Un Día en Arecibo - Poza del Obispo y Arecibo Observatory

Año Nuevo en Puerto Rico - 2017 a 2018 después de Maria

31 Diciembre 2017

Summary:

Link to Main Post of the Trip: Año Nuevo en Puerto Rico: 2017 a 2018 después de Maria

We woke up in the morning ready for our first full day of exploring the island! We got the rental car because of the things we wanted to do today but ended up extending it the full trip. I'm glad we did! The main two goals of the day were to see the giant radio telescope at Arecibo Observatory and to find a cave in Bosque Estatal De Rio Abajo. There was a level of uncertainty about both of these things being possible, but we set off and had a more successful day than we thought!

After lunch is when we were ready to gear up for the most intensive adventure of the day. Click here to read about the journey of finding a cave in Bosque Estatal De Rio Abajo.

The Story:

We retrieved our rental car from the parking garage and drove out of San Juan to head west. As we were driving we decided to take a little detour up North to the coast once we reached Arecibo - to the Arecibo Lighthouse. We initially drove towards the parking area for Arecibo Lighthouse and Historical Park, which looked anything but open then turned back and checked out the beach area where there were several cars parked. And some horses. Just chomping away.

Beware of coconuts falling on your head.

As we walked towards the beach, we were immediately in awe of what was happening in front of us. The sand, the color of the water, the rocks, the waves....

The waves!

Holy crap WHAT!

I moved over towards the rocks to get a better camera angle of the waves.

Then I climbed up the rocks to see what was on the other side. The rocky surface was exceptionally rough especially on bare feet. Since water was flowing down and caught in small pools, I followed those up due to the smoother surface from running water. Once up at the top, I was not disappointed. Except for the wet smudge on my camera lens...

The water activity on this side was just as exciting.

A quick selfie between waves. Had to watch out since some of the splashes were trying to soak our clothes and electronics.

I love how the water is trickling down the rocks here.

Now that the splashes and spray had started to get me wet, I couldn't resist playtime ;) The waves were getting bigger and the tide was rising.

So the little purrmaid/mountain lioness goes for a swim. The following photos of me in the water are in fact not taken by yours truly, but by Rob.

This was like nothing I had ever experienced on the East coast of the United States. I had a blasty blast playing in the water.

Photo Credit: Robert Hodgen

By the way...here is the lighthouse!

After our fun spontaneous excursion, we set on towards the observatory.

What are you lookin' at?

Arecibo Observatory

We had an enjoyable drive on the way towards the center of the island where the famous radio telescope calls home. We weren't sure if they would let visitors come in or not due to getting everything fixed up from the hurricanes. We were welcomed by a closed off gate. Another family was there, and they talked to the guard. Apparently while the visitor center isn't open, they will bring you over to see the telescope from the observation deck. The tour guide was on her lunch break, so we just had to wait a bit.

We went and took some pictures along the road of cool stuff in the jungle.

We got a little too far down the road because then the tour guide showed up in a vehicle to pick us up. Normally visitors have to walk to the exhibits from this parking lot, but she drove us right in while the family followed in their vehicle.

Once she parked we got to start walking.

And more and more came into view.

And then we got to see the monstrosity of the radio telescope and reflectors.

This is what the reflectors look like.

These are the shoes you have to wear if you go on the reflectors.

Picture time! We got to see it move around too so someone was doing some experiments/research while we were there. One of the antennas is still damaged from the hurricanes, but it is all still operational. Here is an article: http://spacenews.com/damage-to-arecibo-less-than-feared/

We got to visit the Galaxy Shop on our way out. There was lots of nerdy stuff in there. We got matching awesome polo shirts, and I also got glow in the dark stars for my bedroom ceiling - some childhood nostalgia right there.

Back to the Beach

After our visit to the observatory we went back to the coast to get some food. Some pics along the way.

Running lots of races influenced these two pictures:

We settled at a quiet place along the beach where we could relax and unwind. We were introduced to mofongos, which are a Puerto Rican dish where some sort of protein is on/in fried plantains.