A Travel Log by Girl Scout Troop #243

After a year of planning and fundraising, six Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors from Troop #243 along with two adult advisors headed for Puerto Rico this past June.  Join Girl Scouts Carly, Haruka, Meghana, Genevieve, Kirten and Krisin (along with leaders Barbara and Linda) on their travels to Puerto Rico!

Day 1

We started with a “hop on – hop off” trolley tour of Old San Juan . We explored the old forts, cathedral, and town walls while enjoying a nice breeze. We also stopped for gelato at El Morro.

Then we had our progressive dinner tour. Yum! We visited four local restaurants to sample local cuisine like fried plantains, red snapper, and mash while learning how to make a (non-alcoholic) mojito. Our guide and architecture student, Victor, told us about the local architecture in between food stops.

Here’s a picture of us enjoying our first mofongos!

Day 2

Today we traveled about 45 minutes to explore the El Yunque rain forest. What a great place! It was made even more special because our guide, Wilfredo, knew the name of every plant, flower, and frog in the forest and told such great stories about them. The highlights of the trip were seeing La Coca waterfalls and taking a hike (in the pouring rain). It was the leaders, not most the girls, who left their raincoats on the bus!

When we returned to our hotel, there was plenty of time for a swim or nap at the beach.

Day 3

Today we traveled to Fajardo on the east coast of Puerto Rico for a day of snorkeling in the coral reefs. We first sailed aboard a catamaran to the uninhabited island of Icacos where we learned to snorkel while in the shallow water. We enjoyed seeing all the fish and playing with the Christmas tree worms. After a huge lunch aboard the ship, we sailed to another set of reefs for more snorkeling. These reefs were bigger, in deeper water, and had more fish to see like blue tangs, parrotfish, and sergeant majors.  Despite the morning rain, the sun really came out for our snorkeling!

Day 4

Today was our scheduled beach day at our beach, Playa de Isla Verde. Everyone slept in and then lazed by the beach or pool and occasionally took breaks to reapply sunscreen or take a swim. We couldn’t have had a nicer day to spend at the beach!

Day 5

Sniff! It is our last full day in Puerto Rico!

We started off with a tour of the Caribe Girl Scout Council. We toured their newly built offices and found they sell Girl Scout cookies as well! They have chewy granola bars – Tagalong flavor. We made such a fuss about them that they broke some open so that we could try them.

Then we returned to Old San Juan for some shopping and ate lunch at La Waffle-era. We had learned about this place on our food tour really wanted to try it out.  Who knew that chicken pesto waffles would be so good?!

After our visit to the city and a quick change, we were off to night kayak in the bioluminescent bay. The dinoflagellates only light up when disturbed, so they glowed every time we paddled or moved the water with our hands. It was like painting on the water – so cool!

What a fabulous way to explore the Girl Scout Travel Pathway! Here’s to another great adventure for Girl Scout Troop #243. Where have you traveled with your Girl Scouts?