The language, food and many customs persist to this day. The current predominant cultural influences on Puerto Rico are the result of some 400 years as an outpost of Spain in the New World. A museum contains exhibits and artifacts pertaining to the Tainos and other pre-Columbian people. Stones were placed to create a kind of astronomical observatory and some of them still reveal petroglyph etchings. This was a ceremonial gathering place that included plazas, ball courts and burial grounds. Reminders of their society abound in place names and at an important archeological site. Their name meant “friendship,” and they were peaceful people who farmed and fished. When Christopher Columbus landed there in 1493 and claimed it for Spain, he encountered the Taino (pronounced Tie-EE-no) Indians. Several Indian groups inhabited Puerto Rico beginning as long as 4,500 years ago. More than 700 species of plants have adapted to the sparse rainfall in this inhospitable desert setting, including 48 that are endangered and 16 which exist nowhere else. More than 50 species of birds provide a constant chorus and waterfalls cascade down moss-covered cliffs.Ī stark counterpoint to this lush setting is the Guanica Dry Forest Reserve, the largest tract of tropical dry coastal forest in the world. Best known and most popular is El Yunque National Forest, a 28,000-acre tract of some 240 species of native evergreen trees, giant ferns, wild orchids and a tangle of hanging vines that would prompt Tarzan to howl with delight. Then the terrain rises to form two rugged long-dormant volcanic mountain ranges that dominate the center of the island before falling into the rolling surf that lap beaches on the west.Įven forests in Puerto Rico offer their share of both prizes and surprises. The secluded palm-fringed beaches along the eastern shoreline give way to rolling hills. Nothing provides a more dramatic introduction to the multiplicity of landscapes on Puerto Rico than to explore by car. Puerto Rico is, in effect, many destinations in one, which helps to explain why people who set foot on the island for the first time often become repeat visitors. Puerto Rico is a something-for-everyone treats that awaits travelers to this almost-but-not-quite-a-state enclave of the U.S.Įven those whose goal may be nothing more than a stretch of soft sand on which to soak up the sun often surrender to the virtual A-to-Z list of activities and attractions. A drive of about three hours from coast to coast, depending upon the traffic, provides an introduction to the variety. Virtually a full continent’s worth of diversity is shoe-horned into an area smaller than the state of Connecticut. But as anyone familiar with that Caribbean destination knows, there’s more – a lot more – to the tiny island. Although efforts are made to represent the general region being advertised, the images shown are for illustration purposes only and may not accurately reflect the product being advertised.Mention Puerto Rico and many people are likely to think of sun, sand and sipping rum drinks. Advertised destinations change frequently.Mailing address: 6085 Midfield Road, Toronto ON L5P 1A2.OPC fees are charged at a rate of $1.00 per $1000.Fuel surcharge between $44 - $90 round-trip still applies to Air Miles™ redemption bookings.
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