(July 23, 2011)
Our first official day in Puerto Rico!
We woke up, grabbed a light breakfast, and headed in to San Juan to rendezvous with Sara and Rick, preparing to spend the day in El Yunque (JOON-kay), Puerto Rico’s rainforest. We stocked up on water and hit the road!
(Our 45 minute drive to the finger point!)
El Yunque National Forest is on the eastern end of the main island and is the only rainforest within US territory (yes, people, Puerto Rico is part of the United States), and along with the luscious greenery, it also boasts plenty of waterfalls and coquís.
I was really looking forward to our trek as I’ve never been to a rainforest, and we seemed to have picked the perfect day. It was overcast and would rain intermittently on the drive over-- one would expect to get wet in a rainforest, so we were all prepared for the rain! Bring it on! Better to have it rain while in a rainforest than while on a beach, right?
El Yunque was originally named yuque after the Taíno god, Yuquiyu, but the Spanish conquistadores confused this word with yunque, the word for anvil, which was fitting because the tallest peak in El Yunque resembles an anvil, so the name stuck.
According to Laura, thunder heard from El Yunque was once believed to be the wrath of Yuquiyu, and she would yell out, “Yuquiyu!” every time thunder clapped overhead.
(Miriam walking along the road in El Yunque)
As we drove into El Yunque it was as though someone saturated our surroundings with green coloring. Suddenly various shades of green were exploding around us. It was some of the most spectacular colors I have ever seen, and the overcast day only aided in bringing out the colors. It was amazing!
It was also as though we were transported into Jurassic Park, as the size of the plants, trees, and even the snails, increased exponentially to a prehistoric size. Crazy!
(One of the many giant snails we saw)
(Laura with a giant palm leaf)
(My hand in comparison with a leaf)
Our first stop was Cascada La Coca (The Cocaine Waterfalls). It descended from far above us and continued underneath the bridge we were on, traveling off down the mountain, turning into various smaller waterfalls on its descent. It was a stunning photo op, and Rick and Sara even braved the slippery rocks to get a closer look.
(Cascada La Coca)
(The waterfall traveling farther down the hill)
(Rick and Sara getting up close to the waterfall)
 |
| (DOG-ON-A-ROOF!) |
At this point we decided it would be wise to have lunch before starting our hike up the mountain. As we searched out various road-side eateries, we came across DOG-ON-A-ROOF! Apparently, Puerto Ricans like to put their dogs on the roof. Still not sure why. Maybe it keeps them out of the way and keeps them from running off? If anyone knows the real reason for this, please feel free to enlighten me...This dog was certainly the first we saw but definitely not the last.
We quickly settled on a place that had a place for us to park and a great view. Miriam went up to the window and ordered our food for us (in Spanish-- her classes certainly paid off well!), including a couple of fresh, chilled coconuts for Rick and Sara. One of the guys grabbed his machete and chopped off the tops, handing them over to us with straws. Nothing cooler than that!
(Miriam and Sara placing their order, road-side)
Something I learned very early on in my Puerto Rican travels: Road-side food in Puerto Rico is THE BEST and extremely inexpensive. Great food AND inexpensive?? Count me in!
We grabbed our food and coconuts and grabbed a coveted spot over by a large window overlooking the hillside. It was such a gorgeous view.
(Fresh coconuts and our lunch time view)
After reviving ourselves with sustenance, we drove up the mountain, stopping at the Yokahu Tower observation point, to grab a map and take in another spectacular view. Climbing to the top of the tower, Laura pointed out Cerro El Toro, the highest point of El Yunque, and the reason behind the “anvil” name. She also pointed out the peaks buried in cloud-cover and explained that our goal was to hike to the top so that we could sit in our very own cloud.
(Yokahu tower)
(The cloud covered peaks)
The map showed us various trails of various levels of expertise, and we decided on the Caimitillo/El Yunque trail, as it lead to the cloud-covered peaks and was a medium level of expertise. We were hoping it wouldn’t completely kick our butts!
(Miriam and Laura pointing our way on the trail map)
(Me crossing one of the many little bridges)
At this point it really started to rain, so we covered ourselves, wrapped our cameras in Ziplock bags and started hiking. It’s really a good thing I’ve been getting in better shape this year after having injured my back two years ago because that trail was not at all easy! Thank you yoga instructors and the free pool for making me stronger!
We were quickly soaked all the way through but loving every minute of it. When it wasn’t raining, we were wading through run-off from the little waterfalls we kept coming across. We also got covered in the wet clay all over the ground and our shoes started to look like they had been dipped in baby poop...just sayin’.
Laura couldn’t wait to get wet, so every opportunity she had, she would get in the little pools of water and splash around. Most of the time we stood off to the side and shook our heads...although I really wanted to join her...I wasn’t wearing the appropriate footwear that would allow me to do that.
(Laura splashing around in one of the little streams)
After hiking for over an hour we still hadn’t made it to the top, and it was starting to get dark (the sun sets much earlier when you have a rainforest canopy overhead). We ran into a couple on their way back down the hill who said they hadn’t made it to the top either but were turning around so they wouldn’t get stuck in the forest after sunset.
We decided to follow their lead and make our way back down. So much for sitting in our own clouds! A trek for another trip. We decided to switch up our hiking trail when it intersected with the Baño de Oro trail not far from where we were-- why stick to the same trail if we had already seen that scenery, right?
The Baño de Oro was once said to be healing waters and a popular swimming area. It is now no longer in use, but the trail follows the river and you can see where the land is reclaiming what used to be old fish hatchery tanks and other stone pools along the way.
(One of the stone pools being reclaimed by nature)
(Miriam on the Baño de Oro trail)
(Posing for a photo op around the pool of water)
(Rick on the bridge)
(The whole gang at the end of our hike)
We finally made it back down the hill, happily exhausted, said good-bye to El Yunque, and went in search of food. It was time to eat!
Laura’s mother told us of a fabulous ceviche place off one of the popular beaches, aptly named Ceviche Hut, and just the word “ceviche” had almost everyone in our party drooling. I had never had ceviche so it did not trigger a Pavlovian response from me. So off we went to the Ceviche Hut, where we grabbed a table outside in the back, looking out at what seemed to be a tree graveyard. No joke. Strangely, the grassy area right before the beach had tons of tree stumps, the trees having been cut down some time before. And as we were giving notice to the tree graveyard we discovered that even our chairs were stumps; two of them actually still rooted in the ground. And here we also took notice of another DOG-ON-A-ROOF! Seriously! What is the deal??
(Sitting on our tree stumps. Behind the fence is the tree graveyard)
(2nd DOG-ON-A-ROOF!)
Having never had ceviche, I opted to order my own meal and try the ceviche plates when they arrived. For those of you who have never had ceviche, it is raw seafood (in this case, fish) chopped up with tomato, onion, and cilantro, and marinated in citrus juices, which basically pickles the fish, giving it the taste of being cooked while also killing off the bacteria.
(Ceviche)
Along with the order of ceviche, we ordered tostones, or fried plantains, which ended up being one gigantic tostón.
(One giant tostón)
After perusing the menu for a while, I decided to order the Tacu Tacu Mamposteados, fried beans and rice with a fried egg on top. I have two words for you: Yu. Mmy. It was so delicious I sang about it. I’m not even kidding. I found religion with this dish.
(Tacu Tacu Mamposteados)
We stuffed ourselves silly and started to make our way back to San Juan. It started raining once again, at which point we were introduced to another side of island life: flash flooding. Puerto Ricans are used to it, so it just meant we had a slightly longer ride home than usual. So be it.
We dropped Sara and Rick off at their hotel, and Laura took Miriam and me on a quick drive through Old San Juan at night, pointing out key landmarks and explaining we would come by during the day in order to take a proper look around. By twilight Old San Juan was beautiful. I looked forward to seeing it in the day.
(The cathedral was having a church service, and the doors were open and the cathedral welcoming.)
(The colorful buildings with a hand-made sign)
(One of the street signs)
We then headed back to Laura’s parents’ house and began preparing for our early morning venture to the other side of the island. Villa Montaña, here we come!
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