Puerto Rico

Oh man !

I was right to be excited about coming here – this place is amazing. Blazing sun, crisp clear waters and very friendly locals.

We docked on Friday afternoon and as soon as we had cleared customs we were off – remember, we worked christmas day, boxing day and new years day so it was time for some overdue play time.

Friday night was easy – off to a local restaurant in Fajardo – immense! the sound of tree frogs singing all night long while we ate under a Gazebo in the garden.

Saturday, we rented a car and coast hopped along the north east coastline checking out the beaches and hang outs all the way up to San Juan, finally finding a place in the city where they had 4 poster beds on the beach – bliss!

On saturday night, instead of turning right and heading in the same direction, i decided to turn left and see what we could find.  I never would have believed how good a choice this would have been.  We hit a small village called somethng i forget. When we got there, it is fair to say we were all a little worried.  the streets were brimming with people, loud music and police with lights and sirens everywhere. Group decision and we decided to take the risk and stop.

The local village was having a beer marathon, a 24 hour extravaganza of beer, food and live music.  Our initial fears were swept away very quickly when the locals almost embraced us and encouraged us to join them in their party – it was completely mental – think nottinghill but latin and friendlier.  You coudn’t do this kind of thing in england – there would always be some pissed up twat that wanted to fight everyone. Even here – the english have a reputation of being hard drinkers.

We left at midnight, happy, content and exhausted.

Today was a shopping trip in San Juan, the capital. A huge shopping centre with over 300 stores all under one roof.  I was of course well chuffed in finding clothes that i actually liked and they fitted – better still, they met my tight arse budget – 4 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of shorts, 4 T shirts and 2 leather belts all for a little over 200 dollars – that little lot will last me for the next couple of years without a doubt.

Tomorrow its back to work – for the week anyway, next weekend i will be off again and hunt for some surf, this time i think all alone.  I may even risk some beach camping overnight.

Did i mention the Homeland Security guys that came on board to clear us in when we arrived?  Nice as pie, thats twice now – although they did tell me that i should get a new US visa – the current one was damaged by a leaking air con unit.  i have fixed the unit, now i need to fix the visa

life is good