42 Reasons Why I Love Puerto Rico Via Photos!

Today I wanted to share a bit from my recent trip to Puerto Rico. Those of you that have been in our community for a while know that I’ve returned back to Puerto Rico many times over the last few years. While I love exploring and see new places often, I have a heart connection with Puerto Rico that keeps drawing me back, and it will always have a very special place in my heart!

Plus…I have written at least a portion of all The Beauty Detox books in Puerto Rico! So if you’ve read any of them, you’ve in some way been touched by the inspiration that comes from this magical place whether you realized it or not. Such is the connection we all have to one another.

I wanted to share with you a photo journey explaining why I love Puerto Rico so much…

First of all, a lot of you ask where I stay. Hands down my favorite place ever is the Tres Sirenas Inn, which is in Rincon. It’s right on the ocean, with an incredibly peaceful beach. You’ll hear the resounding sound of Coqui frogs at night as well as the ocean’s waves.

You can walk to a few farm stands. The rooms are clean and beautiful. And this family-run business is so friendly and accommodating, your heart will soar with true peacefulness and joy from being immersed in that energy :-).

There’s something magical and heart-warming at staying right on the beach at Tres Sirenas, it draws me back again and again! By the way, if you are a surfer, Rincon is the place to be.

Every sunset, I would go for a walk along the beach and meditate. You’ll see some breath-taking sunsets, right in front of you and then look around and wonder why more people aren’t around to stare at it…but that’s part of the joy of being on a not overly crowded beach!

Here’s one of my pineapple collections (there were a few generations of them over the weeks). I love the fruit in Puerto Rico! I go in different seasons, so sometimes pineapple, mangoes, papayas are in season, depending. On this trip the only bummer was that there was an avocado shortage on the island, so I didn’t get to eat as many as I would have liked. But I survived!

Here’s my porch, aka my private yoga deck at Tres Sirenas. I mean, what an inspiring place to practice right?! My flow was very much inspired by the energy of the ocean when I was there, and I found myself holding the base of standing poses but feeling my upper body naturally pulsate more. Your practice can naturally shift and change, which is the beauty of having a self-practice at your home (or inn!).

Um, yours truly is one of the top banana lovers in the world, so look who was in heaven here!? I love the ritual of having the bananas grown and sold fresh on the tree stalks, which my friendly local farm stand would shave them off for me. I ate so many I was going back every other day, much to the amusement of the woman that owned the farm stand. She could hardly believe how many I ate :-).

Okay here’s the next reason for my Puerto Rican love: as you drive along the highways, there are people selling freshly chopped coconuts, Agua de Coco, right out of their trucks! It’s as if fast food reincarnated into a natural heaven-made form for people like us that love and appreciate natural foods.

Rincon has a great farmer’s market on Sundays, where you can get (more) fresh coconuts, raw honey, organic greens and veggies, turmeric and more!

I ran into a few Puerto Rican readers while I was there, including this great lady who had read some of the Beauty Detox books.  And she said she cooks a lot of vegetarian food!

Freshly grown turmeric and coconuts = food heaven!

I loved this raw, unheated honey and talking to the bee keeper that produces it. As I’ve mentioned before, I think there is something magical about bee products- including and especially bee pollen (which I pretty much eat every day) but also raw honey. It’s not technically vegan, so stricter vegans might not partake in it. But I do enjoy it, and I would put some raw honey in my teas during the day as my little treats, especially since I didn’t have any dark chocolate when I was there!

This little cutie is Kai, Emily’s son. Emily is part of the family at Tres Sirenas. She took me on some insider shopping trips, especially to this organic farm stand in town. If you stay there, be sure to talk to her about where to go for the best veggies!

I was very inspired by the powerful elements of nature that were so dramatic and unfiltered in front of the Inn: the ocean, the wind, the sand, the hot sun…the same elements that are within us and help balance us!

Here are a few pics from my solo sunset walks …I was actually alone most of the days as I was writing and working on this next book :-).

But if you want to be social and see people, it can be as social as you want it to be! For me, it’s mostly a refuge into natural elements and re-connecting with my voice, and writing 80% of my waking hours.

BUT that being said, everyone needs to get out and have a little break right?!

Especially when it involves nature-centered fun!

Like earthing, and walking through lots of squishy, delicious-feeling mud…

On the way to these awesome waterfalls in San Sebastian! There are several layers to the falls, so you can climb up to the different levels and jump off different points and just have an all around awesome time.

This is my friend Timmins, who surfs and lives on the island full time right now. He is also an artist and is creating some different functional ocean pieces.

Ha ha! Timmins took this while we were climbing up to the next layer of waterfall. Because why wouldn’t you strike a Natarajasana pose when you’re in the most magical waterfall EVER!!

I am a tree lover, and trees in Puerto Rico are as magical as they come. Below, I found a little area where I could just climb and climb on the trees, which are really surprisingly sturdy. Wow!

So…on another social day of mine, I went to La Parguera with a big group (22 people) of friends who mostly live on the island full time. A lot of them surf, or just love the ocean, and find ways to stick around :). I met them all through Timmins.

La Parguera is an absolutely magical place where you can swim among these mangrove islands, where the water is crystal clear and warm, and it’s an awesome place to hang out for a day! It’s only about an hour and a half from Rincon.

Okay, getting fresh coconuts opened for me never gets old, as you can see! :-) #happyface

And here is my kitchen counter! This is all local mostly all organic goodies I picked up around town. It was all so fresh and amazing, and I overwhelmingly just ate what I could get at the farm stands.

This radiant beauty is Emily, who I was telling you about that is part of the family that owns and runs Tres Sirenas. She will take amazing care of you if you ever go there, as she did of me!

Fresh papaya + lime juice is another great reason to be a Puerto Rican lover :-).

And here I am, starting my writing day and feeling super inspired by the nature and elements. Sigh. This is the exact same table I wrote in the not-so-distant past The Beauty Detox Power!

Namaste! From the yoga deck. Sending you love. xx

This was one of the avocados I managed to get my hands on, that I actually got from one of those roadside coconut water-sellers. He was pretty proud of it (since there were virtually no ripe mangoes anywhere on the island for a few weeks), and stroked it lovingly like a treasured puppy, but I was able to weasle it out of him!! (for the right price)

Who has made the GGSo? AKA Glowing Green Soup, the Glowing Green Smoothie’s beloved cousin? If not check it out this summer, it’s a great treat to have, and also great for your skin and energy.

Okay, here I am back to my solo writing days. The only reason I have these pics is because they were snapped right in front of Tres Sirenas, by Emily!

Sometimes, when you are in a really inspired place, you may feel extra inspired to open your spine, and your heart.

This is Lisa’s dog, who owns Tres Sirenas (Emily’s mom!), but I forgot his name!? :( You don’t need to know a name to give a hug though, right!

Okay guys, that is all!

 

I hope you enjoyed taking this little journey with me to Puerto Rico. I hope that if you are looking for a little getaway this summer or whenever, you might also enjoy this island paradise, which is so near to my heart. And in any case, hope you felt some inspiration from seeing this natural land with such vibrant fruit, people, natural surroundings, and heart!

See you back here soon.

Take care, and lots of love

xoxo

Kimberly