Since we arrived, Geoff has been dying to visit the old forts in Old San Juan. After a two hour bus trip (what should've taken only 10 mins) we arrived in Old San Juan and hiked our way to El Morro - one of the two old forts in Old San Juan. This fort dates back to the 1500's!! We first did the sea side path at the base of the wall, roughly 1.5 mile round trip...it's a dead end! Well there are stairs at the end leading from the rocks below up to the fort but they're off limits. Beautiful but hot, the sign is right when it says very tiring!! Perched high above with a great view is the well guarded governer's mansion (blue building) that looks like a massive old castle and is under 24 hour lockdown behind gates, fences and a large police presence.
It was breathtaking - and very interesting to learn about the history of the Spaniards and the horrific events that happened over the centuries leading up to today. The fort had 6 levels to it, each one we explored fully and as you can imagine now, we are absolutely exhausted! There is not a lot of shade around the fort and limited water fountains, we took it pretty slow and took in each view with a break.
We bought ourselves a double pass so we can explore the other fort (Christobel) on another day. The double pass is cheaper if you plan on seeing both - and you've got 7 days to use it, so we'll head back next week sometime and check that one out.
