If Old San Juan and the El Yunque rain forest and the beaches have been drawing visitors for hundreds of years, that’s certainly not true for this hidden attraction: a vast, and still-not-fully-explored system of caves, carved out by the world’s…
After 50 years of strained relations between Cuba and the US it looks likely that travel will soon be possible again. I’ve been visiting Cuba – for over 15 years – from the UK. – I’m British. I spend some time living in the US…
On our second-to-last day in Puerto Rico, we headed to the south shore of the island, to the city of Ponce. It’s smaller than San Juan, has less tourist traffic—all that, and yet it considers itself the cultural equal of the capital or of…
San Juan, Puerto Rico is a city of contrasts, of modern skyscrapers, crowded residential areas of different eras, resort hotels and casinos along Condado, and much more…but the image that usually comes to mind is really that of Old San Juan, the…
Carnival season 2015 is in full swing. To the world Carnival may be most popular in Brazil, but Trinidad and Tobago has a massive celebration that may just be second biggest. The Carnival season starts immediately after the…
Kayak.com has become the first of the major U.S.-based search engines to make it possible to search for flights to Cuba from U.S. cities, in the wake of the loosening of travel restrictions. Not that U.S. airlines have jumped in with non-stops, yet,…
As Gumbo readers know by now, a lot of us who write these pieces are suckers for markets, large and small, wherever we go. If an army travels on its stomach, an army of bloggers stocks up at the public market. So, on our recent trip to Puerto…
Jet Blue is doing some amazing promotions these days, including limited numbers of seats at ridiculous prices if you can grab them. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays through Feb. 21; other destinations include San Francisco, Austin TX, Fort…
When we began planning a trip to Puerto Rico, and planning to include our 14-year-old granddaughter, we sent her some of the material we were gathering and asked her what her priorities were. She, and we, both had El Yunque right near the top of the…
El Morro, the giant fortification that’s guarded San Juan Harbor for nearly 500 years, is the sight we saw before we saw it. Its image is everywhere when you do online research for a trip to Puerto Rico; its “garitas”—small domed…
If Old San Juan and the El Yunque rain forest and the beaches have been drawing visitors for hundreds of years, that’s certainly not true for this hidden attraction: a vast, and still-not-fully-explored system of caves, carved out by the world’s…
After 50 years of strained relations between Cuba and the US it looks likely that travel will soon be possible again. I’ve been visiting Cuba – for over 15 years – from the UK. – I’m British. I spend some time living in the US…
On our second-to-last day in Puerto Rico, we headed to the south shore of the island, to the city of Ponce. It’s smaller than San Juan, has less tourist traffic—all that, and yet it considers itself the cultural equal of the capital or of…
San Juan, Puerto Rico is a city of contrasts, of modern skyscrapers, crowded residential areas of different eras, resort hotels and casinos along Condado, and much more…but the image that usually comes to mind is really that of Old San Juan, the…
Carnival season 2015 is in full swing. To the world Carnival may be most popular in Brazil, but Trinidad and Tobago has a massive celebration that may just be second biggest. The Carnival season starts immediately after the…
Kayak.com has become the first of the major U.S.-based search engines to make it possible to search for flights to Cuba from U.S. cities, in the wake of the loosening of travel restrictions. Not that U.S. airlines have jumped in with non-stops, yet,…
As Gumbo readers know by now, a lot of us who write these pieces are suckers for markets, large and small, wherever we go. If an army travels on its stomach, an army of bloggers stocks up at the public market. So, on our recent trip to Puerto…
Jet Blue is doing some amazing promotions these days, including limited numbers of seats at ridiculous prices if you can grab them. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays through Feb. 21; other destinations include San Francisco, Austin TX, Fort…
When we began planning a trip to Puerto Rico, and planning to include our 14-year-old granddaughter, we sent her some of the material we were gathering and asked her what her priorities were. She, and we, both had El Yunque right near the top of the…
El Morro, the giant fortification that’s guarded San Juan Harbor for nearly 500 years, is the sight we saw before we saw it. Its image is everywhere when you do online research for a trip to Puerto Rico; its “garitas”—small domed…
