Little bridge over the stream feeding into the pond. When you look down into the murky water you'll notice a lot of mosquito breeding activity, but we were lucky and didn't run into any adults while out at the park.
If you don't feel up to hiking to Mt Britton, there's always the roadside Yokahu Tower. I don't need to tell you that means you're in for a different experience as you battle the throng of people at the top.
Still you can't complain about the view!
It also gets bonus points for having these cute little windows on the way up the spiral staircase.
We swing by the El Portal Rain Forest Center to get our National Park Passport stamped and watch the introductory movie.
The highly touted sky walk through the tree tops ... not very exciting in my opinion.
If we hadn't talked to Marissa last night, we would've completely missed the Angelito trail. Unlike the other stops, it starts from a side road and isn't listed on the map the park service hands out.
More bamboo! The only other place I've seen it grow this tall was in Hawaii.
The rocky bed of the Rio Mameyes ...
Leads into the luxurious Las Damas pool
You don't need goggles to see the fish here.
Ha, you thought I was going to stay dry today when I didn't get in the waterfall this morning? Wrong! Who can resist a rope swing!
Just be careful because you're landing in relatively shallow, rocky water.
Amazing little lizard.
See the little black dots on the rocks? Those are river snails.
What a great place to spend the afternoon!
We noticed lots of cars parked by the Puente Roto day use area earlier and not knowing what was there I knew I had to find out. Turns out it's another area where the river is deeper, except there's no walking involved which makes it a favorite with locals who bring their coolers and music for a great family outing. The very intoxicated men in the river were very excited I wanted to take "their" picture, haha.
You would think that with our flight leaving in little over 12 hours we would be heading for a hotel to re-pack and take it easy, but nope, we have one more excursion planned for the day.
We are driving to Fajardo to kayak the bioluminescent bay. Only five year-round bioluminescent bays remain, three of which are found in Puerto Rico. Today we will kayak through the mangroves to visit Laguna Grande, where tiny dinoflagellates (plankton) make the water sparkle when you disturb it.
Having spent too long at the rain forest (come on, there was a rope swing!!) we don't have time for dinner before our trip so we swing by the gas station to pick up some snacks and a can of OK Cola Champagne, my favorite Puerto Rican soda -- a flavor so chemical I can't even describe it other than to say it's strangely addictive.
It's drizzling as we pull into the Las Croabas fishing harbor and we are having a hard time deciding what to do with the car. Park in front of a restaurant that says patrons only, or park in the dimly lit area at the back of the harbor with all of our belongings in the car. No matter how many times we've had to face decision like this it never gets any easier. We've been lucky so far ... today we'll take the risk of towing.
Rainbow over the harbor
We decided on Enchanted Island Eco Tours because they seem to truly care about the environment and offer a better introduction to kayaking. Sandy has only gone kayaking a few time before today, so she was a bit intimidated by the thought of kayaking in the dark.
The sun is coming out!
Several outfitters have their kayaks rigged and ready for the night.
They did a really great job covering kayaking 101 and ensuring everyone was set up for success. As the most experienced and strongest (maybe hehe) kayaker I took up the rear and left the navigating to Sandy.
Here's our group before heading out
It was already nearly dark by the time we set out, but I still managed to spot an iguana lounging on an overhead branch as we navigated through the narrow winding channel. Once darkness hit, the channel was lit only by the safety lights on our kayaks. Wow! What an experience! That alone was worth it to me. It got a little rough when other groups would pass in the opposite direction, especially the boats, but we managed.
Now, the only downside was that we were the last of the experienced kayakers, with two newbies directly behind us ramming into us the entire way. Ugh! I made Sandy promise we would stay near the front on the way back and that was much better.
As a bonus Enchanted Island gave us a photoshopped picture of ourselves in a kayak surrounded by fake luminescence with in the right-hand corner a picture of a dinoflagellate under the microscope.
The conditions weren't optimal on the day we went out; ideally you want a cloudless sky and a new moon, but even so it was pretty awesome. When we first paddled across the lagoon I couldn't see the bioluminescence very well and I was disappointed, but once we stopped and I was able to run my hands through the water it was amazing ... little sparks shooting off the tips of my fingers! While the guide did his talk I couldn't keep my hands out of the water! Like catching stars in the palm of my hand.
On the way back we passed by Bird Island, where we could make out the white shapes of egrets resting in the trees, then it was through the mangroves one more time before arriving back at the harbor.
Fortunately, Guapo was still waiting for us parked in front of the restaurant with all our belongings safely tucked away.
It's about an hours drive to Condonado and we still have to get dinner. It's so late there really aren't a lot of options and after failing at one drive through we end up at good old McDonald's where it's just like at home except the sweet & sour sauce is now called salsa agridulce.
Not quite the authentic meal I had envisioned for our last dinner in Puerto Rico, but the women on the plane did list McDonald's as one of their dining tips. Oh, the irony is not lost on me. At least the nuggets were yummy as always.
It's when we pop into Walmart for some last minute shopping that I suddenly start feeling really crappy, just a shivering, snotty mess. We'll never know what we caught, but it would be weeks and several doctor's visits before we'd start feeling better.
Alright, a few pictures of our hotel for the next few hours; Casa Condonado
Actually a far nicer hotel than I'd expected and it's too bad we couldn't really relax and enjoy it. By the time we'd showered, re-packed and blown through tissues like they were going out of style we finally laid down for a few hours of restless sleep interrupted every 2 minutes by violent fits of coughing. My sincere apologies to anyone who had a room close to us that night!
A few hours later we loaded up and after a few unnecessary loops trying to fill up on gas we made it to the airport, where we were completely misinformed about what time the food establishments opened up so that we pointlessly traipsed from terminal to terminal until finally giving up and getting stuff at Starbucks.
Until next time, Puerto Rico!!!
♥
Snack: assorted snacks from gas station
Dinner: McDonald's
Hotel: Casa Condonado
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