We left the hotel at 8:00 am and headed to the El Yunque National Park. After 45 minutes, we transferred from our regular coach to.a smaller bus (think a small upgraded 30 passenger school bus) with a different driver. We continued to climb from sea level to almost 3,000 feet. Along the way, there was road construction to repair hurricane damage - mud slides. We eventually parked and then started our climb with a local guide who identified trees, flowers, birds, insects, etc. The climb was fairly steep. Did you notice that I resorted to using a walking stick (cane) and was panting? I was sure glad when we turned around and started back to the bus. On the way down the mountain, we stopped at a lookout tower and also saw a beautiful waterfalls. The scenery was breathtaking with the sea in the background. We stopped for lunch at the park visitor center. Our second destination was a spot on the beach where Shayla (a local entertainer) was giving La Bomba lessons to all who were willing to learn. We enjoyed seeing the whitecaps coming in to a nice level sand beach. It was an idyllic scene with many locals—not touristy.
After hearing repeated instructions to have a rain jacket/poncho and an umbrella at all times, we have yet to encounter one drop of rain (OK we still have one more day). Today’s rainforest was located on the east side of the island which gets up to 200 inches of rain per year. The foliage was very lush. You could understand how someone could easily get lost.
We finished the day with Happy Hour and appetizers in the pool area. We traded war stories with fellow travelers between airplane noise. We are VERY near the airport and every plane flies over this hotel.
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