Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Puerto Rican Honeymoon: Bacardi, the Beach, and a Bio-Luminescent Bay

Our last day in Puerto Rico was the best day. Once again, Beau planned out a fun day of sight-seeing and relaxation. We had three destinations: 

at the end of our tour of Casa Bacardi on our Puerto Rican honeymoon

 
We had originally planned on going to the Bacardi factory after visiting Old San Juan, since some women at the hotel had recommended it to us, but we were too tired that day to tour anything else. But it was on our way to the bio-luminescent bay, so it was the perfect start to our day.

Beau and I each received two drink tickets when we arrived at Casa Bacardi. While we waited for our tour group, I sipped on rum punch, and Beau enjoyed a rum & coke. I also took advantage of the free wifi since my phone was out of network!


The tour started with a quick overview of the history of rum and the history of Bacardi rum itself. Then we watched a short film that provided more details on the Bacardi's history. Unfortunately, it was out-of-focus, which spoiled the effect. The next part of the tour was my favorite, but it was over too quickly! The guide explained the process for making rum, and then we had the chance to look at belongings, old documents, and other historic artifacts of the Bacardi family! Everyone else in the group spent very little time examining all the books and the letters, so I felt obliged to leave with them and continue into the next room. There we could smell the different types of Bacardi rum. Finally we ended in a fake bar with a fake bartender who showed us a few different rum cocktail recipes. 

After the tour, we each enjoyed our second drinks. Then it was time to take the scenic route on back roads for a few hours! We stopped in a small town for a late lunch at a restaurant where none of the workers spoke English, but a regular customer spoke a little. We did our best to communicate with hand gestures and big smiles (plus a big tip!), and it worked! We ate a delicious meal and then hit the road again. 

After a week in Puerto Rico--so a week of wearing sunscreen almost daily, showering daily, and applying hotel lotion to my skin--my skin was pretty unhappy. So even though we were at the beach, I opted not to apply sunscreen and stay in the shade. The beach at La Pared provided several shady palm trees, and my gamble paid off--no sunburn later! We only stayed an hour or two. I mostly read my book, and Beau built a sandcastle. 


Finally, it was time for the highlight of the day! Puerto Rico has three bio-luminescent bays. For non-scientific folks, that means the water glows in the dark like glow sticks!

via
We took a boat tour with Bio Island and the best tour guide of all time, Mario. I learned so much that night, and I laughed a lot while learning it! He told us about the science behind the bio-luminescent bays. The plankton glow when disturbed to prevent translucent shrimp from eating them because the translucent shrimp don't want to be visible to larger predators. He told us about the natives who thought the water was sacred, and the Europeans who thought it was haunted. The night was incredibly clear, and he used a powerful green laser to point out the constellations. 

We didn't get back to the hotel that night until quite late. Luckily our flight the next day wasn't until early afternoon, so we could sleep in a bit the next morning. Our last day in Puerto Rico was easily the highlight of our trip, and I'm so glad we took the time to take a boat tour in Laguna Grande. I've never experienced anything quite like glowing water. 


Stay tuned to find out about Puerto Rican food, 
poolside massages, and honeymoon sex!




Travel Tuesday


                                 

5 comments:

  1. This is actually the first time I ever heard of bio-luminescent bays but it sounds very interesting and I would love to experience it! I've only seen luminescent sand at a beach in Northern Norway once if that counts but it probably has a different background ;)

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  2. ah, that trip looks like it was delightful. Just seeing the picture of sand made me long to be on a beach!

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    Replies
    1. It's been so chilly here in the Midwest that I would really like to be back in the hot and sunny Puerto Rico.

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  3. wow! this looks amazing, what a fantastic honeymoon! and yay for free drinks, lol

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  4. Wow I have never heard of bio-luminescent bays before. They kind of remind me of the colour the water is when a Whale is turned over in the water and showing it's white belly. All glowing!

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