I Run Like A Girl

Joe and I spent one week in Puerto Rico for our babymoon, and I have a lot to share! This was one of my favorite trips we ever took together. By now, we know our “recipe” for a great trip, and we stuck to it to create the perfect mix of activity and relaxation. It was the perfect time away from home before we settle down for the baby.

We chose Puerto Rico because we wanted somewhere close, convenient, and relaxing. We had originally planned Puerto Rico for my first trimester, but I was way too sick to go, so we postponed it to my second trimester. It ended up being the best decision as I was able to enjoy it much more.

The first two days of our trip were very special – we stayed at Mont Carpe Diem, a boutique hotel nestled in Bayamon, the Puerto Rican mountains about 45 minutes from the San Juan airport. This was one of the most unique accommodations I’ve ever stayed in. The “hotel” was on 22 acres owned by a family who ran the business. There were only 3 cabins available for guests, so we got a very intimate experience by the owners, Pedro and Yohandra — they were such hospitable and great people. The experience was almost like a homestay, but with full hotel and restaurant service. I had to go into the depths of the internet to find this place, but booking it was the best decision ever! We wanted to be surrounded by nature, and this gave us the remote experience we were looking for with a luxurious twist.

Our cabin was just lovely — we spent a lot of time relaxing there. We had a porch with sweeping views of the mountains, and our room had a cozy, rustic, spa-like vibe.

The main thing to do at Mont Carpe Diem was relaxing on the property. There were endless networks of trails taking us around the mountainous land — my calves got a major workout! Pedro and Yohandra have an incredible eye for detail, and we loved exploring all the views, gardens, and art installations that they spent years building.

The wildlife was amazing here. We saw so many different lizards, frogs, and birds. Sleeping to the sound of rain and coqui frogs is something I’ll never forget. There were so many peacocks on the property too! I’ve never seen so many peacocks up close, and by the end of our stay, I learned a lot more about their behavior. The baby peacocks were my favorite.

There was an amazing pool alongside the mountains. Because we were one of the few guests, we basically had the pool to ourselves. We spent a lot of time here, relaxing in privacy.

Did I mention the food? It was INCREDIBLE. The owner’s son ran the restaurant and basically served as our personal chef. Every day, we got a complimentary breakfast delivered to our porch. The elaborate fruit plate was so fresh and my favorite part.

The restaurant was in the main house and had the best views of the property. We loved dining here and chatting away with Pedro and Yohandra.

The highlight of our stay was a waterfall hike to the second largest waterfall in Puerto Rico, Charco Prieto. Pedro mentioned they lived near a waterfall, and without much planning, we decided to check it out one day. We didn’t have any expectations, so we were quite surprised when he dropped us off at this random trailhead and said he’d come back in a few hours. And so our adventure began… 😉

The trail was not well-marked, but we remembered that Pedro told us to follow the river until we reached the waterfall. We spent the first part hiking on the actual river. I committed getting my shoes wet, as I found it helped my stability to jump in the river. Joe is a mountain goat and was able to keep his shoes dry by jumping on the rocks. It was quite an adventure right away!

Finally, we found the actual trail; it was nice to be on dry ground. Nevertheless, it was a challenging, technical hike with lots of climbing on all fours. As hiking lovers, this was SO much fun. Joe and I kept turning to each other, giddy with joy as we navigated the trail. I admit we were probably underprepared for it – we didn’t even bring water with us!

The last portion of the hike was the most fun and challenging. We had to leave our shoes and belongings behind, swim for a couple of minutes, and then climb up these slippery rocks to the waterfall. Joe scoped it out first to make sure I could do it. 🙂 I was contemplating whether to finish the hike or not, but I’m so glad I pushed myself as the ending was just incredible…

The actual waterfall was AMAZING!! It exceeded our expectations in every way. We had the entire waterfall to ourselves and enjoyed the epic sight.

The bottom of the fall had a beautiful swimming area. Such a treat after a tough hike.

I remember during my gap year travels in Asia, I saw SO many waterfalls and got underwhelmed by them towards the end. I must admit, this one was a top 3 waterfall experience ever. Because it was so remote, not many people attempted this hike, and it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. I’ve found that the biggest waterfalls in other countries are usually commercialized as you can pay a fee and drive right up to them. I loved that this one had a challenging hiking component, which limited the traffic and made the reward so worth it.

Last but not least, I wanted to share all the cute cats we came across at Mont Carpe Diem. They had ten adorable cats, and we had the best time meeting and playing with all of them. The cats rounded out our amazing stay here. 🙂