. For me, the highlights of the trip were the cute churches and other buildings, the quiet, the abundant plant life, and the occasional view of coffee fields and valleys.
I even ran into a young man on horseback.

I stopped at a local bar in the area between Maricao and Yauco and was told that a great time to visit Puerto Rico is during Christmas time, when the whole interior explodes in music and celebrations.

See my webpage on Puerto Rico at http://www.latinandcaribbeantravel.com/puertorico.html

Puerto Rico: The Panoramic Route, 2007

In February 2007 I took my rental car and drove on some of Puerto Rico's twisting mountain roads. There are some areas along the Luis Muñoz Marín panoramic route that crosses the island from east to west where you can see both the Atlantic and Caribbean coasts, as well as some of the island's tallest mountain peaks.

This view faces the city of Ponce to the south and the Caribbean Sea in the distance. I met a Puerto Rican family who was taking in the same views, and they told me that relatively few Puerto Ricans visit this area compared to the populated coast.

See my webpage on Puerto Rico at http://www.latinandcaribbeantravel.com/puertorico.html