Puerto Rico Day 2 - Scuba, Chiliboats, & San German

The adventures began on Tuesday. First thing in the morning, Cat went on her first dive as a certified Scuba diver! Ben was planning to go with her but the nauseousness hit before he even started driving to the dive shop so he decided it would be better for all involved if he sat this one out. Cat had a blast with Robert and his dad and sister, and they saw lots of cool ocean creatures!

This is kind of a cool picture - the divemaster caught a Lion Fish and fed it to a shark.

Ben joined the other kids and me for an ocean experience that was entirely above the surface: we joined a chiliboat tour that departed very close to the house we rented. It lasted about 3 hours and included about two miles of pedaling out to a tiny mangrove island called Cayo Mata La Gata (which refers to how it was an area where nurse sharks mated hundreds of years ago). We soaked up the warmth and sun, and appreciated the cute little houses floating along the shore and the gorgeous blue water. We had about half an hour to walk around and explore the mangrove island before pedaling back to the main island. We were feeling the burn by the end, but it was a great way to spend the morning!

Robert's family brought Cat to our house, where we chatted and talked about our different adventures. Then our family drove to Coco's Pizza in Lajas (which the chiliboat guides had recommended), and which really was very good. But it also took a very long time to get our food - a problem we'd encountered the day before in Pinones. We'd hoped to continue north to a cute town called San German but by the time we got our food, it was raining, so we backtracked to the house to get our rain jackets, then headed up to San German. We arrived late in the afternoon and missed out on the free trolley tour that takes you through the town, but we enjoyed just walking around and exploring on our own.

This was the area where we first noticed the emphasis of the Three Wisemen in the
Christmas celebration in Puerto Rico. The Tres Reyes, as they're called, were everywhere.
We even saw 3 men dressed up as the Three Kings who were preparing to join the town's
parade that evening (which ended up being rained out).

That night, Robert's family came over to our house for a cookout and swimming. The swimming didn't happen because of the rain, but we had a great time just cooking and eating together, telling jokes and stories, and playing foosball.

Bonus Scenic Pics: