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| San Juan City Wall, National Historic Site |
I was concerned about the effect of the US Government shut down on our tour of Puerto Rico. After all, one of their major tourist attractions is the San Juan National Historic Site. Fortunately, some good citizens who have more sense than our elected officials paid privately for opening up parts of the San Juan National Historic Site. San Juan has mostly recovered physically from Hurricane Maria but is still working to improve financially, and tourism is a significant component of their economy.
The tour guide explained why the wall and other fortifications were built over the years to protect San Juan from invaders. But the walls do not help them with the latest invaders – IGUANAS!
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| Iguana, San Juan National Historic Site |
But the fortification did help them after Hurricane Maria. One part of the fortification that the Spanish built in the 17th century was a complex system of cisterns with clean water. That water system was functional and provided clean water to residents after the hurricane.
Also in port, while we were there was a traveling replica of Christopher Columbus’ ship the Santa Maria. Wow, I would not have wanted to be traveling on that small ship!
