Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
told, the standard on the 'Pork Highway' is very high and most places along the route
have avid, dedicated fans who swear their place is the best.
To get to Guavate from San Juan, follow expressway 52 to exit 31, halfway
between Caguas and Cayey. Turn east onto Hwy 184.
Aibonito & Around
POP 26,500
Once the de facto capital of Puerto Rico, after the Spanish Governor Romualdo Palacios
González established residence here in 1887, Aibonito has long been a retreat for the is-
land's political leaders, its devout people, and the most wealthy. The town has a number of
other claims to fame that include being the island's highest town (at about 2000ft), the site
of the island's lowest recorded temperature (40°F in 1911) and the home of an impressive
flower festival. For all these reasons, and because it's on the Ruta Panorámica, Aibonito is
the most visited mountain town in Puerto Rico.
The town has a euphonious name that suggests a Spanish exclamation meaning 'Wow,
how beautiful,' but the name is probably derived from a Taíno word that Spanish settlers
heard when they arrived here in the 1630s. Today, travelers should associate Aibonito with
a very limited definition of beauty. The town itself, which shelters a little less than half of
the municipality's 26,500 residents, is something of a mixed bag. It sprawls across a high
plateau in a slight rift between surrounding peaks. There are traffic jams every day on the
narrow roads at the center of town, as rural families gravitate here for shopping, banking
and - naturally - a visit to the drive-thru McDonald's. Thriving flower-growing, poultry-
raising and poultry-processing industries have brought prosperity to the region, with little
thought to urban planning and only belated attention to the area's natural gifts.
Yet there are two extraordinary natural treasures here. One, Mirador La Piedra Degetau,
is a cluster of boulders on a peak bordering the Ruta Panorámica; there are great views from
this place. Even more spectacular is the Cañón de San Cristóbal (St Christopher Canyon),
which lies north of town in a deep volcanic rift cut into the rolling fields between Aibonito
and the neighboring town of Barranquitas.
Aibonito-lovers claim that the weather in their town is perpetually spring-like. They are
not exaggerating: the average temperature is 72°F. Gentle showers are common.
Most drivers approach Aibonito via the Ruta Panorámica. A less-traveled and more-dra-
matic route (if you like hairpin turns) is to take Hwy 173 and Hwy 14 south from Cidra.
