November 21, 2013

Day 5: Arecibo

We woke up bright and early this morning to take a trip to Arecibo to visit the Rio Camuy Caverns and the radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory.

Stalactites at las cavernas 
  
View from inside las cavernas

Sinkhole at the end of the caverns

Mini cave inside the caverns

Another sinkhole- someone died here zip lining!

On our way to the Arecibo Observatory, we stopped at a pizza joint and ordered ourselves an octopus pizza. 
Only in Puerto Rico

We then drove to the Observatory and it ended up being a LOT neater than I expected! There was a huge science exhibit that went into great detail about cosmology and physics. I could have spent 4 hours in there but unfortunately the observatory closed at 4pm so we had to rush a bit at the end. But if I ever get the chance to go back, I will make sure to get there earlier!

Arecibo has the largest radio telescope in the world- built into a sinkhole characteristic of the western side of Puerto Rico

Can you spot the anole?

After Arecibo, we decided to take another "scenic route" to Parguera, where we went to a bioluminescent bay. The tour operators were pretty shady but for $8 we got to swim with the bioluminescent dinoflagellates! Unfortunately, the bay is not very healthy due to the presence of humans, so the glow wasn't great enough for photos. It was still a neat new experience.

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