Ponce, Puerto Rico (Part 2) - Hacienda El Limón

Ponce, Puerto Rico (May 3 -25 , 2013)

Hacienda El Limón:
Early on in our somewhat lengthy stay at the Ponce Yacht & Fishing Club, we were introduced to the impressive, Joche, a mystery man with apparently important standing in Puerto Rico.

Joche invited us to visit his family estate, Hacienda El Limón, a historic farm, bequeathed to the his family by the former owner, Helen Buchanan.  If he were not impressive enough, the family farm was even more so.

Joche, our wonderful host

 

Joche's Weekend Retreat

The grounds at Hacienda El Limón

If the grounds seem unruly kept, Joche knows every inch of this place.  This farm is alive with vegetation.  Joche showed us everything from pumpkin patches, limon trees, strawberry patches to magnificent herb gardens of basil, coriander, cumin, oregano and thyme, amongst multitudes of other herbs.  The most mentionable was the aromatic rosemary, which I was lucky enough to part with some to dry and use on a regular basis.  Life is good here!

Starter Plants

 

A residence of the garden keeping watch on things

Coffee Bean Plants

Coconut Trees

 

Me, loving this place and wanting to live here

Banana Plants

The fiery Flamboyant trees are everywhere, dotting the mountainsides.  They have fern-like leaves and are quite beautiful!
 

Flamboyant Trees

After our adventure through the gardens, Joche took us to the horse corral to feed the horses.  At the top of the tallest mountain stood "Monica."  Monica, a beautiful white mare, was different from the other horses and, we would soon learn, abandoned by the group. 

Joche bellowed from the corral at the bottom of the mountain, "Monica, Monica, come down from the mountain!!!"  She instantly stopped, ears perked and then began her retreat zigzagging her way to the bottom of the mountain only to be unkindly greeted by the other horses biting and nipping at her.  Joche led her into the corral where she ate alone, undisturbed by the others.  He explained that two of the other horses were a mother/daughter pair that thwarted Monica on a regular basis so he always fed her separately.  

From here, we were off to see where the coffee had been processed in the past.  This machinery was rusted and had not been used in a very long time, but was still interesting to see.  

And then, he took us to the main house where his mother lives.  This home is filled with history of the Buchanan family, it was incredible!!!

After our visit to the farm, Joche drove us to Mirador Villalba-Orocovis.  At an elevation of 2,000 feet, Mirador Villalba-Orocovis lies between Villalba and Orocovis, overlooking both the northern and southern coasts of Puerto Rico.

 

This was a great day filled with wonderful memories!