Category: La Isla

La Isla Boricua Community

Vejigante Masks – Vejigante de Ponce

Puerto Rico

Carnivals and festivals are very important traditions in Puerto. Such festivals are religious in nature and represent the fight between what is good and what is evil. It is a blending of Caribbean, Spanish and African customs. Rich in culture and heritage, vejigante masks, St. James the Apostle and the cities of Loiza and Ponce play very important roles in the vejigantes of Puerto Rico. There are three major festivals in Puerto Rico. They are the Carnival of Ponce, St James Festival, and the Hatillo Mask Festival of the Holy…

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Exploring Old San Juan

Puerto Rico

When you’ve got a city that’s over 400 years old, it’s a shame not to revisit the rich history and grandeur of its colorful past. San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, offers a generous taste of the Old World, from its cobbled streets to its impressive architecture. The overwhelming Spanish influence seen in San Juan can be traced back to 1521, when it was established as a settlement of the Spanish empire. Over centuries, the city has seen ships of mercantilism and military dominance docking and departing on its…

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Puerto Rico aims to protect newly discovered reefs

Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — As the ocean floor plunges off southwestern Puerto Rico, it reveals coral reefs dotted with bright-blue sea squirts and a multitude of other organisms whose existence has given hope to scientists who strive to save the island’s threatened ecosystems. The organisms are an integral part of a group of reefs discovered to be thriving near an area where most shallow coral reefs and the fish that depend on them are in poor health overall. The reefs — at a depth of up to 500…

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El Morro the Ultimate Fortress

Puerto Rico

This massive fortification “Castillo de San Felipe Del Morro” means “Castle of St. Philip of the Headland.” Named for the patron Saint of Spain’s King Philip 11. It is the oldest of two great forts that anchored the sea and landward defenses of San Juan. The second fort San Cristobal which lies just southeast of here was the primary defense from land. The fort construction began in 1539 with the building of a round tower made of stone and resembling the chess piece known as a “rook”. El Morro slowly…

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Global warming is killing the coqui

Puerto Rico

(San Juan, Puerto Rico)SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Back in the Puerto Rican rain forest for the first time in five years, biologist Rafael Joglar sensed something was wrong. He wasn’t hearing the frogs whose nocturnal calls he had long recorded in the misty highlands. It was as if a small orchestra had lost key players, he recalled. After that discovery in 1981, Joglar and wife Patricia Burrowes, a fellow University of Puerto Rico amphibian specialist, found that other populations of frogs in the genus Eleutherodactylus — known locally…

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