Slower Caribbean Lifestyle Persists on Puerto Rico’s Mountain Roads : Lush forests, beaches and historic towns highlight tour of island’s southwest.

As they say in Puerto Rico, we went “out on the island,” away from the big-city beat of San Juan to the verdant countryside, where life proceeds at the slower, more traditional tempo of the Caribbean. Here we found wonderfully empty beaches for loafing--but I was equally drawn by the sights of everyday rural life.

In one mountain village, a young man stood at his doorstep washing both the family car and the family horse, hosing down the two of them simultaneously. Rarely did we drive a mile over spiraling back roads without scattering flocks of squawking chickens.

We were making a four-day circle drive through southwestern Puerto Rico, an often-overlooked region that encompasses some of the island’s finest attractions: its highest mountains, several of its loveliest beaches, its best surfing (world-class, really), remnants of its ancient Indian heritage, a historic town or two and maybe the wickedest roads I have ever traveled. Yes, those narrow, potholed lanes are very much an attraction, too, although it took me a few torturous miles to reach this conclusion.

So far, tourism has touched this part of the island only lightly, but we also were able to find two excellent lodgings--a modest but very appealing old inn hidden high in the mountains, and a small, very romantic inn beside the sea. For travelers of an adventurous nature, the Puerto Rican countryside is a culturally fascinating destination--with plenty of sun and surf, too--that happens also to be quite moderately priced.

For my part, however, I will never forget those Puerto Rican roads. Not only because they proved devilishly tricky or because I quickly got us lost somewhere in a jungle-like forest on a dark and stormy night. That’s only part of it. Really, I most remember the roads for where they took us: through gorgeous tropical scenery, where giant ferns rose high above our heads and flowering trees clustered hard against the road, brightening our way; so high into the mountains that we could see below a procession of green ridges dropping away to the blue sea, and then back down to the sea itself.

Along the way, we passed through tidy villages where the pastel-shaded houses seemed to stand just inches from the road. I often felt I was driving through the island’s living room, with glimpses of country life unfolding ahead--say, Mom on the porch plucking an unlucky chicken.

Every mile or two yielded a rickety, open-air stall--the local market or bar. I frequently had to stop at one of these places to ask directions to the next village and was graciously assisted--but sometimes in Spanish (which I speak). Traffic was light except for one big jam, caused by a parade of horses being ridden bareback to a village festival.

Along the southern coast, we explored Ponce, the island’s second city, which is being beautifully restored for the Columbus Quincentennial. The island was one of the first places in the New World colonized by Spain, and Ponce bears reminders of the sun-swept villages of Andalusia in southern Spain. And we paused at two magnificent public beaches on the western coast, each a palm-shaded crescent of white sand stretching for more than a mile beside a calm sea. On a beautiful day in November, there wasn’t another soul in sight.

We began our 330-mile drive in Mayaguez on Puerto Rico’s west coast, having caught a 25-minute commuter hop from the San Juan airport. Our goal was our first inn, the Parador Hacienda Gripinas, a restored 19th-Century coffee plantation house near the mountain village of Jayuya to the east. I calculated the distance at about 85 miles, which I figured we could easily cover in the two hours before nightfall. But that was before I had ever driven the island’s mountain roads.

My carefully mapped route would take us for much of the way along the Ruta Panoramica, the famous Panoramic Route that snakes for 165 miles along the crest of the Cordillera Central--the island’s mountainous backbone--from the east to the west coast. I suppose I expected something like the Blue Ridge Parkway, which I hoped would carry me unerringly to my destination. Instead, the Ruta is a confusing series of 40 linked roads, some no more than a couple of miles in length and each with its own route number. We missed half a dozen or more poorly marked turnoffs and had to backtrack, which of course slowed us down.

The real delay, however, came in negotiating the unending hairpin twists of the road, mostly a slender path barely two cars in width. Much of the way, we seemed either to be ascending a steep mountain slope or descending. Early on, I realized we were averaging little more than 20 m.p.h.

If this sounds like grumbling, I don’t mean it so. Slow going as the drive had turned out, I began to thoroughly enjoy it. The scenery was great, and so was the people-watching, a favorite pastime that we could easily manage at our pace. But sooner than I expected, darkness enveloped us and the drive became difficult.

And then, for a while, things really got nasty. First a rain squall swept in, sending river-like sheets of water pouring across the road from the slopes above. But even worse, when the storm had passed, an almost impenetrable fog settled in. Now we barely moved at a creep.

Somewhere ahead, a rum punch, dinner and bed were waiting, but I honestly wasn’t sure we were going to find them on this night. Fortunately, our route soon took one of its frequent sharp dips and we descended beneath the fog, and after a while the cloud evaporated. Under moonlight for the last few miles, we finally found our way to the parador a bit more than four hours out of Mayaguez.

In the next few days, we would cover many more miles on similar roads, but I had learned my lesson. Any drive would take at least twice as long as I might normally expect.

Our plans called for a two-day stay at the parador , exploring the neighboring mountain villages. Then we would drop south to the coast for a look at Ponce and have lunch there before heading west to our seaside inn, the Horned Dorset Primavera, about half an hour drive north of Mayaguez. The inn would serve as our headquarters for touring Puerto Rico’s grand west coast beaches. It’s such a lovely place, however, only a dedicated sightseer (which I am) would consider leaving for very long. Our last morning, my wife stayed put, reading and relaxing by the pool while I scouted out one more beach.

But I’m getting ahead of my story.

Some of my friends vacation in the Caribbean only for the beaches, and they rarely venture very far from the surf. But returning regularly to the islands, I’ve become fascinated by the mountains and their sometimes mystical beauty. After checking in at Hacienda Gripinas, we quickly headed for its hillside veranda, where we claimed rocking chairs, ordered rum punches and began to absorb the scenery by moonlight. In the surrounding woods, zillions of coquis, the little frogs of Puerto Rico, serenaded with cheery choruses of their distinctive song, “ko-key, ko-key, ko-key.”

The comfortable little 19-room inn occupies a traditional Caribbean estate house built in the mid-19th Century. A sprawling, white-frame structure with a red tin roof, it perches high on a hillside overlooking a narrow valley ringed by mountains in one of the most remote areas of Puerto Rico. The grounds are extensive and lush, a sort of flowery clearing whacked out of the encroaching foliage. Down the hillside, a large swimming pool is tucked into a rocky gorge, and a waterfall spills alongside. The guest rooms, to be honest, are quite basic, but the views from the veranda more than compensate.

Puerto Rico’s network of 15 paradors , or country inns, was established in 1973 to promote tourism outside San Juan. Each was located either at a historical site or a place of scenic beauty. We got a look at several, both in the mountains and along the coast, and while modest they all seemed agreeable, and certainly they are economical. Our room at Hacienda Gripinas came to just $66.20 with tax.

Each parador’s restaurant typically serves traditional Puerto Rican dishes, which are an attraction themselves. We dined our first night on bowls of delicious black bean soup, heaped high with chopped onions and rice; a salad of lettuce and the tomatoes for which the local area is noted; entrees of grilled shrimp with garlic butter; fried plantain; a yummy cheese flan, and good Puerto Rican coffee.

The Hacienda Gripinas is just outside the village of Jayuya, where Puerto Rico’s Indian heritage remains strong, perhaps because the area even today remains isolated by the surrounding mountains. Just to the south is Cerro de Punta, which at 4,400 feet is the island’s loftiest. Though in fact no more than a four-hour drive from San Juan, Jayuya really seems decades away. Most of the village is stretched alongside a rushing river in the narrow valley that cuts through the mountains.

Our principal goal while at the parador was to visit the Indian Ceremonial Center at Caguana, about 35 miles northwest near the town of Utuado. The 13-acre historical park preserves the ruins of a court used by Taino Indians to play a kind of ballgame. The Tainos were the inhabitants of Puerto Rico when Christopher Columbus arrived in 1493. After a good night’s sleep in the mountain quiet, I was ready to tackle the mountain roads again, which turned out to be just as challenging as they had been the day before.

The 35-mile drive took about two hours, which I had anticipated, but our navigational skills were improving: We only got lost once. Somehow we missed a turn in the narrow streets of Utuado. Circling the main plaza, we came upon the police station, and I asked for directions from an officer who had just come out the door. “Follow me,” he said in Spanish, hopped into his car and led us through a tangle of streets to the proper road to Caguana. This was the kind of friendly welcome we got wherever we went.

More than 30 ancient ceremonial ball courts have been found in the valleys of Puerto Rico’s rugged interior, but the complex of courts at Caguana is believed to have been the most important of any Taino center in the West Indies. Presumed to date from about 1200 BC, the Caguana center consists of one large central court, 10 rectangular courts and a circular one. Teams of 10-30 players competed in a soccer-like game that is believed to have had great religious significance, attracting spectators from many villages.

A small museum explains the Taino culture--ultimately overwhelmed by Spanish colonization--and the rock-rimmed courts are scattered across a high, grassy plateau circled by knobby peaks rising above. At the far end of the park, a path drops sharply to a rocky stream canyon, where we watched youngsters splashing in cascading pools. I had no trouble imagining Taino ballplayers in centuries past cooling off after a game in the same stream.

Ponce is about a two-hour drive south of Jayuya, and I suspect I could have put the car in neutral and coasted the entire distance. The road to the coast plunges almost continuously in a series of roller-coaster dips and twists. We got lost again, but it didn’t make any difference because all the downhill roads from Jayuya eventually spill into Ponce.

In contrast to urban San Juan, Ponce still looks and feels like a small town. It is also a very much revitalized city following the multimillion-dollar restoration of its central historic district. The project, which is still under way, commemorates the 500th anniversary this year of Columbus’ first voyage to the New World.

The historic district’s surprising turn-of-the-century elegance reflects its heyday from the 1890s to the 1930s as a major center of sugar cane and rum. The wealth generated by these industries was poured into the neoclassical and Art Deco styles of architecture of the period, both distinctively flavored by Caribbean and Spanish influences. More than 100 buildings surrounding the main square, Plaza las Delicias (Plaza of Delights), have been newly restored, and as many as 1,000 more in the surrounding 32-square-block area have been identified for possible face lifts.

As part of the project, overhead wiring around Las Delicias has been buried, 19th-Century gas lamps and benches have been installed, and the sidewalks again are lined with a border of local pink marble as they were a century ago. The result is a delightful neighborhood with a distinctly exotic look that is a pleasure to stroll. An old movie theater, the Fox Delicias, has been converted into an indoor mall filled with excellent food stands, and nearby is Paseo Atocha, a new pedestrian street lined with small shops.

On the way out of town, we stopped at the Ponce Museum of Art. It has a collection of very good Puerto Rican art, many depicting scenes from the island’s past. And we called at the studio of Domingo Orta, one of the island’s most famous woodcarvers. He is a santero, creating figures of saints or religious scenes called santos. His specialty is large replicas of the Three Wise Men, who in Puerto Rico ride horses rather than camels. Many now decorate the island’s churches. We bought miniatures carved by his children, who are apprentices.

The high-speed divided highway that links San Juan to the island’s southern shore and Ponce also continues northwest to Mayaguez and beyond, and we took it because we had lingered in Ponce and the day was waning. We would return later to explore the back roads. Now our destination was the romantic Horned Dorset Primavera, a lovely 24-room inn overlooking the Mona Straits on the island’s west coast just north of Mayaguez. A very low-key hideaway on four garden acres, it actually boasts of its lack of organized activities. Only a pool and a library are provided for diversion, and night life consists mostly of watching the spectacular sunsets that precede superb dinners.

We did, however, stir from this pleasant haven each day to tour the island’s west coast on seaside roads almost as tricky, and certainly as narrow, as those that challenged me in the mountains. To the north is the village of Rincon, which is the gateway to Puerto Rico’s best surfing beaches and the former site of a world surfing championship. I am not a surfer, but we sat for a while watching a number of rather amazing rides.

To the south are the balnearios, or public beaches, of Anasco and Boqueron, both wide half-moons of white sand rimming a gentle sea and both empty on the weekdays we visited. Anasco is just 10 minutes from the inn, and far more inviting than the inn’s modest sliver of sand. Boqueron is near the southwestern tip of the island, about a 90-minute ride over still more inviting roads that sometimes curved beside the sea or wandered through broad fields of sugar cane and pineapple.

You cannot be in a hurry on these old back roads of southwestern Puerto Rico, and you probably will get lost many times, as we did. They may scare you, but they certainly won’t bore you. And if you let them, they will carry you to some of the most beautiful countryside and friendliest people in the Caribbean.

GUIDEBOOK

Back Roads of Puerto Rico

Getting there: Travelers can begin a tour of southwestern Puerto Rico from San Juan. The driving time between San Juan and Ponce on Route 52, a high-speed highway, is about 90 minutes. American and Delta are currently quoting round-trip fares from Los Angeles to San Juan beginning at $409 for low season (now through June 24 and Sept. 13-Dec. 19) and $531 during high season (June 25-Sept. 12). To Mayaguez from LAX, the fares are $626 low, $751 high. The fares are non-refundable and are based on a 14-day advance purchase for travel each way, Monday through Thursday. The minimum stay is three days and the maximum is 21 days.

Where to stay: At least 10 of Puerto Rico’s 15 paradores are located in the mountains and along the coast in the southwestern quarter of the island. They are modest but economical accommodations at $50-$85 a night for two people. At the Hacienda Gripinas, a 19th-Century plantation house, a room for two is $66.20 a night, including tax. A full dinner for two is about $35. For information: (809) 828-1717. Reservations also can be made for any of the 15 paradores at Paradores Puertorriquenos; (800) 443-0266.

Outside Rincon, the 24-room Horned Dorset Primavera has a large pool in a garden setting, but the beach on which the inn sits is minimal. Dining is a semi-formal affair with a gourmet menu. A room for two during high season, December through April, begins at $275 a night. In low season, May through November, we paid $170 a night. A fixed-priced dinner is $40 per person. Information: Apartado 1132, Rincon, Puerto Rico 00677, (809) 823-4030.

In Ponce, the Hotel Melia is a small, attractive hotel in the heart of the historic district. A room for two begins at $65 a night. Information: P.O. Box 1431, Ponce, Puerto Rico 00733, (809) 842-0260.

For more information: Contact the Puerto Rico Tourism Co., 3575 W. Cahuenga Blvd., Suite 248, Los Angeles 90068, (213) 874-5991. On the island, pick up a copy of Que Pasa, the official visitors guide to Puerto Rico. The 96-page magazine, published monthly, is free and very informative.