Our
night at the Copamarina Resort was very pleasant. Nice
rooms right on the water with nice landscaping. While we
did consider staying another day, in the end we decided to roll
on. Our plan was to continue west to El Rincon and see the
lighthouse and beach and then turn east and go to Ponce on the
south shore.
The photos below are what we saw.
We had a
brief thunderstorm at dawn and it left mist in the air.
When we left I also discovered that leaving your camera in an
air conditioned room causes fogging on the lens, filter and
inside the camera on the imaging array. The effect is only
slight in the photo above, but 10 photos later the fog totally
obscured the image. The solution is to let the camera come
fully to ambient temperature before attempting photos. The
object of the photos above was to show the Blue Palm tree just
to the right of center. But, the closeup photos of the
tree were totally fogged. This was the best of the
set. The leaves (fronds) are really blue-green and they
have a different structure than the conventional palm. Oh,
and the beach was nice too.
On our
way to the rental car we passed this monstrosity.
Something a little different.
From
Guanica we headed west on Route 2 (the main road) to the turn
for Rincon. Then, after a short 2 lane road, we hit the
water. It is very high tide and the water is lapping at
the base of the houses on the shore.
Further
down the road we found a restaurant and got a table on the
beach. This was the view looking west.
Same
location looking east. Due to the tide the waves are
coming far up the beach.
After a
tasty lunch, we headed to Faro El Rincon (Rincon
Lighthouse). The shape of the shore makes the waves at
Rincon huge and it is claimed to be a world-class surfing
area. There is no sense of scale in the photo above, but I
estimated the wave height to be 10-12 feet.
These
rollers were throwing huge amounts of spray into the air.
Some of
the sets produced great tubular waves which the surfers crave.
I was
totally absorbed by watching the waves and when I looked around
I spotted this orange iguana. This fellow is about 30
inches long.
Look at
the gnarly claws on this fellow; he could really slash you if he
had a mind to.
Notice
the waddle under his neck; it was about 4" long! And the
front claws are just as nasty as the rears.
Faro El
Rincon with more thunderheads building to the north.
The
first iguana had a buddy just a bit further down the walk.
This fellow was green, but much smaller. This shot was
taken from quite a distance and also looking toward the
sun. I was actually quite amazed that the Olympus was able
to get an image that was respectable. The photo above is a
crop-of-a-zoom.
One of
the overlooks provided a sweeping view of the beach below.
Many of the locals that we spoke to thought that El Rincon was
the most scenic place in all Puerto Rico, and that is saying
quite a bit.
These
were huge waves and the noise was tremendous.
While we
were taking photos and admiring the waves, this C-130 banked a
turn and flew right over the water. They were quite close
to the deck and I am sure that they chose this flight path so
the crew could get photos too. The shutter speed on the
camera was fast enough to freeze the props on the plane.
We
finished in El Rincon and headed back to the east on Route
2. Sadly, it was local rush hour so we slugged it out in
heavy traffic for about an hour. When we passed Yauco,
Kathleen was taken by the colorful paint jobs on the local homes
but she manged to get a respectable photo shooting across the
car in front of me out the window while traveling at 60 mph.
We
decide to stay in an antique hotel at the square in Ponce.
En route, we passed this monument and due to traffic had to
shoot through a dirty windshield, thus the nasty spot.
We got a
room at the Melia Hotel on the main square. The hotel was
built in 1915 and certainly had a rustic flare including a
creepy four person elevator that belonged in a black and white
movie. But, there was excellent ceramic tile on the floors
and all the locks had been upgraded to card-keys. Note the
size of the pillars.
We
dumped our stuff and headed out to the square before it got too
dark. When we arrived, we came upon a photo shoot in
progress. To the untrained eye, it seems is if he is
taking a zoom photo of her ass. More on this later.
Munich,
Germany had painted lions in their streets. Ponce decided
to follow suit.
Each
lion was painted a different color scheme and each was dedicated
to a differennt luminary in Ponce's history.
A less
interesting color scheme.
On the north boundary of the square was the local cathedral. An imposing structure.
Opposite the cathedral was this interesting structure that must have been a home at one point in its history. Very ornate.
More lions, this one in a more interesting color scheme.
More lions.
Ah, the subject of the photo shoot as she leaves upon completion of her assignment. NOW I understand, and after a week on the cruise ship looking at fantastically fat asses, this was a welcome surprise.
While the model's exit path may have influenced my decision to take this photo, the real purpose was to show the colonial nature of the buildings and streets in downtown Ponce.
We continued to hike around the central area of town in search of a nice place to eat. Above is the Ponce History Museum.
The musical arts building.
The theater and concert hall next door.
The full moon was on
the rise over the horizon as we came to the balcony of our
room. The full moon translates to an astronomical high
tide which had the unfortunate effect of accentuating the
flooding due to Hurricane Sandy. Even through the moist
air at the beach the moon was quite clear.
We enjoyed Guanica and
would go back again. El Rincon was off the chart and the
huge waves had Kathleen mesmerized. I had to pull her away
to leave.
Tomorrow, we continue
east.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2012, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.