A hell of a day

Hey guys...long pause and I have so much to tell you, with many pictures to back it up. And let me say this, before I let off some steam about the frustrations of this day...we have really, really, REALLY had a good vacation. There were frustrations along the way, sure, but those are part of life and travelling on a budget (I guess). For the most part, however, we were lucky with the weather (lots more sun and clouds than rain), the spots and activities that we chose and the way things went. We got to go sunbathing, kayaking, snorkelling, hiking and swimming in the ocean and a bioluminescent bay (the most amazing thing ever...you glow in the water at darkness and every one of your moves creates light), we saw what must be some of the best beaches around and lots more. And even today started out to be a good day...until we got off the early morning ferry from the beautiful island of Culebra (where we had spent most of our week) back to the main island, where we had reserved a car (the price of which was one of the frustrations). There is no public transport on this island, so the only choice to get from the ferry in Fajardo back to San Juan is flying, renting a car or taking a taxi. All of the above cost between $70-100, so we decided to rent a car (for freaking $90 A DAY) and at least see El Yunque, the Carribean National Forest, along the way. The headaches started (literally) when we found out that Avis didn't do pickup from the ferry, but that we had to take a taxi up to this super expensive, outrageously wasteful, big-ass resort - a 10 minute ride for $20. At that moment I wasn't sure whether I was more angry at Avis, the huge corporation sucking you dry and not telling you up front you had to take a taxi to get to them (it's the customer's responsibility to ask, we were later told by a customer service rep), or the poor Puertorican taxi driver ripping us off because we obviously had more money than 70+% of the people on this island just because we were able to come here, rent a car, stay in hotels, etc..
Regardless, we made it to El Yunque and went on some beautfiful hikes through tropical rainforest (even though we were both in pain from wearing sandals on sunburnt feet) and seriously considered car-camping in the park (which is legal and, even better at this point in our budget, free) for a moment. After sweating like crazy we decided it was better to look for a small hotel, get a good night's sleep and take a shower before spending tomorrow on airplanes. Long story short: The only (!!!) hotel room we could find was at the Best Western airport hotel for $275 + tax. I swear I am not kidding you. Almost $300 for a Best Western room. That's the Carribean, we're told.
Now it was down to "sleeping" at the airport or calling a friend of a friend of Patrick's. And that's where we are now. Along with 5 other guests who had the same idea/problem and were also on spring break here in PR. Since we came last, we'll be on the couches, pretty much as we are. To top it all off... we didn't have any lunch or dinner (or breakfast, really) all day and over all the searching we didn't get to grab much, either. We brought some snacks and bread and were ready to eat it now (everyone else went to a bar), but the guy's dog found it first and enjoyed our dinner before us. Talk about frustration. So here we are... hungry and uncomfortable, but safe and with internet. I can't help but think of Maslow's hierarchy... (I wonder where the need to be online would go these days.) I guess it beats sleeping in the car in a place that, come to find out, is really not half as safe as we liked to think.

Now my battery is almost out, so pictures will have to follow... Good night!