Puerto Rico – by The Mom

Here we are exploring the city of San Juan. Just like Karin J said – artwork everywhere. We did not walk too far this day and it was ALWAYS better to walk in the late afternoon to avoid the debilitating heat..

Sophia taking time to smell the flowers.

After spending the day in the Mall (the one Karin J loved so much) we returned to find our dinghies swallowed up by the jetty. This was due to the change in tides that happened while we were away. After much coaching, we managed to liberate them and became much more adept at tide-securing after this.

Here Sophia is showing the hiding place of a very clever Geocache. Took a while to find this one.

Franci at one of the splendid views from the El Morro Fort in Old San Juan.

Inside the Fort there are many interesting exhibits. Here is one of the mess room of the soldiers. They would typically be assigned three to a bed, but if they were lucky, one would be on guard duty.

Karin J just HAD to have a photo of this door to the Fort – she loved the small door that fits into the huge outer gate.

I’m including this photo because I found this Geocache all by myself!

One of the Old Churches in Old San Juan has this lifesize “Doll” in a glass case. We were told it was a relic of a real saint, but only on closer inspection could we see the skeleton hidden inside. The part that is visible are the brown teeth as the mouth of the cast is slightly open.

You’ve caught Marike in the act of eating a ham and cheese “pie”. This was bought from a little stall on a festive pavement on the way back from Old San Juan.

Sophia sitting on the knee of a statue in a beautiful square. The Pigeon on the left is part of the statue.

We visited a whole lot of Museums in Old San Juan. This entire museum was beautifully laid out with lots of interaction stations. The only problem was that everything was in Spanish. We still do not know what the picture wall at the back is for, but Marike and Sophia managed to add their photographs to the wall.

Here we are visiting in the “White House”. This is where the Governor of San Juan used to live way back.

The girls are looking down at a trap door in the Kitchen of the house. Every night all the household slaves would be locked into this cellar to keep them from running away at night.

Karin J really fancied this chest. It has three keyholes and three distinct people would each hold a different key. In order to open it, all three persons needed to use their keys.

The museum of Native Americans included this specimen of a shrunken head. This was the way that they would keep count of their slain enemies. These heads would be displayed prominently to show prowess in hunting.

Marike is really upset that this “Statue of the death” is called by her second name : Katharina something…

This photo was taken in front of Fort El Morro. We try to take pictures of our “Toothless” soft toys (handmade by Carla and Bianca van Harmelen) at strategic places to show that they really did travel the world. We are trying our best to show that they are actually flying.

From the Fort we followed the fortress wall all along the outside of Old San Juan. We loved these little Guardhouse pinnacles. These enabled the soldiers to see past the battlements and yet hide away from snipers.

We found a geocache right on the Wall. Many geocaches are put in very scenic sites and this one was no exception. We would not have climbed up to this specific point if there was no cache hidden there.

After visiting the Church one Sunday, one of the members, Orvil Muller cajoled a journalist to do an interview with us for the local paper. Here we are on the boat doing the interview. We had only a 15 minute warning to clear up the space a bit.

Our whole family behind the huge Puerto Rico flag that was used to welcome a Spanish Nobleman after he travelled very far and wide on a Jetski. He is travelling around the World duplicating old trade routes and raising money (I think).

In order for the work to commence on the Tangs, we had to sail round to Fajardo. This photo was taken after anchoring. We were just sitting down to lunch. At this point we were still really positive that the work would be done quickly and we would leave this place soon. Instead…. we ended up spending a whole month here.

Anchored at Fajardo, we really were anchored a little in the middle of nowhere. This photo shows the run-off from the island after heavy rain, causing a distinct difference in the color of the water.

One of the activities that we managed to do from Fajardo, was to kayak to the bio-luminescence bay to see the glowing water. It was quite exciting and we did see amazing light particles around our oars and hands. And of course, kayaking in the dark up a little waterway can be exhilarating in itself.

Marike, Franci and Sophia. We are walking in the nearest neighbourhood to our Fajardo anchorage. There were no shops close by and the houses in the area all came equipped with burglar bars. In this photo they are interestingly decorated.

Just to show the interesting patterns in the burglar bars

These owners are warning you that they cannot control their dog.

The dock where we filled up with water, is just crowded with Iguanas. It made arduous task of fetching the water a bit more interesting.

We met up with two boats at Fajardo. Hans and Hazel on Geode and Jaimy and Nicky on Grace. We had lovely boat visits and Nicky ended up giving the girls a Conch Shell specially adapted for blowing. Now, this is the last thing we blow on leaving a port. Sophia is the best at it and for Franci it is still a work in progress