Wisin & Yandel - Te Siento

THE BEST EVER.

♫♫PONCE,PUERTO RICO.. HECTOR LAVOE♫♫

my beautifull ponce

indios tainos

Tribu indigena de Ponce ,.MPG

Taino Heritage.

Coqui

this is the beautifull sound ever...

Ponce, Puerto Rico

                                    

CRUZETA

This can be found in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The city of Ponce is full of history. While you drive around the town you will be able to see traditional Spaniard architecture. This site is great since it`s located in a mountain hill that oversees the whole town of Ponce.A 360 view from atop Vigia Hill in Ponce, Puerto Rico where the 100 foot tall cross Cruceta El Vigia (El Vigia Cross) can be seen over looking the town of Ponce and the Caribbean sea.

Click on photo to view the 360° spherical panorama. Requires QuickTime.

 

La Guancha

This street is lined with about 60 red- and black-striped houses, the local fire-fighters' colors. Ponce, Puerto Rico’s second city, is often called “The Pearl of the South,” and indeed has an aristocratic air. Don’t miss its wonderful downtown historic area, its museums, and its rum factory.
High on your list of top entertainment stops should be La Guancha, located a few miles out of town on the Caribbean Sea. Playa de Ponce is the city’s seaport and beach, and at night its long boardwalk, La Guancha, is the center of activity for everyone from teenagers to senior citizens.

Getting there is half the fun. A “chu-chu” train makes erratic trips between the historic center of the city and La Guancha throughout the day and early evening. More reliable transportation can be taken from the nearby Ponce Hilton Hotel & Casino; ample parking is provided at the site. The boardwalk is across from the Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club and encompasses an impressively large area.

The grand attraction, besides the cool breeze from the sea and the fun of mingling with crowds of young lovers, families and friends, is the food. Countless kiosks serve up frituras (fritters) stuffed with nearly every ingredient available from the land and from the sea.

La Guancha is nothing fancy, but an evening spent here is sure to be thoroughly satisfying, relaxing, and fun!

                          

             

EL COQUI

The Eleutherodactylus as known by its zoological name, exceeds the creature itself in length. The genus Eleutherodactylus, with over 600 species, is probably the most speciose genus of vertebrates (Crother 1999).  More than 16 different species live in the island, 13 of which occur in the Caribbean National Forest. Other species of this genus can be found around the world: in Central and South America; and the Caribbean.

The coquí - little frog, as it is called in Puerto Rico, has only a minute tail when it is born, and this quickly disappears. Its length ranges between 15mm-80mm and the color of the coquí varies considerably - green, brown and yellowish, sometimes having touches of different colors or two dorsolateral stripes.

The genera Eleutherodactylus, which in Greek means free toes. As the name indicates, this genera has no inter digital membrane, which could indicate that they are not adapted to swim. All coquies have disks or pads on the tips of their toes, to help them adhere to surfaces, like moistened leaves.

Coquis reproduce year-round in Puerto Rico, but breeding activity is concentrated in the wet season. This species utilizes internal fertilization and like other eleutherodactylids, the fertilized eggs undergo direct development, rather than passing through a free-living larval (tadpole) stage, which means the parents don't have to lay their eggs on water, as it happens with other amphibians. The "tadpole" stage occurs entirely within a terrestrial egg, rather than as a free-living larval stage, and adult features form directly, sometimes bypassing the stages normally present in tadpole ontogeny (Hung and Elinson 1996, Hanken et al. 1997). Thus, a tiny but fully functional froglet hatches directly from the egg. Coquis deposit 4-6 clutches of about 28 eggs each (range 16-41) per year, with a development period of 17-26 days. Males guard the eggs to keep them from drying out and remain in the nest for a few days after they emerge.

It is a very popular creature throughout the island and enlivens the evenings with its timid ko-kee from which it get its name. The coquies begin to sing when the sun goes down at dusk, singing all night long until dawn. The male coquí sings - not the female. You can find the coquí nearly everywhere, from the margins of the forests where the areas receive large amounts of moisture, in highlands, lowlands, dry and arid places, even in caves depending on the species.

Vejigante

In the 12th century St. James the apostle was believed to lead the Catholic militia to win a battle over the infidel Moors. St. James is the patron saint of Spain and on his saints day, when people celebrated the Victory of St. James over the Moors, the vejigante represented the Moors with whom St. James fought. By the 17th century it was typical to see processionals in Spain in which vejigantes were demons meant to terrify people into going back to church. Hence, there are references of vejigantes in Cervantes' "Don Quixote" written in 1605. Back then, the vejigante symbolized the Devil in the battle between good and evil. This processional in Puerto Rico has taken on a new face because of the African and possible Taino influence. The Tainos were believed to be excellent mask makers. Vejigante masks are usually meant as "fright" masks. St. James saint day is celebrated and in Puerto Rico with the use of the vejigantes. In today's festivals some believe that the vejigante is a figure of resistance to colonialism and imperialism. The festivals have four main characters: el Caballero (the knight), los vejigantes, los viejos, (the elders), and las locas (the crazy women). The festivals in Loiza and Ponce have their own characteristics.

Loíza

In Loíza, the vejigante masks are made from coconut, whose cortex has been carved out to allow a human face. The eyes and mouth are carved out of the coconut with an addition of bamboo teeth. The costume is made of "a jumper" that has a lot of extra fabric at the arms to simulate wings.

Ponce

In Ponce the vejigante masks are made from paper mache, and usually contain many horns. The jump suit is very similar to the jumpers used in Loiza.