“I wandered to the hotel’s lobby where I met the founder of Sofrito Tours, Laura Ortiz, and set off to see the city. As we walked around San Juan’s Old Town, bonding over coffee, architecture and history, Laura explained that by 1493, when Europeans came to Puerto Rico, the indigenous Tainos had already navigated the sea from Venezuela, and formed matrilineal societies where women had extensive control over land, agriculture and society; an imprint that remains.”
“Another standout is a partnership between community empowerment group Acción Valerosa, Bad Bunny-affiliated music group Los Pleneros de la Cresta, and tour operator Sofrito Tours, who created Café con Ron, a cultural tour between the northeastern city Bayamón and Ciales, a rural coffee-producing mountain town. The tour dives into Puerto Rico’s Afro-Caribbean and rural roots, using music to highlight the island’s racial and cultural diversity.”
“If you’re exploring the island, Sofrito tours, named after the staple Puerto Rican ingredient, will show you some of the best food off the beaten track. I loved the circular alcapurrias at Sazón de Sylvia. You can pick a side of the island to explore in depth and Laura will tailor the tour to you. If you choose the northeast of the island, you might get lucky and see the manatees at Loiza.”
“Este recorrido, en particular, está dedicado a la mayor delicia boricua: el lechón. Un plato que, aunque curiosamente es de tradición navideña, se sirve todo el año, sobre todo en el interior, en la zona conocida como Guavate. Mi observación no es tan desacertada: Puerto Rico tiene la Navidad más extensa del mundo. Dura unos 45 días y comienza desde el Día de Acción de Gracias.”
“For something that only happens in Puerto Rico, pile into a van with Sofrito Tours and head to the Pork Highway in Guavate. The smell of slow-roasted pork, garlic, smoke, and crisping skin hits you as soon as you stop at the first lechonera where the cook carves slabs of lechón onto paper plates, pairing it with arroz con gandules and tostones fried to perfection. Each stop promises homey island food and cold beverages served in neighborhoods away from the crowds.”
“A chinchorreo is similar to a bar crawl, just with more food and in mostly rural areas,” Ojeda says. “The secret is to approach it as a marathon, not a race. Go with friends or family. Drink a lot of water. And let the food soak up the excess alcohol.”
“With that in mind, Sofrito Tours teamed up with Los Pleneros de la Cresta (Bad Bunny’s collaborators from that song) for a tour that takes visitors through various local coffee shops and bars for — what else? — café and rum, with an added dash of history and music. Because as Bad Bunny says in the song, “Están arriba en el monte los códigos de verdad“
“I also explored El Yunque National Forest through the Boricua diasporic Sofrito Tours. Its founder, Laura Beatriz, gave me my own private tour, where we visited Finca Neo Jibairo, a tobacco and coffee farm in Luquillo.”
“And if you don’t yet have friends in Puerto Rico to go on a chinchorro with, join Laura Ortiz, founder of Sofrito Tours. Ortiz offers gastronomic and cultural experiences, taking small groups along Ruta del Lechón or Cayey’s Pork Highway and guiding you to her favorite criollo dishes at traditional lechoneras. Along the way, you will also learn about local painters and musicians, visit a colonial church, and hike to a swimming hole in the Carite Forest.“
“The blue cobblestone San Juan streets were made to last — from iron slag, brought over as ballast on European ships during the 18th century. Sofrito Tours can show you all the sights.”
“Sofrito, she’s a fantastic tour guide. And she did a great job with that pork highway trip into the little town of Calle. And then I also got to do like a waterfall tour with her as well. That was, we ate, but it was just like, we ate, you know, just to like feed our bellies.“
“So while I was in Puerto Rico recently I looked up my friend Laura Beatriz, owner of the Sofrito Tours company, to show me the ropes on how to navigate the Chinchorreo routes in Puerto Rico. Together, she and I explored the coastline, the mountain roads and the city streets and we ate a lot.“
“There is an eruption of creativity around every corner. Walls and sidewalks, call you to stop, appreciate, and think. The art is made all the better, by having Laura, from Sofrito Tours, explain the meaning behind some of the pieces. The murals do what murals are meant to do, spark conversations about history, culture, and even wildlife.“
“When the U.S. took over, our economy in Puerto Rico was transformed, and the Jibaro [the word used in Puerto Rico to refer to traditional agricultural workers] moved the city, gave up their way of life,” says Laura Beatriz, founder of the history and culture-focused Sofrito Tours. “The culture and identity of Puerto Rico was in danger of being lost… ”
Her goal is simple. “To give visitors a true taste of Puerto Rico, from Guavate’s Pork Highway to the scenic central mountains.” That’s why Ruta Café con Ron exists, an immersive day tour in Ciales, Puerto Rico, that takes you from bean to brew with guided coffee tastings and farmer meetups, then deepens your cultural connection through a hands-on plena or trova workshop.
“We took a second food tour with Laura Ortiz-Villamil – a PhD candidate in Puerto Rican studies, who also runs Sofrito Tours, which leads cultural trips focused on the island’s cuisine. She took us to places that are mainly off the beaten track, which most tourists would struggle to find.”
2. Sofrito Tours
“Si estás buscando un recorrido extenso que abarque la historia, gastronomía, cultura y naturaleza, debes considerar los de Sofrito Tours. Sus tours abarcan muchos destinos en un solo día y se prestan para experimentar de todo un poco.”
Sofrito Tours 