Things to do in Aibonito & Around
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Cañón de San Cristóbal
The canyon is so unexpected in both its location and appearance that it may take your breath away. The deep green chasm with its rocky crags and veil of falling water lies less than 5 miles north of Aibonito. The canyon is a fissure that cuts more than 500ft down through the Central Mountains. But you probably will not see it even as you approach its edge, because the rift is so deep and narrow that the fields and hills of the surrounding high-mountain plateau disguise it.
The highest waterfall on the island is here, where the Río Usabón plummets at least 500ft down a sheer cliff into a gorge that is deeper, in many places, than it is wide. For fit mountaineering enthusia…
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Mirador La Piedra Degetau
This nest of boulders lies on a hilltop and was once the 'thinking place' of Ponce-born writer Federico Degetau y González, who became the island's first resident commissioner in Washington DC, from 1900 to 1904. This must have been a truly sublime place in its day, with views of the mountains, the Atlantic and the Caribbean. On a clear evening, you can actually see cruise ships leaving San Juan more than 20 miles to the north and the lights of Ponce beginning to glow to the south.
Sadly, the natural beauty of the site has been marred by an architecturally horrific park and lookout tower that dwarf the actual rocks, which huddle like small pebbles to the side. Myriad pic…
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La Piedra
Cough too loudly here and you could end up on the local radio. La Piedra, situated next to the Piedra Degetau Park is a long-time mountain institution that also accommodates the recording studios of Radio Cumbre. Yes, that guy on the next table behind the thick pane of reinforced glass isn’t a waiter wearing ear muffs; he’s a DJ reaching out over the airwaves on 1470AM. Broadcasting credentials aside, La Piedra serves up some rather decent food to accompany its regular diet of music and topical chat – chicken in a tamarind sauce and chicken broth and mofongo (mashed plantains) are popular local favorites. Thanks to its prime Ruta Panorámica location it also acts as …
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Centro Cultural Angel R Ortiz
Centro Cultural Angel R Ortiz is a small museum maintained by the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture. The building was once part of a network of 27 such huts that housed so-called ‘road keepers’ (in this case, convicts). The lodge stands on the old ‘pick and shovel’ road built by slaves of Spanish landowners and later maintained by black convicts over the centuries. In the last years of Spanish colonization, decadent criollo landowners of Aibonito used to boast that the government had killed all of the town’s people of African descent by forcing them to build the road. Phone ahead for reservations.
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San Cristóbal Hiking Tour
The best way to visit Cañón de San Cristóbal is to plan ahead, make reservations and join an organized trek with San Cristóbal Hiking Tour run by local historian and geographer Samuel Oliveras Ortiz. Trips run on weekends and holidays and vary from a three-to-four-hour basic tour to a five-to-six-hour adrenalin-junkie fest with rock climbing and rappelling.
Wear secure shoes and appropriate clothing that you can take off at the canyon floor, where temperatures can be more than 10°F warmer than up on the brink. Of course, you will need water and maybe some energy bars to get you back up the canyon wall.
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Tio Pepe’s
Good old Uncle Joe’s ( Tio means ‘uncle’ and Pepe is a standard Spanish nickname for José) is a traditional Aibonito favorite stuck a few miles to the west of the town on a wooded knoll surrounded by trees and flowers. There’s a well-placed sundeck, function room and regular musical entertainment from passing troubadours and trios. The decor is easygoing but elegant and you’ll be served up good old home-style mountain cooking. Pass the mofongo.
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