Taino Trails: Secrets of Puerto Rico’s Pyramids and Natural Wonders
Your Tour:
8 nights
9 days
12 (+1) meals
Up to 3 miles / day
Tour overview
Program activities, schedules and personnel may change due to local circumstances.
In such an event, we will alert you as quickly as possible.
Day by Day
Day 1
Overnight stay: San Juan
The tour coordinator will greet everyone, and we will review the program schedule, emergency procedures and answer questions. After orientation, we will set out with our tour coordinator to take a walk and explore the area around the hotel. At a restaurant, we´ll enjoy a welcome dinner with a delicious set menu.
Day 2
Overnight stay: San Juan
Breakfast at the hotel. A private bus will then take us to old San Juan, the city center, where our local expert will guide us around the highlights of the city. We will conclude our route at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Castillo San Felipe del Morro,, a testimony to Puerto Rican history and the most emblematic place on the island.
After a lunch break, we will attend a talk by a historian on Puerto Rican history and identity.
Day 3
Overnight stay: Mayagüez
Breakfast at the hotel. Our private bus will take us to the city of Mayagüez. On the way, we will stop at Tortuguero Lagoon, between the towns of Vega Baja and Manatí. It has been uniquely preserved due to its balance of fresh and salt water, and includes swamps, endemic flora, endangered species, silica sand and mogotes. We will then continue on Mar Chiquita beach, a lovely natural pool. The intense turquoise waters of the Atlantic bathe its limestone formations, creating an exceptional landscape. We will have a snack lunch at the beach, which includes many stands offering typical Puerto Rican food.
Following the break, we will visit Poza de Las Mujeres, another beach of singular beauty protected by a natural breakwater.
We will then travel to Mayagüez and check into the hotel.
Day 4
Overnight stay: Mayagüez
Breakfast at the hotel. We will discover the picturesque city of Mayagüez. On our walking tour through its tranquil streets, we will stroll the religious pilgrimage route of Porta del Sol Sagrado as well as Parque El Litoral Shorty Castro. During the tour, we will stop at Nuestra Señora de la Candelaría Cathedral, a church which was reconstructed after suffering a fire in 1841 and a seaquake in 1918. We will then see the inside of Yagüez Theater, opened in 1909 as a silent cinema. Its characteristic baroque style gained it the official title of historic architectural monument in 1976. Currently, the theater hosts concerts, locally produced plays, ballet shows and other events.
We will then have a delicious lunch together at a local restaurant.
Our cultural route will continue to museo Eugenio Maria de Hostos, Puerto Rican philosopher known as El ciudadano de América, who championed the independence of Puerto Rico, the unity of the Greater Antilles and of Latin America. He was the precursor of sociology in America.
Day 5
Overnight stay: Mayagüez
Breakfast at the hotel. We will leave for the town of Aguadilla, rich in local traditions and natural beauty and especially notable for its beaches. We will make a stop at the Macromural, a mosaic created by the architect Samuel González and composed of 10 intermixed tones. 15 murals by different artists compose the main work, which features themes of fishing, the sea and other coastal elements.
Our next stop is Aguada phiramid, a curious monument shaped like a Mayan pyramid. Nelson Ruiz constructed this work in the garden of his home in order to hold his ashes and those of his wife after their deaths.
Following a break in which we have lunch on our own, our route will continue to the Cara del Indio monument. Located in the township of Isabela, this sculpture hides among the rocks and vegetation. It represents Chief Mabodamaca, a Taíno leader who fought to protect his people from the Spanish conquistadors.
We will then return to Mayagüez.
Day 6
Overnight stay: Ponce
Breakfast at the hotel. After leaving the hotel, we will set out for Ponce. Our first stop is Cabo Rojo, where we will visit The National Wildlife Refuge for several endangered local birds including the well-known Mariquita. In the town of Parguera, we will visit Rosita beach, within the Parguera wildlife preserve, and have lunch beside its natural pools.
Following the lunch break, we will continue toward Ponce, where we will check in at the hotel.
Day 7
Overnight stay: Ponce
Breakfast at the Hotel. We will take a guided tour of Ponce, nicknamed La Perla del Sur, Puerto Rico’s second largest city after San Juan. Our route will take us to highlights of the city such as Fuente de los Leones and Plaza de Las Delicias. We will stop at Castillo de Serrallés, a palace turned museum on the sugar industry and its impact on the Puerto Rican economy. We will continue on to Ponce and pass Parque Bombas, a striking red and black building that housed the first fire station in Puerto Rico, included in the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 1984.
Following a break where we will all have lunch on our own, we will visit Hacienda Buena Vista, a historic center of the coffee industry, which contains restored structures more than a century old and a one-of-a-kind hydraulic turbine. Set in motion by the course of the Canas River, the mill continues to function as a motor for other equipment from the era.
After dinner on our own, we will experience the most spectacular moment of the trip: a kayak excursion in the bioluminescent bay of Pargueras.
Day 8
Overnight stay: San Juan
Breakfast at the hotel. Return to San Juan and last chance to enjoy the city, with free time to pack, relax and explore.
Farewell dinner in the evening.
Day 9
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to the airport at a designated time.
Tour Inclusions
- Bilingual Staff
- Expert Tour Coordinator during the entire program
- Local Experts for each visit and lectures
- Private ground transportation
- Entrance fees at Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Laguna Tortuguero, Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria y Museo Hostos in Mayagüez, La Poza de las Mujeres in Manatí, Macro Mural in Aguadilla, Pirámide de Aguada, Cara del Indio in Isabela, Castillo Serrallés in Ponce.
- Enriching experiences: Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre in Cabo Rojo, Hacienda Cafetera de Buena Vista, Kayaking in the bioluminescent bay at Parguera
- 8 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners, 1 snack lunch
- 1 lecture
- Accommodation in 3- 4* hotel at city center in San Juan and Mayagüez
- Worldwide Health Insurance through CISI for the duration of the entire program
- 24/7 emergency support from our on-site staff
- Tips are included throughout the visits programmed
- Taxes
Tour Pricing
- $3165 USD
Price per person based on double occupancy. Single supplement $570.
For a minimum of 15 pax.
Additional Experiences
Customize your trip according to your interests by adding any of these once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
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