Gringo Green

Nature vs Man in Río Grande

“Time spent amongst the trees is never wasted time.” – Katrina Mayer

Below are pictures I took while living in a semi-abandoned condominium complex during lockdown.

When we moved to Puerto Rico my mother-in-law connected us with a family friend who had a condo for rent in Río Grande, a town about 45 minutes east of San Juan.

The complex consisted of some 200 units built on a hillside overlooking the sea and the famous Rio Mar resort. Despite being minutes from the beach and El Yunque, the place was practically abandoned. Maybe 30 units had residents. It was explained to me that many of the condos, purchased as vacation spots in the early 2000s, were sold off with the economic crash in 2008.

The place brought me peace during the tumultuous year of 2020. Conservation laws still protect part of the the forested coastal area in Rio Grande. I passed many sunrises and sunsets on our roof looking at that swathe of coastal tropical forest untouched by man and unbothered by our problems.

My brother-in-law pointed out that this protected part of the coast is likely how it looked when Columbus landed here.

Living in an abandoned condominium complex during a complete Covid lockdown is an experience I will never forget. I spent hours walking my dog and exploring the area, which once boasted two swimming pools, basketball and tennis courts, and a fitness center/activity center. We found avocados, avoided packs of stray dogs, and ran into our fair share of spiderwebs. I marveled as a forest that has likely existed for thousands of years slowly conquers what man built on her borders.

Below are some of my favorite pictures from that place. Looking at them now I have the same thought that I often had while I was walking there. Nature will be fine in the long run. No matter what humanity does to the world in our response to the climate crisis, it’s our survival that is at stake, and we must act to preserve the life of our own future generations.

(To view the enlarged image you can click on the photo.)

  • The pool is full of iguanas
  • Circle drive
  • Activity Center
  • Activity Center
  • Entrance to the pool area
  • Activity Center
  • Entrance to the Activity Center
  • Destroyed roof tiles
  • Pepa scouting for trouble
  • Entrance to a condo completely covered
  • Abandoned roof
  • Covered parking
  • Covered parking
  • The trees live here now
  • I’m sure someone came back for this
  • Broken energy meter
  • Back side of Activity Center
  • Pepa found a huge snake under the pool table right after I took this photo!
  • Green everywhere
  • Can you spot the light pole?
  • The second pool
  • Edge of the jungle
  • The road to the activity center
  • Pepa activates “ear-o-dynamic mode”
  • I’m not sure what this structure was
  • My companion
  • The path to the second pool
  • Basketball court
  • Tree growing out of a golf cart
  • Notice the vines don’t grow in the shade
Machete-hacking my way through the jungle.

Until next time, cheers. Be well everyone!

Matt Avatar

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Matt

One response to “Nature vs Man in Río Grande”

  1. Chance encounters with animals of Puerto Rico – Gringo Green Avatar
    Chance encounters with animals of Puerto Rico – Gringo Green

    […] was walking my dog through our semi-abandoned apartment complex (see this post for more pictures of these trails). There was rustling in the bushes behind us and a pack of five […]

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