Shar & her dad, Felipe Osborne-Shea, conversing at the table off the kitchen where meals are taken at Machabuca.
Shar & her dad, Felipe Osborne-Shea, conversing at
the table off the kitchen where meals are taken at Machabuca.
Felipe takes us on a tour of his farm (Machabuca) where he grows
tropical fruits, coffee, endangered endemics & anything else that
strikes his fancy.
Cacao fruits
Shar inspecting coffee berries (I believe Cofea
robusta--Felipe also grows arabica &
liberica)
A sampling of Machabuca's fruits back at the house.
View into the kitchen.
Dining room is to the left of the stairwell, living room to the
right.
Looking out to patio from edge of living room. The table from first
picture can be seen towards the far right
Guanica State Forest & Biosphere Reserve in the southwest of the
island. The Caribbean can be seen in the mid-right of the photo. This
dry forest has several species of cactus, & the oldest tree in
P.R.
Turquoise-blue waters of the Caribbean at Guanica.
The water was just too inviting, I got down to my boxers & dove
in. The small rock promontory provided a nice platform. Shar & I
returned to this area the following day for some fine snorkeling.
A view of the cliffs at the Cabo Rojo Lighthouse at the southwestern
tip of the island.
Taino ceremonial ball court at Utuado in the central mountains of the
island. This is the largest of the Utuado courts. Discovered over 100
years ago, this site dates back to about 1200 A.D. The next shot is a
close-up of the larger stones on the far wall in this picture.
Petroglyphs on the ball court shown on the previous photo--probably
ads for beer or cigarettes.
Another shot of one of the many Utuado ball courts. The shapes of the
surrounding mountains may have had religious significance to these
folks. The rounded peaks resemble the carved stone representations of
their gods, called cemies. Some have speculated that the terrain may
account for this location's being chosen for this purpose. Personally
I suspect a well-placed group of investors & ball team owners got
the taxpayers to finance their stadium proposal.
This is Old San Juan. I took this shot having just walked out of the
alley where you see the motorbike. Look up the alley, and turn into
the first door on your left. We had walked up the alley from the
other direction. As we approached the aforementioned doorway, I heard
wonderful music. I looked in & saw two old guys playin' guitars
& another on bongos in a what was obvioulsy a local bar. I said
to Shar, "I gotta' go in here!" The whole establishment was the size
of our living room. I was making my way towards the bar when a guy
stepped aside beckoning with his hand, saying, "Here, we are just
from the neighborhood." He made room for us at the bar. Shar stayed
back while I ordered drinks. I moved back to Shar with our drinks,
& we listened to a few incredible songs. At each chorus, all of
the dozen or so people in the place joined in singing and clapping
their hands--fantastic! After about three songs an older woman moved
from her bar stool, and put money in the jukebox. We left and I took
this photo about two minutes later.
This picture was taken from the same spot as the previous one, only
turned 90 degrees to my left (south). This shows fortifications the
Spanish put in place some 500 years ago. The British assaulted and
took over San Juan for a couple months before deciding it was a not
such a good idea & leaving.