Saturday, April 29, 1995 - Boqueron, Puerto Rico

The big day! We got up at 5:30 and were all ready when Ray came by to pick us up. He also picked up Sherry and Art from the Shaggy Dog. Richard arrived at precisely eight o'clock. We were very glad there weren't two more people going; his "station wagon" was tiny, and we were crowded as it was. Richard was born in New York City of Puerto Rican parents. He lived most of his life in California, so he speaks fluent English. In fact, he probably speaks English better than he does Spanish. He came to Puerto Rico a few months ago to visit his parents, who have returned here, and they talked him into staying. He's a good driver, but he'd never been to the Cave Park before, so he wasn't sure how to get there, but eventually he found it. He took the coastal route going, so we had some lovely glimpses of the ocean. Coming back, he went through the mountains, and we saw some lovely vistas of valleys and distant hills. The cave wasn't nearly as interesting as others we've seen. It was a big cavern with openings at each end. The underground river turned out to be a trickle that we could barely see. The guide was amusing and knowledgeable, but the tour of the cave didn't last very long. We thought she said we were going to see two other caves, but it turned out we just got to view a sinkhole and the entrance to another cavern with some bats flying around, but we couldn't go in it. We drove to a nearby restaurant for lunch, but the food left a lot to be desired. By the time we got back to Boqueron, it was five o'clock. Janie returned the awnings with the tabs she had sewn on, so now the only thing keeping us here is the inverter.