Trip to Puerto Rico

Crystal+clear+waters

Cameron Scerbo

Crystal clear waters

The week of April break, a group of students left on a plane headed for Puerto Rico on a trip organized by EF tours. One of their tour guides, Samantha, was only there for the first few days, and the other, Adriana, was our main tour guide and showed us all around the island. We also had a great bus driver-Carlos-who drove us all over the island threading the tour bus through narrow roads where he only had inches to spare. 

Some of the other teachers who chaperoned the trip were: Mrs. Archangelo, Mrs. LeBlanc, and Mr. Young.

There were a lot of new and exciting activities that we did throughout the trip. Some of these include snorkeling over a reef, swimming in the bioluminescent bay, hiking through caves, seeing the rainforest, and many more. 

We also explored Puerto Rican culture by eating Puerto Rican food. We went to all different restaurants for lunch and dinner, eating different foods. The main foods that we had during the trip were rice and beans, chicken, mofongo, and smoothies.

One of the students favorite activities were swimming in the bioluminescent bay at night. It was such a unique experience; as soon as you jumped in the water, it glowed. Microscopic organisms live in the water, and when you splash or swim, these organisms shine and begin to look like stars in the water. 

Another activity that was a big hit was snorkeling. We went out on a boat in the morning and headed for a beautiful reef. There we swam and saw many sea creatures, some of which were a sea turtle, a stingray, a lionfish, along with many creatures, including coral reefs. We also held sea urchins and starfish. 

Our tour guide took us to Luquillo Beach, where we had a couple of hours of free time. Students got to swim in the clear water and lay in the sun. Sadly, we lost a beach ball to the ocean when nobody could keep up with it being swept away by the wind. There was also a man who walked up and down the beach with a cart of ice cream.

We also explored the underground caves of Cavernas de Camuy with our cave tour guide. We learned about how the area we were in had caved in on itself. We walked through huge caverns and learned about all the creatures that may have been inside. 

When we drove to Old San Juan we visited the Castillo San Felipe del Morro. The castle was a large part of Puerto Rico’s culture and history. Its construction started in 1539 and ended around 1790. It was built to protect the island from attackers and has never been defeated. 

Also, when we were in Old San Juan we got to explore the streets and shop. One of the coolest things there was the hundreds of pigeons in the park. When you fed them they would all fly up onto you and fight over the seeds. Some people had 10 on them at a time. Thankfully, only one person got pooped on.

Overall I think everyone could agree that it was an unforgettable experience and they would highly recommend taking the trip yourself

If you want to see more photos check out this link https://oakmonitoronline.com/8329/photographs/oakmont-during-the-school-day/puerto-rico-trip/