Vacation Destination: Puerto Rico

2 weeks. It's one of the longer vacations I've had in a while in which I actually leave the house to go visit rather than just a local summer vacation. It was a last minute decision but give the length of time away from my birthplace of the island of Puerto Rico, I had to know if anything had changed in the 5-6 years since my last visit. While I wasn't expecting MASSIVE, Changes from the previous visits, I did receive a bit of surprise from area to area as I traveled along and spent my 14 days on the Island.

The first noticeable changes were in the airport upon arrival. Commerce was brimming! I mean there were stands everywhere, blocking every possible way to move around. Selling all types of foodstuffs and vacation goodies. A definite improvement in my eyes. I was amazed almost instantly at the progress along the tourist sector there. Though I did leave thinking this would be sort of a peak during my stay. Needless to say I was happy to see family, it's just the island itself still bugs me.

The majority of the trip was spent in Ceiba,Puerto Rico at my Sister's(half) house. Twas a very nice area inside a gated community. The apartments were small, but roomy enough to get comfortable in and even sport 3 pools!

Angled View from balcony

The primary to go spot near here was one of her Jobs(she has 3). Going by the name of "El Hotel Conquistador", One of the more well known resorts on the island and serves as a large spot for would be tourists. The Hotel sports Multiple pools at multiple elevations constructed along the side of a mountain located in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. Since visiting it last in 2006-2007, It's expanded further along the coast with rooms and entertainment, and posses a private island for it's hotel guests of which are accessible by boat charter.

Other good news seems to be that higher quality houses are becoming more distributed around the island. From the wild coasts to the most harsh of inroads, apartments and housing are starting to really kick it up a notch. Newer models of cars are also becoming more common among-st drivers(though they are not all perfect). Most of my family on the island have seen higher standards of living as well.

Though not all is good. Puerto Rican Drivers remain notorious for their sheer madness. Constantly switching lanes, using the emergency lanes to bypass traffic, only to add to the traffic jam, BLOCKING Emergency vehicles from accessing the emergency lane, ect...you name it. In the first few days alone we already had drivers with us pinned as nearby targets. It didn't improve much over the course of the vacation and certain trips were longer than they needed to be. Most places on the island could easily be accessed in under 2 hours, were it not for bad traffic. Although they also remain masters of turning what look to be one way streets into two way avenues. Unless there is a sign that explicitly states that this is a one way street, no matter how thin it is, it's declared a two way(though good luck finding signs, they don't like those either.)

The terrain and smaller known local spots where quite the enjoyment. It often cause me to laugh, given the amount of 4X4 vehicles I see in Florida, which is relatively flat land with swamps mainly in the southern tip. Puerto Rico on the other hand has everyone driving small compact cars or SUV's while having to deal with inclines, and Mountains. One particular place, located at about 3,200 feet above seal level had a mandatory requirement of 4X4. There was not one single vehicle up there that wasn't able to offroad with precision. The whole trip up, the road was literally composed of nothing but medium sized rocks.

Despite receiving possible inside upgrades, most houses around the island still look somewhat trashy on the outside. One house abandoned was completely picked apart after being torn down, Not by the construction companies or the Government, but People looking to get some material(I'm serious). Politics I won't delve into, but nothing has changed. It's still everywhere and there are dozens of candidates rushing out for Ads to get voters. Gas was slightly more expensive than over in Florida, averaging about 3.65/Gallon for Regular. Though it was semi-irritating to keep track of units. Distance, and quantity are measured in metric(km and L), but speed is not. Electric infrastructure was also given a nice refresh. No longer does the power go out every single hour.

Overall if I can forget all the annoying parts and frustrating moments that still occurred and have yet to be rectified it is definitely something I would do again. Seeing family there is one of the best experiences I have had despite it's shortcomings. The nitpicks although vocal, don't do much to overly detract from the overall experience. If I could get another shot, I would probably return for another small visit. But the structure and drivers would definitely hold a permanent stay.