Thank you for this comment! There are parts of Puerto Rico that are "3rd world hellscapes," but they are tiny and not the norm. It is a beautiful island with a ton of natural resources and hardworking people.
Where else can you drive 3 hours and go from dense rainforest to absolute desert, spend your morning snorkeling pristine reefs and your evening deep in the mountains, and see a mix of old and new everywhere?
But, do you want to go deep in the mountains? I lived in Morovis for about 4 months. I’ve never seen anywhere more infested with more cockroaches and rats in my life.
I live outside the metro area and there are definitely 4x4 only areas as far as transportation and it becomes quite rural pretty quick in the hills. Not to mention the chupacabra.
Jayuya is one of my favorite places in the world, but you are right the bugs are out of control. Especially at night, two screens on the windows and the buzzing all night.
> Where else can you drive 3 hours and go from dense rainforest to absolute desert
I've never been to Puerto Rico. Rainforest I can imagine, but where on that island is there a desert, even a relative one?! When you say "absolute desert" I'm imagining, I don't know, something like the Sonoran Desert.
Average annual rainfall of 24-39" is not exactly anyone's idea of a desert (I believe 10" a year is the typical definition), though looking at the photos it does appear to be more similar to the transitional area in Texas Hill Country, for example, with short trees and more shrubs. Certainly a far cry from the lushness that I expected to encompass all of Puerto Rico.
It's typical for Islands to have a wet side and a dry side. The wet side gets the brunt of the storms and rain carried by prevailing winds. And the dry side is in the rain shadow.
Offhand thought 24 inches in a hot climate doesn't go as far as 24 inches in a temperate one.
what struck me about Hawaii on my last visits though is the juxtaposition against Puerto Rico (the lost opportunities). Very similar in a lot of ways- but hasn't nearly leveraged the richness of its culture (history, music, cuisine, etc.) as much as Hawaii has.
Is it really like that? It sounds, truly, like paradise. There HAS to be a catch. How big are the mosquitoes, tarantulas, carnivorous ear worms, bees, ants, snakes, etc?
I grew up there in near rain forest area (just slightly short of the technical rainfall requirement). There aren't really any poisonous snakes on the island, just one type that has mildly irritating saliva (I caught and got bit by lots of these as a kid, barely noticed). Depending on which micro-biome you are in, there can be lots of mosquitoes, or not many at all. Where I grew up, there were very few probably because of all the predators (and most of the water was moving not standing). Caught a few tarantulas growing up, never got bit. There were some pretty giant centipedes where I lived but I rarely saw them, never got bit. A few bee stings, but nothing too bad- but wasps... hate those f**ers.
Lots of catches. Many places have bars on windows, those pristine reefs are surrounded by areas with unexploded munitions, tons of bugs, roads that are not necessarily safe for cars, etc.
Where else can you drive 3 hours and go from dense rainforest to absolute desert, spend your morning snorkeling pristine reefs and your evening deep in the mountains, and see a mix of old and new everywhere?