Had to drop the dog off first. You can tell by the look in her eyes that she knows she's about to be cruelly betrayed and / or disappointed. Then again, she has that look pretty much all the time. Not sure what that really says about us as pet owners. (Come to think of it, Janneke wears a similar look with disturbing frequency. I must be misinterpreting the look.)
We stopped up in the mountains at the largest, most significant archaeological site ever found associated with the taíno, the people who lived in PR before the Spaniards arrived. (And who contributed DNA to about half of the living PR population.)
So this is really the highlight of the place. Let me tell you, boy: The taíno were one unimpressive culture.
This is the roadside spot where we pulled over for lunch. The, best orange juice I have ever had in my entire life, for a buck. And the rest of the food was amazing, too. I was shocked how much the landscape and the roadside nature of the eatery reminded me of Ecuador. And I'd been there before!
This is the menu at the roadside place. If "pernil" is on there anywhere, I'm pretty much done looking. But you can take a look, see if there's anything you like. (They were out of ensalada de pulpo.)
This is how we entertained ourselves while waiting for the meal. Hangman can be a truly gripping game, particularly when a seven-year-old spelling the answers. It's always a bit of a crap shoot.
Check this out, man: That's Janneke's plate - a green salad with tostones, or fried bananas - and Q and T's plates, with pernil and green salad, and pernil, green salad, and habichuelas. I had the pernil, arroz, y abichuelas. Serious, affordable deliciousness.
The kids and the wife look at someone more interesting than their husband/father. Doesn't narrow the field much. They're actually getting instructions on something or other I never listened to before we embark on the main attraction of our time in the West of the island.
This here's the Katarina, a sailboat you can charter. We did. (Along with some other people.) We're that kind of serious bad-ass.
T and Q climb aboard the sailboat we'd chartered for a three-hour tour. A three-hour tour. Perhaps surprisingly, we never wound up being chased by cannibals or romanced by gorillas or sinking in quicksand. Strange how that happens.
The kids got tired of snorkeling after a while and preferred to just jump off the boat, climb up the ladder, and repeat. One of the leaps where Q's pose, and my timing on the button, both worked out well. Didn't happen much.
T leaps off the boat in like fashion.
T and Q at the prow, trying to see flying fish. Janneke told me they all saw some. I saw none. Sat in the back, drinking Medalla Light.
This is T being shown how to reel in the fishing rod by Dave. He was yougn and from Florida, and had spent a lot of time vagabonding about doing odd jobs in different countries. Interesting young bohemian, currently dropping anchor and serving piña coladas on a sailboat.
This is T driving the skiff. Q was offered the helm first, but refused it; T leapt at the chance and headed straight for the rocks. I'm not kidding.
This is where we watched the US women's world cup final. Tried to go to a place where the guys from the cruise would be watching, but it wasn't open, so none of us went there. T wound up waiting outside a lot in the hopes that she could flag down Dave, should he have decided to try to find us. I think she had a crush.
This is T, doing her thing while the rest of us watch the US women lose. She probably had the best idea of any of us.
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