April 14th, 2010
Punta Santiago, Daniel, Restaurant, Review, Monkey Island, Iglesia Nuestra Senora del Carmen, Pastelillos, Salmorejo
I grew up on the eastern side of the island of Puerto Rico; specifically in the town of Humacao. This is also the home of the “granitos”. People come from all over the island to buy them. They have always been homemade and they are composed of fried rice flour with cheese in its center. It is more like a snack food to be accompanied by a good cup of Puerto Rican coffee.
From the town of Humacao, the beaches were about 20 minutes away. One stretch of beach near Humacao was Punta Santiago. The mountains meet the sea on this amazing coastline. This beach has both volcanic black sand and coral white sand, as well.
I found that Punta Santiago still looks the same. I was so glad. The small church of Nuestra Senora del Carmen, who is the Patron of Fishermen and whose official Feast Day is July 16th, stands beautifully maintained. I got married in that small church.
Punta Santiago might not be for everyone but I remember it with fond memories. Every time we would want to go an eat at the beach; we always meant Punta Santiago.
Off of Punta Santiago there is a small island. I loved to watch it from the beach, but you can take canoes and small boats around it. The island is called Monkey Island. Its official name is Cayo Santiago. About 1,200 Rhesus monkeys are the only inhabitants. They are the offspring of an original group of monkeys imported from India that were used for scientific research in 1938.
Monkey Island is run by the University of P.R.’s Caribbean Primate Research Center, the National Institute of Health, and Harvard University. The monkeys’ behavior, demographics, genetics and physiological changes are being studied. Definitely, the island is not open to the public; best viewing is from a kayak.
From that same spot on the beach, also in front of Daniel Seafood Restaurant, you can see at a distance the islands of Vieques and Culebra.
Daniel is one of the few seafood restaurants in Punta Santiago. The telephone is 787-852-1784. I wanted to get some salmorejo de jueyes which is the dish prepared with stewed land crabs. I also wanted to get the pastelillos de chapin, which are like turnovers filled with a seasoned shredded fish called “chapin”. They also fill these turnovers with land crab and lobster. Another “antojito” was the homemade hot sauce.
The restaurant is so casual. I would not call it a chinchorro since chinchorros are smaller local eateries. I went right to their terrace overlooking Monkey Island and Vieques and Culebra. The smell of the ocean was great. Not like in Delray Beach, which I love or in the beautiful beaches of Delaware and Maryland. The smell is distinct; only from a Caribbean Island.
It was so much fun just watching them make the turnovers and taking the lobsters out. The ever present hammocks of the Caribbean were there tempting me, but I am sure Sonia would have thought I was crazy. We had so many important things still to do for the remaining of that day.
Memories on that Friday, day and night…later…
Information for this post was taken from www.puertoricodaytrips.com/monkey-island/ and www.puertorico.com/beaches/punta-santiago/
Tags: Affordable, Appetizer, appetizers, Daniel, entrees, Puerto Rico, Punta Santiago, Restaurant, Restaurants, review, Reviews, seafood restaurant
[…] Punta Santiago, Daniel, Restaurant, Review, Monkey Island, Iglesia … […]
This is just beautiful !!!!
I have been looking the WWW for such information and just wanted to say thanks to u for this post. Also, just off topic, where can i get a copy of this theme? – Thanks