El Yunque

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We went on a tour of El Yunque National Forest, the only tropical rain forest in the United States National Forest System.  We are usually pretty independent and would have preferred to tour it ourselves - especially so we could hike at our own pace.  But, we got a little lazy, and didn't want to have to deal with renting a car and driving in Puerto Rico.  That point was sort of proved by the fact that while we were on our tour, our tour bus got side-swiped by a car coming in the other direction!  Talk about narrow roads.  And the other guy didn't even stop.  I felt bad for our tour guide.

Yokahu Tower
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El Yunque isn't that far from San Juan, but our guide drove us down some side roads so we could see what "real" Puerto Rico was like and that took up some time.  He pointed out how all the towns look the same in one fact - all have central plazas with churches, a feature of Spanish-built towns.

Once in the forest, we got to stop at El Portal Visitor Center, a very nice building.  They have videos to watch, tons of information to read, plus bathrooms and a gift shop.  The day we were there, they even had a small art fair, featuring local artists.

Lush El Yunque
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Other stops included Coca Falls, right along the main road, and Yokahu Tower.  The tower has 99 steps to the top and some views of the surrounding mountains and the northeast coast of Puerto Rico.  Then we went on an extremely easy "hike" as a group - this was the only part that was annoying, because I like to walk at my own pace!  But we had to stay together as a group and so proceeded very, very slowly.

Still, our guide tried his best to tell us all about the flora and fauna as we putted along.  You could tell he really loved his country and all his favorite spots.  He kept talking up his favorite eating place, we actually ended up stopping there (it was like a fast food stand and gift shop in one) and it was obvious he takes tourists there all the time.  Even the dog that lives at the shop recognized him.  As he says, the food was "the greasy stuff" that real Puerto Ricans eat.  All the options were deep-fried!  But honestly, yummy enough.  I had some sort of pizza roll that didn't feel in particular "Puerto Rican" but was definitely filling.  This stop wasn't part of the advertised tour which means we got back to San Juan an hour or so later than planned, but nobody was in a hurry.