Rain Forest

The El Yunque rain forest is the only rain forest in the United States forest service system and happened to be very close to the hotel where we were staying.  Our guide was a Puerto Rican with the surname of O'Neil.  This name, he said, came from an Irish great grandfather coming over on a trade ship.  (I have succeeded in getting family history into this post.) He was a great guide and the forest was amazing, beautiful, and at times, very wet.  It was just beginning to rain in the picture above.

Breadfruit in the tree.

This fern was actually about 10-12 feet across.  I've never seen one that big.

These are bromeliads.  The flowers actually look like they are made from wax.

Here we are in front of a a famous waterfall.  Please put on your sunglasses so you won't be blinded by the brightness of Wayne's plaid shorts. It was just sprinkling when the picture was taken.  Later we drove past the falls again and the water was running so fast and heavy that you couldn't see the rocks. 

This one is from the top of a tower that had 92 steps.  Most of the group did not make it to the top or even try to get up the last three flights of stairs because it was raining so hard that water was pouring in from the top and running down the stairs.  Wayne and I had umbrellas so we forged ahead anyway and got this amazing view from the forest through the mists to the ocean.

By the time we left the tower, it was raining so hard that all of us bought these amazing $5 rain slickers.  They probably make a lot of money selling these to tourists that don't believe it is a RAIN forest.  At least Wayne and I came with umbrellas.  This is one of Wayne's clients, Almir Jasarevich and his wife, Aida.  They are from Bosnia, escaped to Germany and moved to Salt Lake.  They got their citizenship last year.

Sunglasses are needed again for the brightness of my umbrella (which I was very happy to have in my possession).  In spite of all this rain gear, we were still soaked.  Notice the full pool of water behind me. It was brown from the mud being brought down from the top of the mountain and the water was coming in and going out of it was very fast.

As we hiked, the guide found this nest.  It had eggs in it and was about 3 feet off the ground built on this single stem which was about 1/3 of an inch wide.  It had been strategically placed under the leaves at the top to keep the rain off.  The mama was away when it was discovered so we got to see the eggs--very tiny.  The mama is the size of a humming bird.  When she came back she was very upset with all of us and and quickly got into the nest to protect her eggs.

I recommend seeing the rain forest.  It has a wonderful visitor's center.  If we ever went back to Puero Rico, I would rent a car and do it without a guide.  There are clearly marked hikes to go on and many beautiful views that we did not get to see on a tour.