The Rainforest

When we were first trying to decide where to go on vacation, I told Steve I wanted to go somewhere green and wet. I got both in abundance yesterday!

We visited El Yunque, the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. It was really a neat experience! We stopped at the visitor's center first. That was a neat place, in itself, because the walkways are open to the rainforest vegetation all around it. We managed to get our share of souvenirs, plus an umbrella. In hindsight, I wish I'd packed the rain ponchos from our trailer, as the ones in the gift shop were too expensive (at least, when you're outfitting 6 people, they were too expensive). But, without them, we got the full rainforest experience.

 Something I thought was interesting was that they had private vendors inside the park, selling food and souvenirs. That's something I don't think you'll see at any of the mainland national parks. But we brought our own lunch in a cooler provided by the condo, so we didn't need to patronize any of the vendors.

Inside our picnic pavilion, protected from the rain, but still enjoying the greenery.

We found a really neat picnic spot for lunch. There were covered pavilions down in the trees, and we found an empty one, and had our lunch with the rain falling outside and the greenery all around.

It didn't rain very hard for the first few hours we were there. It rained frequently, but usually for only a few minutes at a time. The sun even came out from behind the clouds several times.

We climbed up to the top of a tall tower where we were able to look out over all the green rolling hills around us.  That was a beautiful sight!  Then, we went on a hike down into a waterfall, where we were meandering through the rainforest for nearly a mile each way. That was a really beautiful walk, with all the tropical plants and moss. I didn't see as many flowers as I had expected.  Maybe they just don't grow in the shade of all those trees. And we didn't see too many animals: mostly snails. Once, Megan spotted a lizard on a tree trunk. We didn't see any of the little frogs so prevalent here, but we sure heard them! They are very loud and call "co-kee," which is what they're named for: coqui frogs.

The waterfall was beautiful. We didn't go swimming, like several of the other people that were there, but we took lots of pictures and lingered awhile, enjoying the beauty of the water.

The white flowers smelled like gardenias.  So pretty!

On the hike back out, we finally discovered why they call it a "rainforest." Steve had talked about being soaked to the skin when he was there before, but most of the day we just got a little wet. On the way back to the car, it really started to downpour, and we all got soaked. I told Megan it was like taking a shower with all your clothes on. It was the most pleasant rain I'd ever gotten soaked by: not cold at all. I just wish I could take a little of that rain home with me! They said it rains over 200 inches per year there!  Maybe if I hooked onto some of the clouds and dragged them behind the airplane with me...?

Hurray for rain!