Tuesday, Feb 10, 2015
All good things must come to an end, even our Caribbean getaway trip, but we have one more day and we're going to make it count!
We got up a bit earlier than we'd planned and were able to catch the tail end of the sunrise over Luquillo Beach, reportedly one of the nicest beaches in the San Juan area.
Saint Joseph's parish catholic church
Plaza de Recreo de Luquillo
View from the balcony
What's really cool about Luquillo are the many murals coloring the neighborhood.
The last one is a famous quote by feminist, writer and labor organizer, Luisa Capetillo Perone, who incidentally also was the first woman to wear pants in public in Puerto Rico in the early 20th century.
"Nature shows us the true path to wellness but we want to be wiser than her and therein lies the source of all our mistakes, in wanting to dominate the natural laws where beauty, health, harmony and truth are found"
For breakfast we head to the number one rated breakfast joint in Río Grande, La Familia Bakery 2. A very large eclectic mural graces a wall on the other side of the street.
Taking pity on us, they hand over a set of English menu's and we order a donut, some kind of apple turnover, and two ham, egg and cheese sandwiches for the road. The park can get crowded later in the day and I want to beat the crowds to the waterfalls.
Animal-shaped bread (crabs, alligator and turtle).
Luquillo is the perfect base for exploring the rain forest; it only takes about 15 minutes to get to El Yunque. Still we have to get a move on! Not only does it get more crowded as the day goes on, the chance of rain increases too and given that this is a rain forest it should come as no surprise that it receives about 120 inches (3m) of rain a year!
Please ignore my face in this picture, but I really wanted to show you the size of this Yagrumo leaf. Everything grows so big under these conditions.
Our first stop of the day, La Coca Falls ... barely a trickle with an 85ft (26m) drop. It's right by the side of the road so A+ for accessibility.
One of the things that surprised me most about El Yunque is that PR 191, the road winding through the park, is more than just a way of connecting the park's points of interest; it has shops, restaurants, even houses!
Not wasting any time, we bypass some of the other sights and head directly for La Mina Falls. Two trails lead to this waterfall; we have chosen the Big Tree Trail, an easy-moderate 1.6 mile round trip.
Just the view from the parking lot at the trail head is worth a stop imo.
La Mina Falls ... we managed to be the first ones there! At 35ft it is a lot smaller, but the flow is much better with a small pool of cold water at the bottom.
To celebrate this achievement I walked around experimenting with pictures a bit, before sitting down and having breakfast. Unfortunately, neither of us really enjoyed the sweet bread sandwiches.
Long exposure of "Cascada la Mina".
Several other people showed up and started playing in the waterfall so we took that as our cue to leave. The Big Tree Trail showcases some of the oldest, tallest trees in the forest and is lined with informational plaques to tell you what you are looking at.
The colorful aerial roots of a Sierra Palm.
Lots of little snails in the trees
Multicolored vines
Nolan had recommended we hike to the Mount Britton Observation Tower all the way at the end of the road. Again I would suggest going early to avoid the crowds; we already had to walk quite a ways just to get to the trail head from where we were able to park.
This trail was decidedly steeper and with Sandy's sinus congestion we weren't moving very quickly, but that just leaves more time for pictures.
A gentle stream weaving through the Sierra Palm forest.
The old storm shelter
At the trail's terminus a short side trail leads to the lookout tower.
Amazing what a little sun will do ... no moss on the exposed side
But the real draw is the view from the top ... where you can marvel at the clouds passing through the Luquillo Mountains surrounding you and enjoy views of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
It took me a while to realize that the white "flowers" that suddenly appeared everywhere are actually Yagrumo leaves, turned up by the wind to show off their silvery underside.
A few panorama's as well (click for larger picture)
It's always easier going down than it is up and we're making good time this time around.
Looking up through one of the many ferns
I have a bit of a trauma when it comes to flat slippery rocks after breaking my arm as a kid, so the rock inlay on the trail had me scratching my head, but the footing was actually better than expected.
One of the prettiest spots is this miniature waterfall right at the trail head. It's tiny so you'll have to really pay attention or you'll miss it.
~ ~ Please continue to part II for more rain forest ~ ~
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