This morning we decided to visit El Yunque, a large rainforest jungle not far from Humacao where we were staying. El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. Forest System and contains over 28,000 acres, making it the largest block of public land in Puerto Rico.
On the way out of the huge resort compound, Las Palmas del Mar, I took this photo of some of the grounds. Pretty impressive?
As we passed Luquillo, we saw a curious sight alongside the highway. There were about a half dozen men in uniform with complete head masks. They each had a weed eater and were spread out mowing the lawn, each with his own small tool. Jim said that's one way to keep everyone employed!
Unfortunately, I couldn't get my camera out in time for a photo.
We finally arrived at a beautiful El Portal Visitors Center for El Yunque. We were outside when the heavens let loose with a completely drenching downpour! (El Yunque does get over 200 inches of rain a year.) I went into the gift shop and immediately bought a souvenir umbrella. Jim refused to buy one, as he had a perfectly good umbrella sitting in his suitcase in our room. Opening my umbrella, the rain, of course, stopped instantly.
We were very impressed with the size of the plants and the colorful flowers in the jungle.
We finally reached the Yokahu Tower and, while it was very high, we weren't about to stand outside and admire it. It had started pouring again. I was so happy I bought my unbrella. While it was
small, I even shared a small portion of it with Jim. The tower was 96 steps high, so it had a wonderful view of the jungle, the beach, and even some buildings along the shore.
The jungle became even more dense as we climbed higher, with vines hanging down from the trees. It was easy to imagine the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park living here (if you could forget all the tourists). In fact, you could even imagine Tarzan's call as he flew from one vine to another.
One thing that surprised us was the huge quantity of bamboo throughout the area. This bamboo grew as high as the trees, and was very thick, sometimes 8-10 inches in diameter. We just didn't expect it here.
We decided to hike to La Mina Falls, about a mile and a half round trip. However, it was straight down (meaning, of course, straight up on the return trip. We started off in the rain again and went about 3/4 of the way when we finally found a shelter. We talked to some people who were coming up, and the falls did not sound impressive at all. We reconsidered our options and decided to give it up for the day.
The jungle here is very beautiful, though, and we would have finished the hike if we weren't so wet (so says the one who said, "Let's leave!).
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