I went to the Island of Resilience
and here's what she taught me... 🇵🇷🫂
La Isla de Encanta is not a sight, not a surf town, not rich port.
Borikén 🇵🇷 is a sanctuary of strength, a reminder of resilience, a refuge of resistance... and it's enchantment lies in this through land and people alike.
Puerto Rico is a home to hope - the real raw stuff that's made of laughter despite disaster, love despite oppression, and good food that grows on trees despite all that's imported from colonial-created dependencies...
PR is home to heart - the diehard kinda love for your people, plants, place... that stuff baked into my blood no matter how much else is mixed in with it.
Despite being double colonized, the origins remain - the Taíno have not gone anywhere.
This is where el colibrí hovers under the shade of banana tree leaves, where the river welcomes you, where the sky comes second to the cocoloba green and sea blue.
This is where erosion marks the trails that can no longer be walked or built upon - so we find another way.
Tend the plant roots they say - give them space, so they can help us uphold what is too much to do on our own.
This is where downpours nourish the doubts of any who would wonder if there is enough - creating detours down mountainsides where flow is found through following not force... Where we are also reminded that there are limits and abundance can become excess if we do not honor capacity.
This is where a chorus of coquís sing me to sleep, keeping my fears at bay with a song of consistency - a strand of echos that speak of not underestimating small strength.
Did you know the Puerto Rican flag was outlawed in the U.S. from 1948 to 1957…? Did you know they made it dark blue to match the U.S. flag instead of the sky/sea blue it originally is?
It feels really good to share this with you, my virtual community who has chosen to be here. This is my first time traveling where I'm not sharing on social media - and to be honest I was sad at first... How could I share this beauty if not on my ig stories? Well of course here... Where it can live in your inbox longer than 24 hours, and hopefully bring a deeper inspiration and impact than the 5 seconds per slide allows.
Visiting and then sharing this place - where I am both an outsider and a blood relative - brings up so much. It feels safer to share here - where I am not just potentially promoting mindless tourism but intentional travel for cultural, environmental and local support and connection. Joy and relaxation are not separate from conscious traveling and ancestral pilgrimage.
So join my journey for a moment… as we visited algunos lugares muy especiales.
We stayed first at the beach, which has my heart, and almost swallowed me up… but if I’m being honest, the mountains are where I belong there. That is where my family lives in the present, recent and distant past. Some have lived elsewhere, but the majority are of el campo. I always felt most at home amongst the mighty rivers and trees.
Amongst there was the Earth Ship PR - built by community as an eco-conscious shelter and center-point for present & future resilience. Carlos gave us an amazing tour, and this place is always looking for volunteers to help keep the place running and maintained.
At night we were visited by the one & only coquí! The infamous island froggy who speaks their own name as a song every night.
These small but mighty creatures symbolize the strength of the island and people. <3
We learned something new during the rainstorm… when a dozen little “bugs” were bouncing around… but were actually BABY COQUITOS - literally the size of a grain of rice.
We learned that they were only an hour old… and this size is only possible because of the coquí’s unique disposition where they don’t need water to lay eggs and therefore do not have a tadpole stage!
Truly a gift to experience this stage of life.
Another truly humbling experience was visiting La Caguana - the largest Indigenous heritage & ceremonial center in the region… <3
What a gift to experience these petroglyphs up close, to learn more about our lineage that still persists. I’m in deep awe and gratitude to this space - the ceiba trees, the clay, the patterns…
Next, it was such a blessing to commune with cacao in such a traditional way, with Luz & Luís of Fazenda Mercedes. I’ve never had cacao grown from ancestral lands, so what a blessing to receive such from a lineage holder and grower.
I also never knew how many ways the plant could be consumed. We tried everything from the husks as tea, to the inner fibers as a sweet treat and paste (it is indeed a sweet fruit), to of course the roasted seeds as nibs, paste and then a drink.
Last but not least, el Cañon Blanco was such a gift to explore right before sundown. This is an ancestral route up in las montañas that was truly sacred, and had a view of the holy mountain.
And to end the evening with luna so bright even as a sliver.
To be honest, I am still processing and integrating so much of this trip. 6 days was not enough, but it is more than I could ask for at the same time.
My body is worn down yet reinvigorated.
I return with such medicine of locally grown cacao and café that is for my ancestral altars.
I am deeply grateful to have learned so much from the resilience of la tierra, agua, sol, cielo, plantitas, animales y gente…
I am grateful everytime I go to feel more and more whole, accepted, reconnected… learning the ways that will never be erased. I am grateful to practice my Spanish and experience local foods and culture.
I feel truly blessed by this trip, and thank you for witnessing this journey alongside me with respect and care.
I trust that this is received not as a promotion of tourism, but rather a journey of reverence.
At the same time I'm not promoting, nor am I talking anyone out of visiting here. I believe tourism can be helpful if done ethically but also is not the only thing that matters for a sustainable community. Yet I am also not trying to speak for the locals and those born & raised on the island who of course know better than a half breed born on another shore like me.
But since the draw of this island is strong, and I don't wish to gate-keep it's beauty just protect it, here's my advice if you do visit PR, as humble Boricua descendant who is still learning too:
Book local-owned stays, especially not at major hotels or beachfront buy ups... I'm also impartial to not booking with non-Boricua transplants tbh.
Tbh the beach towns are not worth the hype imo, even for the convenience. I mean maybe if you're an extrovert? Also the barrios can be loud with music and roosters lol, so a local BNB or similar off the beaten path is what I recommend. You'll typically save money too.
If you see someone selling fruit on the side of the road... BUY IT FROM THEM. You'll save money, support them, it's likely wild grown (aka better than certified organic) and not imported like so much at the grocery store is!! It's worth the pit stop and I wish I had done it more instead of wanting the convenience of an all-in-one stop... Noted for next time.
While many folks speak English I try not to assume, so unless they initiate in English, I begin in Spanish and let them choose.
I think it's important to study up on basics at least when you go anywhere just out of courtesy, whether you use it or not.
I recommend reading Decolonizing Travel by Muchacha Fan Zine for just $5.
Some recommended reads:
War Against All Puerto Ricans by Nelson A Dennis
When I was Puerto Rican by Esmerelda Santiago
When We Make It by Elizabet Velasquez
Voice of the Water Lily Blog - Don Pedro Albizu Campos and more
Free Puerto Rico by Pedro Albizu Campos
Con mucho, mucho amor y gratitúd…
Rachael Amber Cecelia Cruz-Longo