Radford University: Puerto Rico (2023)

Depart the United States
Arrive San Juan
Check into hotel

This evening for dinner, we will take a San Juan Street Food Tour.

Today we will rise early to have a traditional Puerto Rican breakfast! Afterward we will take a walking tour of Old San Juan. Old San Juan may be small, but it is full of things to see and do. We will see:

• Castillo San Filipe del Morro
• Cassa Blanca Museum
• Gate of San Juan
• La Rogativa
• El Cuartal de Ballajá

We will head down to Paseo de La Princesa and walk below San Juan’s city walls. If available, we will stop by the food and craft tents there to sample local food, like empanadas and local candy.

Later, we will have a guided tour of Santa Catalina Palace. This evening we will enjoy a lovely dinner out in one of San Juan’s many eateries featuring local cuisine and music

Today we will meet with colleagues at the University of Interamerica Puerto Rico, to learn more first-hand about issues directly affecting social workers in Puerto Rico.

This morning we will head out early to Puerto Rico’s second largest city, Ponce. Here you will have a chance to walk around the old town and see its art nouveau architecture. As part of our tour, you will see Parque de Bombas, la Fuente de Leones, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Serralles Castle.

After lunch, we will head to the Tibes Indian Ceremonial Center. The center is one of the largest and most important ceremonial sites in Puerto Rico. Archeological investigation and radiocarbon dating indicate that the site’s major period of occupation was from 400 through 1000 AD.

For dinner we will head to La Guancha Boardwalk, there we will be able to grab food from one of the many kiosks and keep an eye out for Ponce’s famous pelicans. Overnight Ponce.

We head back to San Juan this morning where we will spend time visiting Puerto Rico Women’s Foundation Incorporated (PRWFI). PRWFI is focused on gender and social justice issues and a number of women’s initiatives including women’s health and women’s empowerment.

This afternoon, we will meet with Puerto Rico Renace Incorporated, a volunteer organization that delivers necessary supplies and items to families and schools. We will spend the rest of the day volunteering with them to get supplies out to those in need.

Today we will visit with Albergue el Paraiso, an organization that works with the homeless population and issues around homelessness in Puerto Rico.

This afternoon, we will visit one of San Juan’s health clinics.

This evening, for a break, we will head to one of the many beaches near San Juan. You will have the opportunity to sample local treats from vendors and have a chance to relax in the blue waters. For those that do not want to swim you will have the chance to continue your shopping and sightseeing adventure in the area or relax in a shady spot near the water.

Today, we will drive to El Yunque, where we will spend most of the day hiking through the rainforest, keeping our eyes open for Puerto Rican parrots! A rain forest ecologist will discuss biomes, wildlife and species diversity.

After our hiking adventure, we will head back to Fajardo, where you will have a chance to explore the town, which boasts a 10th -century Spanish lighthouse.

You will depart from San Juan to travel back to the United States, with wonderful memories of this incredible experience!