RSSPuerto Rico is a land of exceptional beauty, friendly people and interesting places to visit from Indian ceremonial parks to lighthouses and Spanish-style hacienda plantations. While the pristine beaches of the island beckon visitors with their serenity and paradise backdrops, the historical sites of the Spanish Colonial times present a unique experience for tourists.
Bacardi Tour
Puerto Rico is home to Bacardi Rum, and the distillery where it is produced is the largest in the world. Located outside San Juan, a guided tour of the facility includes a visit to the vast fermentation vats, functional high speed bottling machinery, and bat-like, lofty pavilion where you can buy souvenirs and sample the rum. The tour also includes a trip to the family museum where the story of Bacardi comes alive.
Hacienda Buena Vista
The Hacienda was made in 1833 by a Spaniard who had emigrated from Venezuela. He constructed a lovely two level main house, with farmhouses, slave quarters and processing areas. It was a major producer of coffee, corn and other products. The owner’s son and grandson introduced innovative farming machinery including a 100-foot waterfall for irrigation. The plantation went into disrepair in the 1900s due to falling coffee prices and was sold off by the owners. Now it has been reconstructed and is a working coffee plantation that replicates 19th century Puerto Rican rural life. The impressive machines are once again in motion. Farm animals roam the grounds and the fully furnished rooms seem ready for their occupants to return at any moment. The scent of freshly roasted, freshly brewed coffee fills the air.
Caguana Indian Ceremonial Park
The ball court at the Caguana is considered the most sacred of Taino sites in the West Indies. A ballgame similar to lacrosse was shared by all Indian tribes in the Caribbean, Central and South America. These ballgames were a test for warriors and a way to determine the sacrifice to be made to the gods. La Mujer de Caguana is a rare petroglyph found here which features a woman with legs of a frog and wearing an elaborate headdress. The park is an important excavation site and archaeological exhibits are displayed at the small museum, which also houses Indian artifacts and botanical plants such as potatoes, cassava, corn and yautia harvested by the Indians. Mahogany, ceiba, tabonuco and ausubo trees can be seen in their natural habitat.
Tibes Ceremonial Park
The Tibes Ceremonial Park outside Ponce is the largest in the West Indies and is a testament to the indigenous culture of the area. It was uncovered after a massive hurricane in 1975, and since then has become an important archaeological site with 80,000 visitors every year. The ceremonial courts are surrounded by tomb-like structures with stone etchings of ancient symbols carved on to the surface. Some of these courts were used for ball games and others for ceremonial dances. Walkways made from smooth, flat stones called tibes can be found in the perimeter of the courts. Some of the plazas and courts are perfectly aligned to the stars on the equinox and solstice and suggest a fascination for astronomy by the Indian tribes that lived here. The museum on the grounds holds archaeological and ethnological artifacts about the previous settlers here, some of whom were engaged in human sacrifice. A reconstruction of an Indian village helps visitors understand their way of life.
