Puerto Rico – Day 3
On Monday, December 16th, we woke up ready to
head to the eastern part of Puerto Rico, specifically to El Yunque National
Park, Puerto Rico ’s rainforest. The drive there was about an hour, once we made it out of the greater San Juan area. Here's a sample intersection:
What the what?!?!
Along
the way, we decided to stop for gas at a Shell station and then for supplies at
a nearby Walgreen’s. While Jim was
looking for heat wraps for his back and Chris was finding snacks, I busied
myself with something far more important – randomly running across a small
action figure of Harry Styles from the tween band One Direction and making it
into an impromptu dashboard ornament for our rental car, Lady P.
Leigh, helping Jim get all wrapped up
Project time!
Harry really is the dreamiest one.
Look at that hair.
With that taken care of, we proceeded east. We found the road that heads up the mountain
into El Yunque, which looked like every twisty, turny, tiny mountain road
everywhere else we’ve been. This one,
however, had the added benefit of being in Puerto Rico
and being busy with tourist traffic, so it was extra super. In fact, at one point, we rounded a corner
and immediately had to swerve into the underbrush on the side of the road, as a
massive tanker truck full of some sort of fluid came barreling toward us. I’ve truly never been so sure I was going to
expire to the great hereafter, and it seemed that the feeling was pretty mutual
amongst everyone in the car. We were all
silent for a few moments, contemplating life and how quickly it can be snuffed
out by an errant tanker truck, until everyone burst out into hysterical laughter
and we carried on.
We stopped at the Visitor Center around Km 4 on the road and
had a good time exploring the center and learning about the flora and fauna of
the rainforest. Specifically, we learned
that any mongooses (mongeese?) in the rainforest are typically carrying rabies
and that it was boa constrictor mating season. There were many other rainforest-related facts, I am sure, but these two
stuck in my head as being particularly worthy of attention.
We found these signs in all the bathrooms at the trailheads.
They are apparently serious about this.
I think we're here.
More mongoose warnings.
Mom, checking out the view from the second floor of the center.
The center also let several local artists sell their wares,
and Mom and I went shopping for some new earrings and art. Since bats had been playing an integral role
in our PR adventure so far, I wanted to commemorate them.
More bats!
Since we were hungry, we also ate lunch in the center at
their café. It was really good, and for
the second day in a row, we had a meal full of PR delicacies for around
$40. Good stuff!
It rains in the rainforest.
Hence, the ponchos.
Although the Visitor Center is cool, we wanted to actually
hike a bit in the rainforest, so after lunch, we hopped back in Lady P and
headed further up the road. One of our
first stops was at this gorgeous waterfall, which you can see right from the
road.
The falls
Hugs!
The next stop was an observation tower, which you can climb
and see amazing views of the island - when it is clear – we mainly saw lots of
trees and clouds, but it was still really pretty.
Get your arm back in that tower!
Puerto Rico!
Pausing for a quick break
Puerto Rico is home to many homeless animals, mainly cats
and dogs (and boas and mongeese). Some
of them, as you’ll see later, are quite friendly, but others just want to be
left alone. On the way up the mountain
in El Yunque, one of these not-so-friendly dogs decided to come out of nowhere
and attempt to eat our car. While we
were driving. For the second time in as
many days, I had to put my head in my hands for a few moments. Thankfully, everyone made it out of the
encounter alive and well, and we all continued on our merry way.
We eventually made it to the Palo Colorado parking area,
which leads off to several trailheads. We
started down the Bano Grande trail, which took us roughly 10 minutes to cover,
round-trip. Mom and I headed back to the
car for a break while Jim, Leigh, and Chris hiked a bit further.
All of us on the bridge over Bano Grande.
After piling back into the car and heading down the
mountain, we steered Lady P north and headed to the coast, to see what the
beach looked like. Unfortunately, the
weather was a bit too dicey for real sunning time, but we were able to park and
walk along the beach for awhile, finding hermit crabs and getting mooned by a
half-naked old man (yes, really – he was letting it all hang out – hey, when I
make it to his age, I’m never going to wear clothes either).
Chris: "Honey, really?"
Me: "Danger Girl!"
It's like we're on Survivor.
Leave nothing but footprints,
molest nothing but hermit crabs.
Upon making it back home to the condo, we rested for a
little while, then headed out to dinner at the Old Harbor Brewery, San Juan’s
local microbrewery. The beer was good
(their stout is particularly lovely), and they also specialized in one of
Puerto Rico’s culinary specialties, mofango.
Mofango is made by mashing green plantains into an edible bowl of sorts,
and filling is put in the middle. I had chicken
filling, Chris had lobster, and Jim had steak.
Overall, we all enjoyed it pretty well, and we had plenty of leftovers
for lunch the next day.
My teeny, tiny taster of beer
So much mofongo!
On the way home, we met an extremely friendly cat who we
promptly named Marmalade (after her black and white color scheme, of
course. Kidding. She was obviously a soulless ginger). She’s apparently used to tourists, so Jim
picking her up and cuddling her was no problem at all!
Making friends.
After changing into comfy clothes, we relaxed on the balcony
until it was time for bed.
Marmalade!
The Lady Liberty torch on our balcony
Up next, we stroll the streets of Old Town San Juan!
Adios!
Amy
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