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Date: 04 Feb 2012 20:23:00
Title: Casa Grande Mountain Retreat - Puerto Rico
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Having swiftly unpacked and re-packed, it was off to the mountains for a few days.  Looking at the map it seemed that the best route was along the 'Ruta Panoramica', the local tourist route. There had been a few issues with the map reading the day before, nearly all roads are shown as straight, they aren't, and also there appears to be no scale on the map, the boys tried and failed to get a better map before leaving this morning, so we were stick with what we had.
After an hour, the driver, (John) wanted a stop and we pulled into a hillside restaurant. There is a very popular local speciality called 'Lechonera', which is suckling pig, marinated and slow cooked. The owners were really friendly and despite it being early for a lunch stop they wanted us to have a taste of the pork which we were very keen to do - it was delicious!! The crackling was light and extremely crispy, the meat tender and juicy. Oddly enough for a local specialty, the meat is all brought in from off the island. Sunday is a big day for suckling pig and lots of places are heaving with families all afternoon.
We eventually stopped for tacos in a very small local restaurant which was, as we realised later, attached to a church. Lunch for 4 came to the grand total of $12 (£8)!!! That is one thing you definitely notice here after the BVI's - everything is so much cheaper. 
The panoramic route wound on, hairpin after hairpin, for an hour or two more until we came to a roadblock. As it looked as though it had been opened we drove on - until the road disappeared and we had to turn back and find an alternative route. 
A couple of hours later we arrived at our destinations, the Casa Grande Mountain Retreat, an old coffee plantation in the middle of the island. The rooms are all wood cabins in groups of 4, each with a balcony overlooking the valley and containing a hammock - bliss!!  There is no chance of a late night here though - dinner is only served until 8pm & they closed the restaurant and swept us out at 10!! The only thing we could hear at night was the rushing of the nearby stream and the sound of the local tree frogs named coquis (the noise they make is 'koh-kee'). There is a story about the Coqui, it was as legend would have it, the name of a prince who was loved by a Goddess.  The Prince subsequently died, as they often do in these tales, and the Goddess made all the tree frogs sing his name for ever.

  John & Alan eyeing up the suckling pig 

  Tucking in to a pre-lunch snack

  This was the 'open' road block we drove through....

 ...and this is the reason it was there!!

The following day, as an alternative to driving, we went horse riding for a couple of hours. Alan and Sue were both a little nervous as they are almost total beginners, as were John and I as it is some time since we have ridden. The booking seemed quite straightforward, although no-one seemed too bothered about our level of (in)experience. When we saw the horses we were a little concerned as they looked a little small and skinny, they hadn't asked about height or weight either, but they seemed a docile enough bunch and off we went with our guide who spoke no English at all. He was meant to be leading but often went off and left us to our own devices!!
Horse riding is a great way to see the countryside from a different vantage point. As well as the five of us, we were joined by an unridden pony who didn't want to be left out and who had the amazing ability to scratch it ear with it's hind leg - John had the camera at this stage but was so surprised that he forgot to use it!! 
We walked down to the river where Sue got a bit of a shock when her horse decided it was thirsty and waded knee deep into water before she was able to stop it - and she had to be rescued!!  Later after a ride through the coffee plantations, it was my turn for a shock - on arriving back at the starting point, my horse, despite all my best efforts walked straight under the lean- to nearly taking my head off as it was very low. I was unable to get the horse going again - it was the end of the ride as far as he was concerned and I was left with some problems getting off as I was bent double over its neck!! We all had slightly shaky legs on dismounting and can't imagine how our poor bottoms will feel tomorrow - we won't be able to sit down!!
Lunch today was interesting - we were looking for a place selling suckling pig but seemed to be in the wrong area, and as it was getting later we stopped at what looked like a truck stop. We ordered plates of delicious slow cooked pork and rice, with a side order of a roast potato stuffed with chicken! The place was packed with bikers when we arrived, usually a sign of good food in England and then another group arrived, this time on souped-up Jeeps! Ours looked very boring in comparison! The noise was deafening as they sounded horns and sirens and played Puerto Rican rap music at top volume!!! 
Having tried and failed to find any of the coffee plantations, which should have been ten a penny according to the map, we headed back to the hotel for a spot of relaxation by the pool and a planning session for our next few days only to find that all the places we had planned to visit are closed in Monday and Tuesday!!  Plan B it is then - when we think of it!! The next place we go to, we will stop for 2 nights as we are all getting a bitt sick of the windy roads and the length of time it takes to get anywhere. We had thought it would be possible to see far more of the island but, having driven the roads, we are going to have to be a bit more selective about what we try and do.

 Our room at the Casa Grande, there are four rooms in each block, all with hammocks on the balcony and views over the valley

 Wandering along the country lanes

 In the coffee plantation

 Four bottom-sore and wobbly-legged riders!



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