Puerto Rico: Richness of the Caribbean

Jump into the buzzing capital of Puerto Rico. San Juan’s 16th-century historic district offers up a taste of Renaissance Spain, while the modern hotels, busy cafés, and traffic-packed streets in the new sections give the city a distinctly 21st-century energy. Start your invasion at El Morro, one of the oldest standing forts in the Caribbean. The fort rises 140 feet above the sea and contains ramparts, tunnels, and dungeons open for exploration. Thick city walls connect this fort with the similar fortifications of El Castillo San Cristobal and La Fortaleza, and the heavy wooden doors of the San Juan Gate were once the only way for visitors to pass into the heavily fortified city. See the less militaristic side of colonial life at the Casa Blanca, an elaborate house originally built for town founder Ponce de Leon. The beautiful 16th-century Catedral de San Juan soars up nearby. Find harmony at the Pablo Casals museum, dedicated to the world-famous cellist (and containing a rather eerie cast of his hands), and relaxation at the Condado, San Juan’s answer to Miami Beach.

Surrounded by millennium-old trees, catching the barest glimpse of the bright feathers of the Puerto Rican parrot and listening to the distinctive chanting of the coquí frogs (said to stop singing if ever taken away from the island), you’ll understand why native Puerto Ricans considered this forest the home of the god of happiness. El Yunque is the only tropical forest within the U.S. National Forest Service and is a fantastic place to experience all the animal and plant riches that a rainforest has to offer.