We awoke at the Courtyard in Aquadilla, Puerto Rico and found the hotel was rather....full. Strange, considering Aquadilla is a tiny airport and there werent any major events going on this weekend. Little did we know that the Special Olympics for weightlifters were being held closeby and we found ourselves surrounded by some of the biggest (I'm talking muscle) people I have even seen in real life (yes, weightlifters look a thousand times bigger in the flesh than on TV). To my left I'm hearing Germans, to my right - some form of -stan (Paki, Khazik etc) while I'm looking at an even bigger bunch of boys that were from Luxemburg...honestly didnt think there was room in that tiny country to keep such huge people!
Not something you expect to see when you wake up on a Sunday morning in a sleepy Puerto Rican town, but hey - like I've said before, Puerto Rico is changing rapidly in leaps and bounds and nothing should really surprise us anymore.
After a quick dip in the hotel pool (they had waterslides!!!), we got some pressed sandwiches and coffee for breakfast at a little Panaderia and set off to get ourselves lost in the forest. There are so many small, narrow winding roads and although Geoff had a route marked out, we still chose to venture here and there with whatever looked interesting along the way.
Another camp ground!! Where were you 3 years ago??
Lago dos Bocas (Lake of two mouths) in Utuado. The lake was created in 1942 when a dam was constructed by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority for a hydroelectric power plant. It also serves as one of the island's potable water reservoirs. Ferries operated by the Department of Transportation of Puerto Rico provide transportation for residents on Lago Dos Bocas as well as for tourists. Several restaurants are located on the shore of the lake, but we didnt have the time to stop into them. Plus, sampling from all the little, family-owned restaurants was much more fun and curiosity-satisfying!
We seem to find our four-legged friends wherever we go :)
All in all a beautiful day exploring some new areas of the interior of Puerto Rico that we havent seen before. What we werent aware of, was that the local elections were just a couple of days off and that 99.9% of the Puerto Rican population was dressed up, parading, driving in cars and waving flags, playing music, blocking the roads or a combination of all of the above. This really affected our timing when we came closer to San Juan, where the highways were moving at a snails pace with the amount of people just hanging out there - or hanging out of moving cars. Unfortunately no Costco trip for us this weekend, but I think what we saw and did this weekend very much outweighed any experience Costco could've given us!
P.S As an afternote, Puerto Rican voters this week backed a ballot measure thatYet, Tuesday's vote may be an illustration of a people who remain divided over the island's status rather than united around one option. Based on the first question of a two-part ballot, just more than half (54 percent) voted to change the island's status. In the second question, 61 percent said they favored statehood, while 33 percent voted for sovereign free association (more autonomy from the U.S.) and 5 percent backed independence. may be an illustration of a people whoYet, Tuesday's vote may be an illustration of a people who remain divided over the island's status rather than united around one option. Based on the first question of a two-part ballot, just more than half (54 percent) voted to change the island's status. In the second question, 61 percent said they favored statehood, while 33 percent voted for sovereign free association (more autonomy from the U.S.) and 5 percent backed independence.rather than united around one option. Based on the first question of a two-part ballot, just more than half (54 percent) voted to change the island's status. In the second question, 61 percent said they favored statehood, while 33 percent voted for sovereign free association (more autonomy from the U.S.) and 5 percent backed independence.
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