Day 1 – Depart for San Juan, Puerto Rico
Enjoy your flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. You will be met at the airport by your Tour Manager
and transferred to your hotel in the San Juan area. You begin your sightseeing in the historic
city of San Juan at the Fort San
Cristobal. San Cristobal is wonderfully preserved with extensive dungeons
and ramparts to explore. We will have
dinner at a restaurant with local music in San Juan and head to the hotel to
relax for the evening.
Day 2 – Old San Juan and School Exchange
Located on a
small island, Old San Juan is a beautiful city dating back to the 1500s. This morning you will make your way through
the hilly and narrow streets and admire well-preserved examples of Spanish
colonial architecture. You will also visit the 400-year-old El Morro Fort which
was designed to guard the entrance to the San Juan Bay, and defend the Spanish
colonial port city of San Juan from seaborne enemies. After lunch you will have
an opportunity to visit and local school and interact with the students. After dinner, you’ll go on a night walk
around Old San Juan to learn about some of Old
San Juan's folk legends and to gain a
different perspective on the city.
Day 3 – Tibes and Ponce
After breakfast this morning you will take a drive to the southern coast
of Puerto Rico to visit Ponce, the island's second largest town known as the
“Pearl of the South.” En route you will
stop at the Tibes Indian Ceremonial
Center, where you will have the opportunity to explore a re-created
Taino village. The center also contains
a museum with artifacts discovered at the archaeological site, and the oldest
cemetery in the Antilles dating back to 300 AD.
After learning about the lives, rituals, and customs of the Taino
people, you continue to Ponce. You will
begin to explore the central plaza, Las
Delicias, which is highlighted by Indian laurel trees, fountains, and a
unique Firehouse, "El
Parque de Bombas." You will then
visit a panoramic viewpoint highlighting the beauty of the city from the top of
the hill at "El Vigia Cross.” From here you will stop for a visit to Serrallés Castle. Situated on a hill overlooking Ponce, this
palatial estate was once home to the Serrallés family, one of the most powerful
producers of rum in Puerto Rico. Tonight
you will cook like a local
during your cooking class and demonstration. You will spend the night in a hotel in
Ponce.
Day 4 – El Yunque Rainforest
This morning you
will have breakfast and then drive to El Yunque Rainforest, the only tropical rain forest in the U.S.
National Forest System. The 28,000-acre
preserve is home to four different types of forest, 20 types of orchid, and 50
varieties of fern. You will begin
learning about the delicate ecosystem of rain forests from around the world at
the El Portal Tropical Forest Center. You will then enjoy a guided tour of the rain
forest, including a stop at La Coca
Falls, for a picturesque view of the rainforest and a massive
waterfall. You will also take a guided hike along one of the 13 trails that
cover 23 miles of breathtaking terrain, and offer wonderful picnic sights. You will then head back to San Juan for
dinner. After dinner you will experience a Puerto Rican dance
performance and workshop.
Day 5 –
Camuy Caves & Arecibo Observatory
Your day begins as you journey to the Rio de Camuy Caves Park. You
will be led by a specialist in the field as you descend into the depths of a
million year old cave system. Rio
Camuy Cave Park is one of the most massive cave networks in the Western
Hemisphere, and a trolley car will take you down to the caves, where footpaths
wind through stalactites and stalagmites in Cueva Clara. Your day continues with a visit to the Observatory
of Arecibo, the largest radar/radio telescope on Earth. Here,
scientists from all over the world use a joint 305 meter diameter dish to
listen to the sounds in the universe, including famous research in looking for
extraterrestrials.
This afternoon you will have lunch and continue to
the National Astronomy and Lonosphere
Center operated by Cornell University; there you will visit the
interactive Visitors Center,
which offers information on the basics on astronomy and atmospheric science.
This evening after dinner, you will visit the bio-luminescent bay and by boat you
will observe the soft glittering effect (known as ‘phosphorescence’) the marine
micro-organisms produce in the water.
Tonight you will gather as a group to reflect on your experience in
Puerto Rico.
Day 6 –
Departure
This morning your program will
come to an end as you head to the airport for the return flight home.