Puerto Rico 

I recently traveled to Puerto Rico for a photo shoot and fell so much in love with the island I decided to write a blog about it.    Although the trip was for work I found some time to explore and see other parts of the island and realized what a tropical paradise Puerto Rico really is.

My photo shoot had me had me landing in San Juan the capital city of Puerto Rico.   The city was founded by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1521.     The city is old, but has a majestic fort and many great shops and restaurants. 

I love to eat and and found some truly unique dishes. In the town of San Juan I ate in old town at a place called Barrachina. They served me a dish called Mofongo, which is smashed fried green plantains with garlic. I ate this with some great shrimp! There are a lot of dishes with plantains such as fried plantains called tostones and chicken stuffed plantains. All very good good dishes and yes I had them all! For dinner I ate at one of the nicest restaurants in town Mario Pagan. This allowed me to experience Puerto Rican fine dining including the molten chocolate soufflé for dessert. The food experience was great, but there is so much more to the island.

My photo shoot was shot in the town of Cidra in the mountains of Caguas. Caguas is in the center of the island and we had a beautiful hacienda in the hills to shoot a number of different outfits. Cidra is a small town and although it is in the mountains I was still able to make it down into town to workout at the local gym! If you go to my Instagram page and look under my stories you can see all my pictures posted from my trip. The local cuisine is mostly grilled and fried foods, but all were really good.

If that wasn’t enough I found my way into Yuenke National Rainforest for some photo shoots in the waterfalls of the rainforest. The rich tropical vegetation was amazing and I fell in love with the pure splendor of the area. El Yuenke Rainforest has 3 major waterfalls and I was only able to shoot at one of them due to areas being closed off from the Hurricane damage. The fresh smell of nature and the cold water of the waterfalls lets you feel you are part of nature. You can get so caught up in the beauty of the area you just sit back and look in awe of all the beautiful sites.

I then made my way to the St. Regis Resort Bahia Beach and once driving into the secured gates found a paradise I could only dream of. This has to be one of the best resort areas I have ever seen. Secluded tropical beaches and the best people and service around. The resort itself was beautiful and I could not do justice by trying to explain so you have to see the pictures! (lol). The people were amazing and the service beyond expectations. From laying in the hammock on the beach or laying in the beach cabana I found myself not wanting to leave. As it got close to leaving I left with a heavy heart and a desire to go back again really soon.

Even with all the beauty I did go during the tropical storm Dorian and although it missed the island it did bring some rain and wind. I am grateful for the experience as it was beyond anything I could have possibly imagined. When I go back I need to bring back some coconut! I fell in love with the many different blends of coconut candy especially guava coconut.

Puerto Rico I love you! Beautiful country, people and food!