Looking for this year’s festival? This is the 2024 recap. For the full history and what the festival is about, see our complete guide: Yauco National Coffee Festival. For the current edition, see our 2026 post. The 49th Festival Nacional del Café Freddie León Maldonado ran Sunday, February 25 through Sunday, March 3, 2024, in Yauco, under the theme “Nuestro …
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Yauco, Puerto Rico, might be a town that you have never heard of but in terms of Puerto Rican history it has quite the sleepy legacy. Presently, known as the “El Pueblo del Café“, or the town of coffee, Yauco was once the Taíno capital of the island prior to the arrival of the Spanish. Led by chief Agüeybana, and …
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New here? This is the 2024 recap. For the full history, the vejigantes, and what the carnival is about, see our complete guide: Carnaval Ponceño: The Complete Guide. Carnaval Ponceño 2024 marked 166 years of history and stretched across nine days, from the Aires de Carnaval salsa nights starting Monday, February 5 to the Entierro de la Sardina on Tuesday, …
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New here? This is the 2024 recap. For the full history, traditions, and what SanSe is about, see our complete guide: SanSe: The Complete Guide to the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián. SanSe 2024 ran the third weekend of January 2024, Thursday the 18th through Sunday the 21st, across five plazas of Old San Juan plus the Comunidad La …
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Looking for this year’s festival? This is the 2023 recap. For the full history and what the festival is about, see our complete guide: Festival Nacional Indígena: The Complete Guide. For the current edition, see our 2026 post, or look back at 2024 and 2025. The 53rd Festival Nacional Indígena ran Friday, November 17 through Sunday, November 19, 2023, at …
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Looking for this year’s festival? This is the 2023 recap. For the full history and what the festival is about, see our complete guide: Yauco National Coffee Festival. For the current edition, see our 2026 post. The 48th Festival Nacional del Café Freddie León Maldonado ran Sunday, February 26 through Sunday, March 5, 2023, in Yauco. The edition was framed …
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New here? This is the 2023 recap. For the full history, the vejigantes, and what the carnival is about, see our complete guide: Carnaval Ponceño: The Complete Guide. Carnaval Ponceño 2023 ran Thursday, February 16 through Tuesday, February 21, 2023, in downtown Ponce. Six nights on and around Plaza Las Delicias: the Baile de Máscaras to open, the Entrada del …
Read More »New here? This is the 2020 recap. For the full history, traditions, and what SanSe is about, see our complete guide: SanSe: The Complete Guide to the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián. SanSe 2020 ran Wednesday, January 15 through Sunday, January 19, 2020, and it was a double milestone: the festival’s 50th edition, and the opening act for San …
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Looking for this year’s festival? This is the 2019 recap. For the full history and what the festival is about, see our complete guide: Yauco National Coffee Festival. For the current edition, see our 2026 post. The 2019 Festival Nacional del Café ran Sunday, February 24 through Sunday, March 3, 2019, in Yauco, Puerto Rico. Nine days built around the …
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Over the holiday break between 2018-2019 I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit Panamá and Colombia. It was my second time in Central/South America as I had previously visited Ecuador for 10 days, spent a brief few days in Costa Rica, and lived in the Caribbean in Puerto Rico for about a year. This trip to Colombia …
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New here? This is the 2019 recap. For the full history, traditions, and what SanSe is about, see our complete guide: SanSe: The Complete Guide to the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián. SanSe 2019 ran Wednesday, January 16 through Sunday, January 20, 2019, across four plazas of Old San Juan, with additional programming at La Perla, the Teatro Tapia, …
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Recently, completing my article of things to do in Ecuador in 10 days. I thought it would be helpful to add some travel tips and advice for Ecuador as well. Ecuador was my first visit to South America; hopefully the first of many. I’ve been to other LATAM areas such as Mexico, Costa Rica, and lived in on the Caribbean …
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Interested in visiting Ecuador, but not sure if 10 days is worth it? I asked myself the same question. Last year I was in transition between jobs and was looking for a new destination to visit. I had not been to South America before and wanted to experience it, especially after spending time traveling in Puerto Rico and backpacking through …
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In 2017, I was able to take a short trip to Ecuador. Though brief, the experience was very enriching. I was able to visit 2 of the 3 major regions of the country and see several cities along the way. It was my first time in South America although since then, I have been able to visit Colombia as well. …
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The Safety Question of La Isla del Encanto Is Puerto Rico really as dangerous as they say? Dwelling in the topics of safety and travel are not typically terms that I like to associate with one another. In fact, they are typically things that I like to disassociate with one another. However, even I will admit, there is a safety …
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But it was totally worth it… Not to over-dramatize things here, but I did have a close call with my end while hiking in the backwoods of Puerto Rico. Now don’t misunderstand me, I am alive and well and live to tell the tale. Even though I had a briefly contracted a mosquito born illness while on the island, the …
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New here? This is the 2015 recap. For the full history, traditions, and what SanSe is about, see our complete guide: SanSe: The Complete Guide to the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián. SanSe 2015 ran Thursday, January 15 through Sunday, January 18, 2015, across four plazas of Old San Juan. The program came from the community of Old San …
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Reading time: about 9 minutes. Originally published November 2014. Rewritten August 2026. TL;DR Puerto Rico is a US territory, so American travelers need no passport and the dollar works everywhere, but almost nothing else about the trip works like the mainland. You will want a rental car, the power grid fails often enough to plan around, and hurricane season runs …
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The Original Boricuas I have been wanting to write an article explaining a side or founding block of Puerto Rican culture that few outside of the island know about. It is a legacy that goes back several hundred years before the arrival of the Europeans and the creation of the so say “new world”. It is a root that has …
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When I lived in Puerto Rico, I was always amazed at how little people did on the island. So many people visit the island annually, but completely miss out on what the island has to offer. Puerto Rico might be a strange place, but if offers a dynamic and unique list of things to do. I didn’t do absolutely everything …
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Photo Journey through Puerto Rico I’ve finally reviewed and gone over most of my pictures from Puerto Rico. I’ve concluded with these as being my favorites. These pictures were taken in many places around the island from San Juan to the islands to the rain forests. I have tried to include variety in this so that you can see some …
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Puerto Rico’s street art scene I think that few people really ever enjoy the street art scene in Puerto Rico. San Juan in of itself, has some great works by some very renown artists. One of the things that I noticed a lot was there are many works that are attempting to beautify areas of the city that are otherwise …
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TL;DR: Should you drive in Puerto Rico? Rent a car. If you are going anywhere beyond San Juan, it is the only practical way to see the island, and it costs less than the alternatives once you leave the metro. Best for San Juan only: Uber plus the AMA bus. Skip the car, skip the parking. Best for the classic …
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The Short Version San Juan is Puerto Rico’s capital, its busiest gateway, and the oldest European-founded city in the Americas, settled in 1521. Most visitors stick to the forts, a beach, and a piña colada and never see the rest. This list runs from the classic must-dos to the local corners I love, so you can build a trip that …
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Street Food in Puerto Rico Food is an important aspect in all areas of the world. Puerto Rico is no exception. Since I came to Puerto Rico, I’ve learned one important thing: Puerto Ricans take their food seriously. The food is never fried and always healthy. (That is a joke by the way. Go on, you can laugh 🙂 ) …
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New here? This is the 2014 recap. For the full history, traditions, and what SanSe is about, see our complete guide: SanSe: The Complete Guide to the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián. SanSe 2014 ran Thursday, January 16 through Sunday, January 19, 2014, in Old San Juan, under the banner “Cultura para todos.” It was the festival’s 44th anniversary, …
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I have done urban exploring several times in the past. One of my favorites was Hotel Belvedere in Dubrovnik Croatia. I never got around to making a post on that one though. Perhaps, I should. Since I arrived in Puerto Rico, I’ve noticed that there is a fairly high quantity of abandoned buildings. That is why I chose to label …
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A Budget Friendly How To Do-it-Yourself Guide to the Bacardi Tour in Puerto Rico I recently took the tour of the Bacardi distillery near San Juan Puerto Rico, and I learned a lot of things that I thought I would share with you. I found the tour to be fun and interesting, but learned that it doesn’t need to be …
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La Isla del Encanto The Island of Enchantment Puerto Rico for me has been a long time coming. I have had vested interest in it because I’ve got family here somewhere and I am fascinated to learn more about both Caribbean history and island-culture. Before leaving for Puerto Rico, I had a lot of mixed emotions and thoughts about what …
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Backpacking Diplomacy by Andy A blog dedicated to sharing world culture, travel tips and building community.