Day 3: At El Yunque National Forest

Carlos says I make too many comments about food, but I have to say we had an interesting little adventure on our way to El Yunque National Forest. We went to a grocery story (a Ralphs) to get a few deli sandwiches to take with us on the hike. Lisa and Mike ordered sandwiches as well as a couple of pastries. The sandwiches were still being made when a lady working behind the counter handed Lisa a styrofoam container with the pastries. Lisa asked if they would wrap them in foil (since we didn't want a lot of bulk on the trip). The first lady didn't speak English, so we got the guy who did. Lisa asked for foil and - bless his heart - he wrapped the *styrofoam container* in foil... and plastic wrap. They must've thought we were crazy for "wanting that." But Carlos and I got two sandwiches with just veggies, and they only charged us 75 cents per sandwich. We also got a couple of cups of their coffee (which was excellent) for just 80 cents each. So we spent about three bucks on lunch.

Next, we were off to El Yunque National Forest, a rainforest inland a ways. When we first got to the visitors center, we became concerned that there seemed to be a lot of people there. So when we drove by the trail heads for a couple of the easier hikes we had hoped to do and saw lots of people milling about, we decided to do the tougher hike "first" ... that's right, we actually thought we'd do more than one hike. We were wrong.

Fortunately, we were wrong in a good way, because the hike we chose was spectacular. It was the El Yunque trail, about five miles long round trip. It was a "strenuous" hike, and there were some rough/rocky areas that were a bit tough. There was also an impressive (we thought) elevation gain of 1400 feet along the way, going to El Yunque Peak, the second highest peak in the forest. We saw some gorgeous views along the way, from the beautiful trees and ferns surrounding us to breathtaking views of the ocean several miles away.

Much of the trail was through the "Cloud Forest," also called the "Dwarf Forest" or "Elfin Forest," so called because the winds and rain in the higher elevations stunt the growth of the trees. Most of the trees seem to be about 12 feet tall, and they were covered in moss.

We didn't see a lot of wildlife, but we heard a lot of it: lots of birds and frogs. We saw a few birds and lizards, though.

We were pretty tired towards the end of the hike, so coming upon a small, cool stream to soak our feet in for a few minutes truly seemed like a gift. By the time we finished the hike and got back to the car, we felt a great sense of accomplishment - it was a pretty tough hike! And it was well worth it. Of course, we didn't have any time (or will) for an additional hike, so we headed back to the hotel. We got some mojito stuff back at grocery store, so at the hotel we made ourselves a pitcher of mojitos to drink in the pool and called it a day.