TRAVEL Beach-hopping in Puerto Rico

Island’s less-crowded but historically significant west coast serves as a tropical setting for 10 days of hiking, sightseeing

BY ANNA MAZUREK

My rental car shook violently as it slowly crept down the bumpy dirt road along the southwestern tip of Puerto Rico When the road ended, I set out on foot up a dirt path that led to the gray-and-white Los Morrillos lighthouse, built on the edge of acliff in 1882 The windows and doorways were the same shade of turquoise as the water crashing into the rust-red sandstone cliffs below

The lighthouse was my first stop along Puerto Rico’s west coast in early November After spending a few days of my first trip to the island exploring Old San Juan and nearby tourist sites, Ifled the cruise-ship crowds and congested highways for the remote west coast’s narrow two-lane roads and secluded beaches My goal was to explore this lesscrowded part of the island, known for surfing, hilly terrain and an endless surplus of sunny, 80-degree days. Learning to surf was another priority, but rough seas with waves too big for my novice skill level crushed those plans. Instead of a surfing trip, this would become a relaxing 10-day beach and hiking trip.

From the eastern side of the lighthouse, I could see stretched out below a pristine, crescentshaped beach that belonged in a

Jimmy Buffett song. I walked across the undeveloped, tree-lined beach and followed a trail up another set of cliffs to photograph the lighthouse from across the bay Then I couldn’t resist a dip in the water to cool off. Even though adozen people were on the beach, it still felt isolated. It was only Day

1, and I had already found my favorite beach in western Puerto Rico: La Playuela. After another bone-rattling drive, I stopped at the Cabo Rojo Salt Flats and walked along the catwalks between reddish-pink salt ponds. The 1,249-acre area was added to the Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge in 1999 and includes trails for biking and hiking around the two main lagoons, Fraternidad and Candelaria. A private operator harvests the salt which is left behind when the water evaporates from exposure to the sun, wind and heat The lagoons are home to a variety of microorganisms, including Dunaliella salina an alga responsible for the red hue.

“Although it is a green alga it creates a large amount of carot- enoids (beta-carotene) to survive and protect themselves against the intense light,” Ana Roman, deputy project leader at the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex, said in an email.

“High concentrations of carotenoids (red-orange pigment) are what creates the pink color effect in the salt flat ponds.” This alga is a critical food source for brine shrimp and other salt-tolerant species, which attract migratory shorebirds. The salt flats, with their prevalence of food, are one of the most impor- tant stopover points for these birds in the entire Caribbean Cabo Rojo’s lucrative salt-collection business has resulted in several historical conflicts, according to Roman. There have been numerous ownership and exploitation issues involving not only the Spanish, who colonized the island after the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493, but also the British and Dutch, among others. In 1769 a bloody fight broke out between local communities over land ownership of the salt flats, leading the area to be named El Combate, which translates to “the battle.”

For another history lesson, I visited the sleepy town of San Germán the second-oldest city on the island, after San Juan, known for its well-preserved colonial Creole architecture. Founded on the coast in 1511 it was moved inland to avoid plundering pirates in 1573 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The centerpiece is the 1692 Iglesia de Porta Coeli, one of the oldest church structures in the Americas, which was originally used as a monastery chapel but now houses asmall museum.

After a morning of exploring, I drove about 13 miles to Joyuda, a three-mile strip of seaside seafood restaurants known as the Gourmet Golden Mile for lunch. I snagged a table on the shaded waterfront patio at Náutica by Poly’s and ordered a delicious conch mofongo relleno, fried mashed plantains stuffed with conch and served in a tomatobased sauce. By the time I finished my meal, there wasn’t an