La Isla del Encanto: Puerto Rico's undiscovered splendor
By Ceri Mobley, PGATOUR.COM Associate Site Producer
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico -- Franglish. That's the language I brought to life in Puerto Rico to help me get by. A mixture of Spanish (the very little I know), bolstered with French (for the Spanish-speaking folk who also dabble en Français) and plain old English (for when the best I can come up with is the word I know with an "o" at the end).
Surprisingly, it's working pretty well, but I credit that more to the hospitality of the Puerto Rican people rather than my marvelous combination of the world's three most spoken languages. Besides, almost everyone I have met down here speaks English anyway.
A golf tournament is a pretty good reason to visit Puerto Rico, but once I spent a few days here, I realized that was far from the only -- or even most persuasive -- reason to make the trip. It might only be the size of Connecticut, but it has an immeasurable spirit and a potential itinerary that suggests the place is much bigger.
El golf
Typically, I confine my love of golf to my stories or in spectator mode alongside the rolling fairways of the PGA TOUR. If I'm feeling brave, I'll waste some time at the driving range trying to make my swing as successful as my pose or pretending I have a clue how to chip the ball close to the pin. Very rarely will you see me on the course wielding a driver, but, this week, I indulged.
I couldn't come to Puerto Rico for the Commonwealth's PGA TOUR event, honoring the great Chi Chi Rodriguez, and not remind myself just how difficult it is to master the fine art of golf. So with rented clubs and a lot of trepidation, I tested the waters -- quite literally -- at the Wyndham Rio Mar's Ocean Course in Rio Grande.
Designed by George and Tom Fazio, the Ocean Course's biggest draw is its seaside 16th hole, which impresses with its view as much as it frustrates with its wind. The good thing about the strong gusts on No. 16 was that I had something to blame for my terrible golf game. The bad thing was that I started a traffic jam as I stopped to take in the power of the ferocious waves (the beach was actually officially closed for two days due to rough seas) and take pictures to remember my round.
Other than the blustery weather and raging tides, the course served up a calming afternoon -- even when I hit in the water on No. 12 and subsequently attempted to retrieve my ball amid multicolored scurrying iguanas and the strangest-looking ducks I have ever seen.
Speaking of the iguanas; they lie at every turn. My playing partner landed a ball about a foot away from one, and the orange-tinged spiky little fella just gave my partner a steely look as he approached before leaping into the pond. Who knew these giant lizards could swim? In addition to swimming, they also enjoy sunbathing on the greens, hanging out in the trees and running around at a shocking speed. This course belongs to them.
Against the backdrop of the El Yunque Rainforest peaks, Rio Mar also has the Greg Norman-designed River Course that boasts much of the same tropical atmosphere -- swaying palms, papaya-green grass and a definite need for sunscreen but also several holes that wind their way around the Mameyes River. Water is the biggest hazard on these courses as the shallow bunkers don't take too much work to escape, and you really have to watch out for that wind.
La playa (y la piscina)
My lack of skill with a club ended my adventures with golf after my round at Rio Mar, but Puerto Rico has so much more than golf on the menu that I didn't look back once at my rented bag.
The Wyndham Rio Mar, previously a Westin that has been (and still is) undergoing millions of dollars in renovations, rises beside a soft and deeply sanded beach, lined with palm trees and littered with fallen coconuts. A surfer's paradise, the waves break with such intensity that I found myself quite captivated by them. I opted not to step onto a board though, for fear I might surf even worse than I golf.
However, one thing I do pride myself on is my terrific lounging ability, which I put into practice poolside at the Rio Mar's lagoon area on the edge of the beach. An adult pool with padded loungers and cabanas for rent made my ipod and tortilla chips so much more enjoyable without the splashing and screeching that so often accompanies a tropical resort, but the little girl in me did keep an inquisitive eye on the slide in the main pool, too.
El Yunque
Superior lounging aside, perhaps the sweetest delight of this beautiful island -- at least for me -- was the El Yunque National Rainforest. The only national rainforest in American territory, this 28,000-acre jungle sprawls over the northeast region of the island, decorating the mountains with 240 species of trees and plants, some of which do not grow anywhere else in the world.
There are also over 100 species of fern, mushrooms and moss in the forest.
"Moss can only grow in areas where the air is very clean," said Jose Morales, tour guide extraordinaire for Rico Sun Tours, a local destination management company. "It is a very sensitive plant."
That explained why the air felt so incredibly fresh up there. The rain refreshed rather than depressed, enhanced by the cool mist that descends and clears throughout each day.
Unlike other tropical forests, El Yunque doesn't echo with the sounds of monkey calls or the fluttering of brightly-plumed birds. Instead, I found myself exasperating every effort to find the source of the "ko-kee" chirp emanating from the undergrowth. Beloved in Puerto Rico and endemic to the island, the Coqui frog, blasts his song with a volume that defies his tiny Thumbelina size.
Though the tiny amphibian outsmarted me in the forest, Morales later found me one in the trees outside my hotel, and I saw first-hand the owner of that sweet and commanding sound before he quickly hopped away from my prying eyes and camera lens.
As the name suggests, a rainforest is wet, but what surprised me was that El Yunque actually does not contain any rivers. I thought Morales was joking with me as we looked up at a gushing waterfall and he assured me that the tumbling, frothy cascade was merely ground water.
"All the water comes from the rain," Morales said. "It rains up here every day, and sometimes, when the rain is very heavy, the water goes over the bridge and the cars can't come through."
It wasn't so hard to believe given that Puerto Rico's dry season is just now coming to an end, and the falls showed no sign of tiring.
While the constant rainfall provides the vital lifeline for this forest's survival, I found it had another magic quality. Morales had informed me that most of the rock on this island is volcanic because Puerto Rico was born of an eruption. In the wettest areas of El Yunque, patches of volcanic rock have been softened to a slimy consistency -- the exact blue-grey sludge that spas charge hundreds of dollars for to wrap you in. Incredible.
Mandara Spa
While the temptation of a free facial had me contemplating finishing my excursion in the forest with a mud-caked face, I refrained. I had been fortunate enough to squeeze out some free time the day before to work out the "stress" I built up working on my dreadful drive at Rio Mar.
Most of the resorts in Puerto Rico have in-house spas, and the Wyndham Rio Mar's Mandara Spa provided a fine example to this weary traveler. It also gave me the opportunity to rid myself of the remnants of my embarrassing sun burn with an exfoliating scrub.
While I don't like to visit a natural outdoor wonder like this "Isla del Encanto" and spend any more time indoors than I have to, a spa trip breaks the rules. I don't treat myself to such luxury very often, so it was the perfect way to heighten an already beautiful experience.
La ciudad vieja
I have felt pampered by the spa and invigorated by the rainforest before in Costa Rica. I have squeezed toasty sand between my toes in Hawaii, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas. I have enjoyed a good golf game (from a distance) in Florida. But I have never seen anything like Old San Juan, proud birthplace of the quintessential Piña Colada.
Very Spanish in its style and architecture, this colorful town dates from the 16th century and was once entirely surrounded by a city wall to protect it from invasion. Founded by Ponce de Leon, Old San Juan has remained traditional in order to preserve the history of the buildings and cobblestone streets.
"You have to get permission to repaint any of the buildings a different color," Morales explained of the houses, stores and restaurants that line the streets in hues of every flower in the rainforest.
The pretty and petite meet the grand and aggressive as the cobbled roads lead uphill to the Fort San Felipe Del Morro, which overlooks the bay like a sentry who never left his post. Beside the fort, the island's very first golf course (nine holes built by the Americans) now lends its rolling surface to hundreds of kite flyers.
In the cloudless sky above Fort San Felipe, butterflies, iguanas, aliens and Disney princesses danced around in the breeze trailing ribbons and bows as excited children chased the wind below trying to keep them skyward. Scattered amongst the Star Wars characters and Dora the Explorer, I could make out the simple shapes and colors of homemade kites, serving as a reminder of San Juan's mission to embrace the new while still revering its cherished heritage.
La Isla Preciosa
Therein lies San Juan's secret. The people themselves appreciate, care for and want to protect this picturesque town's personality and heart. And that's what brought the Puerto Rico Open -- and me -- here in the first place.
Terestela González Denton, executive director of the Compañia de Turismo de Puerto Rico, referred to her island as the "known unknown" and expressed that she wants it to become "known." All of the people who worked to bring this tournament here -- golf legend Chi Chi Rodriguez, Tournament Director Sidney Wolf, the Puerto Rican government and banks and, of course, González Denton herself want the same thing: To showcase to the world how precious their Caribbean treasure is to them and how much it has to offer.
"We have every corner," González Denton said. "We have everything."
So far, it seems to me, her statements are true.
With the introduction of the PGA TOUR event, the executive director hopes to bring more people each year to Puerto Rico, while Chi Chi hopes to attract more golf tournaments and even expressed his desire to hold an LPGA event at his resort, El Legado on the south side of the island.
It looks like it's working. For Thursday's first round at the first event in 2008, over 9,000 people arrived to see the inaugural event take place. On Friday, more than 14,000 people turned out, and higher numbers were projected for the weekend.
"I saw the transmission on the GOLF CHANNEL, and it was incredible to see our images there," González Denton said. "And then it was incredible to go to the course and see the real thing, and I was so emotional."
With passion like that, which everyone seems to share here for Puerto Rico, it's hard not to fall in love with the place and its people. I even swished my skirt for some salsa dancing, despite my fear of being mocked, because the beat overtook me and suddenly I just had to do it.
That's what this island does. It intoxicates. And whether it's to cover another PGA TOUR event or not, I know my Franglish and I will be back.
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