Hacienda Buena Vista - Adjuntas - TravBuddy

This great attraction used to serve as a plantation back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It is located in the town of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, just north of Ponce. As the area is mountainous, it was a good place to grow coffee, which used to be the main product of the plantation. This whole area is owned by the "Fideicomiso de Puerto Rico", an organization based in PR which protects cultural sites throughout the island. Once you enter the main entrance to the hacienda, you see the main courtyard with buildings on either side. The largest one used to be the house of the plantation owner's family. On the first floor there is interesting information regarding the history of the hacienda, and decorated with coffee bags. Once you take the stairs, you are met by a very small, open-air courtyard. It is covered in nice tiles. From here, all the rooms are accessible. Seeing the living quarters of the house is very interesting, since you see how people in that age used to live in this area of Puerto Rico. Apart from the main house, there is another building housing the watermill. This mill was responsible of keeping all the canals continuously filled with water. The operation of this machine is remarkable, and also seeing the series of canals, one actually cutting through the courtyard.

After the courtyard, visitors descend down to see the cornmeal producer. The process to obtain the cornmeal is very detailed, and the machine that squashes the corn is only a part of it. You can descend even further to see a waterfall. It's created by the steady flow of water from the watermill. Visitors can walk even further, crossing a nice river, and entering the forest. In the forest, visitors can see all the coffee plants, and sometimes coffee beans.

Back at the courtyard, visitors can also see taste coffee made on the same plantation. This attraction is very interesting, and picturesque. I would recommend this to anybody visiting Ponce or the southern part of PR!