Bienvenido a Puerto Rico: The Island of Enchantment

It's a name most people have heard of but not one that many know much about. Where is it? What's the language? What's it's history and culture? What's the landscape like? Is it safe? These are things people have asked me about Puerto Rico, (when they're not confusing it with Costa Rica), and while the first couple of questions I could answer straight away, the others were a lot more difficulty to define accurately. So it was time to brush up.

The more I read the more I learned what a busy island it really is and has been. It's not just some isolated, remote, backward country, floating somewhere in the Caribbean. It's civilised yet poor, though not as poor as it's central american and Carribean neighbours. Like Miami, the Bahamas and Mexico, it's shores have been compromised by blatant commercialism and truck-loads of tourists. It has a very vibrant history and has played a signifacant role in the history of the Carribean, especially during the Spanish - American wars. It has a melting pot of cultural influences from a confluence of neighbouring and far off lands (including Spanish, Amer-indian, African, and North American). Not just an island, it is an archipelago that inlcudes the main island of PR and a series of smaller islands, including Vieques, where we'll be stationed.

San Juan

Christopher Columbus discovered Puerto Rico in 1493 and named the island San Juan de Bautista. In 1508 his lieutenant Juan Ponce de Leon took control of the island and became the first governor. In 1521, Ponce de Leon laid the foundations of the capital city of San Juan, one of the very first towns built in the Americas.

Throughout the colonial period, the Dutch, the French, and the British made multiple attempts to take control of Puerto Rico, but were ultimately unsuccessful. Puerto Rico plays a strategic role as the gateway to the Carribean, the Spanish set up forts here to protect it's colonies in this area; if you took Puerto Rico you took possession of the Caribbean. Under Spanish rule (which lasted over 400 years) the indigenous population (called Tainos) was forced into slavery and nearly wiped out due to European infectious diseases and brutal force. Finally, the Spanish were defeated in 1898 by the Americans in the Spanish-American War and relinquished control of Puerto Rico, as well as the Phillipines and Guam. The Americans wanted to secure naval bases in strategic locations and had much interest in the Caribbean. The US still retains Guam and PR as territories but the Phillipines gained independence after World War II.

The Puerto Ricans hailed the coming of the Americans, thinking they would free them from the Spanish and pave the way for Independence. Alas, 113 years later and no one knows where the country stands. It is presently an unincorporated territory of the US and whilst the culture remains anchored to the spanish custom, Puerto Ricans are US citizens (though they can not vote in US elections) and US Congress legislates many aspects of Puerto Rican life.

So what now? Will it become independent? Or will it become the 51st State? These are questions Puerto Ricans want answered; they feel as if they are sitting in limbo and opinion seems divided. There are some strong Nationalists who feel cheated by the Americans, and there are those that understand the benefits that being part of America can do for the country - which no doubt, has allowed it to be one of the wealthiest of the Central American/Caribbean nations.

The narrow coastal plain rises into green (low) hills and mountains central and south. A few small rivers and lakes dot the landscape. The climate is usually hot and humid, with some lower temperatures found in the higher elevations. Like most Caribbean islands, Puerto Rico is subject to an occasional hurricane warning (May - October)...Compared to other islands in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico has a high standard of living with a vibrant industrialized economy. (World Atlas)

Puerto Rico has some interesting gems outside the splendour of the colonial cities. The island is mostly mountainous with the main range, the Cadiello Central Range, dividing the island between the  north and south coastal regions. The only tropical rainforest that the US can lay claim to is in El Yunque National forest on the East side, and the karst region in the north contains the third-largest cave system in the world. Of course, there's miles of beaches as well and the surrounding reefs are a diver's paradise. Like many other Caribbean islands, Puerto Rico is the crest of an extinct submarine volcano. Beyond the vibrant shallow waters surrounding the island, about 45 mi (72 km) north, lies the Puerto Rico Trench, at over 28,000 feet (8,500 meters) one of the world's deepest chasms. Uh-oh.

 Interesting Facts:

• the world famous drink, the Piña Colada was invented in a house on Fortaleza Street in Old San Juan
• San Juan is the largest home-based cruise port in the world
• there are more Puerto Ricans living in the rest of the United States than in the island of Puerto Rico itself?
• travel within the United States includes Puerto Rico, and no U.S. passport is necessary
• Puerto Rico uses the American Dollar
• the Plaza Las Americas mall in San Juan is the most profitable mall per square foot in the world (woohoo!)
• Puerto Rico has never had a civil war
• the Common Coquí, or Coquí, a frog native to Puerto Rico, is a very important aspect of Puerto Rican culture and it has become an unofficial territorial symbol of Puerto Rico