One of the advantages of teaching at a small liberal arts institution is the freedom to design and offer courses that are close to your heart. In January 2011, I was fortunate enough to lead a group of 6 students through the world of Tropical Ecology. Apart from not being in the right ecosystem, Nebraska in the winter is definitely not the place to have field trips about Tropical Ecology. Consequently, one portion of the course involved a 10-day trip to Puerto Rico where we got to see for ourselves all the things we talked about in the classroom.
This is a travelogue of our adventures together, the sights we saw, the things we did, and the lessons we learned.
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You were supposed to be here by 7am, not 8."
These are not the first words you want to hear when you walk into a car rental company's office, expecting to pick up a 15-seater van. I may not be many things, but one thing I definitely am is thorough. No sooner had the lady said that, I pulled out three different pieces of paper that showed that I was supposed to be at her office at 8am (which I was, on the dot!). A few minutes of frantic phone calling ensued before the lady tried to cajole me into settling for two minivans (no way!). A few more frantic phone calls later, a very sour-faced lady handed me the keys to a 15-seater van - the courtesy van that received folks at the airport and brought them to the rental agency in San Juan! So, for the next 10 days, I wandered around the island advertising the rental company while also being mistaken on multiple occasions for the ferry to the airport.
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| (Andrew Jacobsen 2011) |
After picking up the van I drove back to the hotel, gathered everyone up and we stopped off for breakfast at a charming little place. The amount of food one can get at a breakfast joint for $5 is simply to be seen to be believed. After that, we began the drive to the south-west corner of Puerto Rico, Guánica to be exact.
As we left San Juan, we saw many things for the first time which, as the days went by, became commonplace occurrences. First was the generic disdain for some of the smaller rules of traffic (changing lanes, halting at stop signs, merging onto the highway, etc.) followed by the very perplexing behavior of the cops. Less than 5 minutes after I got onto the highway I noticed, in my rearview mirror, a policeman fast approaching us with his lights flashing. Horrified at having broken some rule that I was not aware of, I moved into the slow lane and got ready to stop when the fellow simply blazed by, seemingly unconcerned. After the third time this happened it dawned on us that
this was the default mode for the cops in Puerto Rico! (However, even after 10 days, the sight of a fast-approaching police car with its lights flashing caused the heart to skip a beat every time, without fail.)
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| (Andrew Jacobsen 2011) |
Heading south from San Juan, the road starts to climb up the spine of the mountain chain that forms the middle portion of the island. A tropical rainforest dominates this side of the mountain and the trees are thick and crowd onto the road, probably requiring frequent pruning. We drove into the clouds and then above it into bright sunlight, along the way marveling at all kinds of trees and plants. My favorite - bamboo!
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| (Andrew Jacobsen 2011) |
After we crested the mountains, we began our descent towards the Caribbean Sea in the distance (first-ever ocean sighting for MB!). The effect of being in the
rainshadow portion of the mountain becomes evident almost immediately. The trees are not as tall or huge, the vegetation shifts more towards arid-area shrubs and succulents, such as cacti. As one descends further, the air gets drier, the sun a little stronger, and the alluring blue waters that much closer.
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| (Andrew Jacobsen 2011) |
Eventually the road took a turn towards the west and paralleled the seashore for many miles. You can see the city limits of the town of Ponce from quite far away because of the large letters spelling the town's name that straddle the highway. For the group, however, the letter N held the most interest because of our obvious Cornhusker ties.
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| (Andrew Jacobsen 2011) |
Eventually, we left the highway and went straight south. Well, not exactly straight as the road wound around on itself a lot more than the folks in the back seats cared too much for. Eventually, we got our first close glimpse of the sea and the first photo op of the trip was required!
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| (Andrew Jacobsen 2011) |
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| (C.S. Manish 2011) |
Soon, we made our way to
Mary Lee's by the Sea, a group of houses dotting the edge of the island, that can be rented out for a few days. The word quaint was invented to describe these properties. The house I rented was called
Alegre (meaning "happy" in Spanish) and it was worth every penny for the 4 days we stayed there!
The first hour or so was spent in admiring the house and the view from it.
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| (C.S. Manish 2011) |
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| (C.S. Manish 2011) |
I had budgeted the whole day for the drive to Guánica. However, we reached there much sooner, just a little after 1pm. After we settled down, we still had the rest of the day to kill. It was then that AJ had a brainwave. Why not go to
Gilligan's Island (the island to the right in the photo above)? We quickly looked into it and hitched a boat ride to the island.
The three hours at the island turned out to be a better ice-breaker than any I could have planned. The island is very small and is basically a haven for mangroves of all kinds. We wandered around the island, taking photos and enjoying the perfect weather. The students were a lot more adventurous than I was (which I am putting it down to excitement and not age. *ahem*).
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| (C.S. Manish 2011) |
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| (C.S. Manish 2011) |
After leaving the island by the last boat (the island is closed to the public after 5pm) we drove to a grocery store, picked up some supplies, and enjoyed a perfect home-cooked dinner sitting by the water, under the stars, listening to the waves lap gently along the docks. A perfect end to a great day.
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(Andrew Jacobsen 2011;
The photo was taken in the absence of artificial light with extended exposure time) |
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