Mar
19
Green, Green, Green
Filed under Puerto Rico 2007
Another day gone by in the wonderful, warm weather. Today we enjoyed Mother Nature completely. A tour bus picked us up shortly before 9:00 a.m., along with 22 other people from various hotels in the area. The tour guide is quite skilled– she maneuvered the bus in crazy Puerto Rican traffic, talked to us over the speakers, and recalled many facts about her native land, all at the same time!We drove out of the city and then made our way up the mountains to the Carribean National Forest, maintained by the USDA Forest Service. Dropped off at an elevation of approx 3,100 ft, we hiked our way through the rainforest down to 2,900 ft. We were surrounded by palms, ferns, vines, bamboo, roots, and many varieties of other green growth. The coqui treefrog was heard sparingly, because they don’t come out until night, but some desperate males looking for a mate were “koh-KEE”ing away.
Toward the end of the 1.5 hour-long trek, we had time to stop and strip down to our swimsuits and enjoy a large waterfall. Brrr, the water was muy frio! After that, the bus wound its way down the mountain but not without stopping at a tower in which we could climb the 96 stairs to take in an amazing view of the surrounding forest and also our next destination in the distance, Luquillo Beach.
The colors at Luquillo Beach were amazingly perfecto: blue blue water, bright green and yellow palms, and white, billowing clouds. The sun was shining brightly, so it was a treat to get into the almost hottub-warm water. We were there for only two hours, but I definitely came away with a visible tan line. I also indulged in my daily piña colada along with an empanadilla de carne and a serving of passion fruit helado.
Tomorrow will be a day of rest and relaxation, bringing the travel way down to a slow crawl. I’m too wiped out to know what I’ll be in the mood for, but I just might walk to a beach and read under some shade. Or maybe just chill in bed and watch some TV. Or go to a museum of Puerto Rican art. Who knows. I’ll try to fill you in mañana!
