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. (You can see all the previous posts in this thread here).
The 7th day of our trip was also the last day of the
Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastian in Puerto Rico. I
knew about the San Sebastian Street Festival but since I know a little bit about large-scale parties from my days as a Mountaineer, I figured the best time to visit Old San Juan would be in the morning while the revelers would still be in bed sleeping off the effects of the previous night's festivities.
And I was right...
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| (C.S. Manish 2011) |
Rather than drive into town and get mired in traffic while returning we took the bus. Surprisingly, this was a first for some of the folks on the trip. Wonders never cease. The lack of an extensive public transportation system in Nebraska reveals itself in the strangest of places.
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| (Andrew Jacobsen 2011) |
Puerto Rican take their festivals very seriously. So much so, they celebrate Christmas and New Year beyond the officially sanctioned dates.
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| (C.S. Manish) |
Old San Juan has many sights to interest the casual as well as the serious traveler. One of the lesser-known sights was found by LP along the way.
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| (C.S. Manish 2011) |
Normally, the Governor's Mansion is a place where a lot of fun activities take place during the festivals (or so we were told) but we had it all to ourselves. The policemen guarding the place thought nothing of us walking up to the gates and taking a few souvenir photos.
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| (C.S. Manish 2011) |
After walking through Old San Juan for almost an hour we finally reached our destination -
Castillo San Felipe del Morro also known as
Fort San Felipe del Morro or
Morro Castle or simply,
El Morro.
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| (Andrew Jacobsen 2011) |
Located on a sliver of land that extends into the Atlantic Ocean, the castle is an impressive sight. To walk up to the castle, one has to cross an open space devoid of trees, shrubs or anything that marauders could use as shelter.
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| (Sami Wysocki 2011) |
This photo, taken from the ramparts gives a clearer picture of how difficult it would have been to storm the castle from the island.
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| (C.S. Manish 2011) |
The Castle itself is laid out in multiple levels with its 4 watch towers and distinctive guardhouses being the eye-catching features. On the roof, we paused for an obligatory group photo.
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| (Andrew Jacobsen 2011) |
After wandering around the castle, we retraced our steps, hired a cab, and just about beat the incoming hordes of festival-goers. Since San Juan was going to be a mess, I took the students to the north-east tip of the island, to Fajardo. More specifically to
Las Cabezas de San Juan Forest Preserve. The small strip of land is said to contain 7 different ecosystems (if you squint your eyes you can probably agree with that estimate) and the only way to access it is by pre-booked guided tours.
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| (Sami Wysocki 2011) |
The trip is worth the price of admission as the tour is very educational and informative. Our tour guide, Noel (apt considering how close to Christmas it was) knew the area and it's history very well and took us first to the mangrove section of the Preserve.
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| (C.S. Manish 2011) |
To help protect the area, it is accessible only via an extensive boardwalk that wanders through the mangroves.
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| (C.S. Manish 2011) |
There are four types of mangroves found here - black, red, white, and buttonwood. Mangroves are easily identified by their roots, known as pneumatophores, which are specialized to take in oxygen. The plant is tolerant of highly saline conditions and thrives in coastal areas where freshwater and salt water mix depending upon the tide.
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| (C.S. Manish 2011) |
The mangroves are host to a wide variety of organisms, both big and small and one of the joys of the tour was in getting up close and personal with some of them. Like this...
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| (Andrew Jacobsen 2011) |
After the mangroves we drove towards the ocean and stopped at a beach that was filled with dead coral of various sizes and shapes that had washed ashore.
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| (Sami Wysocki 2011) |
After visiting the beach, we went up a hill to the crest where the main attraction of the Preserve, the
Cape San Juan Lighthouse (
Faro de Las Cabezas de San Juan), a historic lighthouse, is located. The view from the highest point in Fajardo is impressive and took quite a few KB of memory on our cameras.
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| (Sami Wysocki 2011) |
(By the way, pay close attention to the small "lake" that is being bisected by the beam of sunlight. It will play an important role in the escapades of Day 8).
Taking the spiral staircase to the top of the lighthouse meant that it was time for another of the obligatory group photos.
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| (C.S. Manish) |
After spending a few minutes on the roof of the lighthouse and also getting a glimpse of some bioluminescent organisms (more on that in Day 8), we reversed our path and bid adieu to Fajardo. Before leaving, unbeknownst to each other, both the students and myself tipped Noel for his great guidance and company. No wonder he was beaming in this picture!
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| (C.S. Manish 2011) |
By this time, the sun was starting to set and we drove back to San Juan, ate dinner and rested our tired feet. Day 8 was going to be exceptionally long with activities planned into the night but you'll have to wait to read about that!
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