KASD in Puerto Rico 2017

After four fantastic days in San Juan, today it was sadly time to say goodbye. On our way to Ponce, we stopped at the Camuy River Caverns. The Camuy Caves are the third largest cave system in the world, with the main part of the cavern reaching over 17 stories high! Through the middle runs the Camuy River, which is an estimated 45 million years old. This was one of those places that is completely breathtaking, but impossible to photograph. I'm so glad the students were able to experience this site. In the afternoon we visited the Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Plaza. This is where we explored archaeological ruins from approximately 25 A.D., including 9 ball fields, 186 burial sites and 3 ceremonial plazas. We started by walking through the park to observe several native plants and trees and then explored the ruins of the Taino people. Coming into Ponce was like driving through Europe... narrow winding streets, charming architecture and statue-lined plazas. We were defin

Wow! We've been so busy with water activities the past two days that I didn't even get to post last night! I heard the comment today, "We've been IN the water more than OUT of the water during this trip!" I say, "Awesome!" We started yesterday with a scenic drive along the north shore to El Yunque- the only National Park in the United States that is a rainforest. On the way, we stopped at the Maria de la Cruz Cave where parts of Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed. Upon arriving in El Yunque, we started with a video to introduce the impact of the rainforest and its wildlife and then hiked our way down to La Mina Falls where the group had a blast swimming and playing in the falls. We learned that while El Yunque is one of the United States' smallest National Parks at 28,000 acres, with more than 500 different tree species, it actually has more different species of trees than all of the other U.S. National Parks combined! For the afternoon

Whew... what a day! From the beautiful views from the mountain tops of La Marquesa Forest Park, to the stunning scenes of San Juan Bay from Castillo San Felipe del Morro, there was no shortage of breathtaking beauty today! We started the morning with an optional canopy tour of the rainforest. Nearly everyone joined the adrenaline-rushing adventure, but those who opted out (myself included) spent some time exploring La Marquesa Forest Park. We started with a gondola ride to the top of the mountain, where we were able to visit the butterfly and bird aviary. Talk about getting up close and personal... I've never been so close to such colorful exotic birds. We took a hike to the observation tower, literally on the top of the mountain. Awesome views, but equally as important, was the refreshing breeze at the top. Have I mentioned the heat here?!? It's HOT. And HUMID. Everything we love about a Caribbean island, right? With lots of water and breaks in the shade, the group is doing

We did it! We're here in sunny San Juan! After two years of planning, fundraising, preparing and waiting, it's hard to believe this time has come! After an early morning coach bus ride to Milwaukee, we had my favorite kind of travel day... a non-eventful one! Everyone was able to sit where they wanted on the plane, all luggage made it to our destination, and we even landed in Puerto Rico a little bit ahead of schedule! It doesn't get much better than that! We met Astacio, our tour guide, at the baggage claim and headed off to grab a quick lunch before getting our first glimpse of the city. Our first stop of today's walking tour was Castillo San Cristobal- a National Historic Site run by the U.S. National Park Service. We learned that during the 16th century, Puerto Rico was a strategically located island owned by Spain, and in order to maintain control of the island, the Spanish spent over 250 years fortifying it. This may be why Spain was able to keep Puerto Ri