Puerto Rico TravelCast

In between the San Juan airport and the Rainforest Inn in Rio Grande, there's a Shell gas station that is home to one of Puerto Rico's best-kept secrets. The Pimentón pizzeria inside the gas station, and its accompanying coffee shop Cafe La Estación provide locals and tourists with the best pizza, coffee, wine and more. Listen for an interview and tour with owner Daniel Rivera. 

This episode was produced by Sonia A. Rao. 

Bill goes to San Juan to interview Omar Torres, the founder of Gustos Coffee Company. The company provides Puerto Rican-grown coffee at shops across the island. We also talk with Laura Colon, a key account executive for Gustos. 

Listen for a tour of Gustos' shop and factory in Mario Julia Industrial Park, where Omar also shows us their barista training classroom. Gustos Coffee Co. gives back to Puerto Rico by training baristas and supporting local farms.

And for pictures, don't forget to visit our blog at https://www.rainforestinn.com/myblog. 

This episode was produced by Sonia A. Rao.

Bill goes up to Old San Juan to interview Enoc Rivera, the owner of Filtrado, a specialty coffee shop. This is the first part of a series on local coffee growers, shops and producers from Puerto Rico TravelCast.

To view photos and learn more about Filtrado, visit our blog page at https://www.rainforestinn.com/myblog. 

This episode was produced by Sonia A. Rao. 

Renée and I leave the Rainforest Inn, our El Yunque retreat, and drive into Old San Juan to interview Eddie and Tisha at Casa Sol bed and breakfast. Casa Sol is a member of our Puerto Rico Bed and Breakfasts Association and he brings intimate knowledge of Puerto Rican politics to the table. He is especially knowledgable about Old San Juan. We discuss the resignation of Ricardo Rosselló and the expected orderly succession of the government. We discuss the impact on tourism and what's been happening with local businesses in Old San Juan. 

Up in the rainforest Renée and I have seen no changes from the remarkably non-violent and orderly March on the capital.

The Rainforest Inn has a gofundme page created by Michelle Roover (one of our former guests) The link to it is here: gofundme link. This podcast is an interview with the mayor of Rio Grande and the police chief. We talk about the accomplishments that the mayor has made since hurricane Maria helping people and improving the infrastructure. We also discuss our plans to give the presents to the children of Rio Grande and we thank the many people who have helped. Our goal is to help make a Christmas / Three Kings for the children of Rio Grande.

Luquillo Farmer’s Market http://www.luquillofarmersmarket.org http://www.lavenderinnovations.com flash only website but they have a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Lavender-Innovations-172056617928/ Farm tour available Monday through Friday in Cayey from 7:30 to 3:30. (787) 466-5877 Marisa the bee lady http://apiariosdeborinquen.com/historiaenglish.html and the Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/apiarios.deborinquen Farm in Luquillo “Bee Love” Maribel of Messy Kitchen Goodies https://www.facebook.com/MessyKitchenGoodies/

Hola, I'm Melina, the journalism intern at the inn this summer. For my podcast cameo about Yunke Zipline Adventure in Luquillo, Bill took Renée's grandchildren and myself to zip through the forest canopy and to conduct interviews with the staff. Not only did we agree it was the best ziplining we have done here on the island, but we also learned the importance of ecotourism in the conservation of Puerto Rico's ecology. I present to you an audio tour of our zipline experience and go in depth with our tour guide Eric and the owner Roberto about their work in ecotourism.

After our intern Melina's raving review of Bob's East Island Surfing Adventures, we took the short drive from the rainforest to La Pared Beach in Luquillo, where Bob Roberts gives his exceptional surf lessons.

Check out our blog for a deeper look into surfing in Luquillo. 

Songs

"The Adventures of Jonny Quest" theme

Original instrumentals by Philip Labes

We stopped by the so-called "hardcore pizza shop" in the Luquillo kiosks, Revolution Pizza Shop, to chat with the owner Kevin Cole. After hearing about his band The Turbo A.C.'s, the evolution of the kiosks and the ingredients that make Revolution pizzas so delicious, we couldn't help but order our favorite pizza, World Peace. 

Songs

"The Adventures of Jonny Quest" theme song

"Get Money" -The Turbo A.C.'s

"The Future" -The Turbo A.C.'s

"Live to Win" -The Turbo A.C.'s

For Laurie's birthday we go to the other end of Puerto Rico, the west end, to stay at the Tres Sirenas Ocean Front Inn in Rincon. We had a relaxing weekend, every evening we soaked in the jacuzzi while listening to the crash of the surf on the beach. Every morning we had a gourmet breakfast served to us on the porch in front of our room. Harry & Lisa, the owners, told us all about their Bed and Breakfast and the renovations they went through getting it ready and the Caribean decor. Harry took us on a ride all over Rincon to see the other b&b's in the area as well as restaurants, night life and surf spots.