Beautiful, But What am I Looking at?
Written: Aug 30 '01 (Updated Aug 30 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: beautiful scenery, easiest way for North Americans to experience and learn about the rainforest
Cons: not a lot of information available on specific plants
The Bottom Line: Filled with lush growth, El Yunque is the only rainforest in the United States and well worth visiting.
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| quasar's Full Review: El Yunque |
Last fall I finally left my last job. I truly enjoyed working there, but more than three years of 80+ hour weeks and a neverending pile of work had taken their toll. I was burnt out. Rather than start my new job immediately I decided to take a week off to decompress. After much thought, I decided to spend that week on a cruise. I figured it would be relaxing which is just what the doctor ordered.
The second port of call of my ship was San Juan, Puerto Rico. I really wanted to go to Aricebo to see the radio telescope, but unfortunately that wasn't an option (I can understand why - how many random tourists are interested in astronomy?) so I decided to take a tour of the El Yunque rainforest.
Located about 45 minutes from San Juan, El Yunque is the only rainforest in the United States. It's now officially known as the Caribbean National Forest and is overseen by the National Parks Service, but everyone still calls it El Yunque.
For tourists El Yunque consists of a small visitor's center/museum and a series of trails through the forest fanning off from a narrow road that circles the mountains of the forest.
That's right, I said mountains. I had always envisioned rain forests as flat lush growth filled areas. This one is lush, full of growth, and in a small mountain range. The road to the visitor center winds steeply around one of the mountains. I was in a school bus-like tour bus and I must admit that these roads made me more than a little nervous.
The visitor's center is part way up. I didn't get a good sense of how far up. It was the first and lowest stop of the day. It sits amid the trees, trees overgrown with all sorts of interesting leaves. The attached museum is small, part indoors and part outside. Placards provided information on the region, its flora and fauna, and rainforest preservation efforts in both English and Spanish. There was also a small gift shop selling postcards, books, and souveniers. We spent about 20 minutes at the center. I felt slightly rushed; 30 minutes probably would have been perfect.
We piled back on the bus and started climbing. I had a window seat and was able to admire the scenery the whole way. I still can't get over how vibrant everything was, how intense the colors were. Every so often our guide would try to point something out but was hard to figure out what she was referring to from a moving bus and with all the chit chat it was often hard to hear her. We could see various trails and sometimes hikers periodically along our ascent.
As the bus wound up the mountain it did stop for major landmarks but we didn't get out of the bus until we reached an area with a waterfall, a stream, a minilake, several trails, and a smaller visitor's center (mainly a checkpoint and a source of water).
We stopped, were told to get off the bus, and given about 45 minutes on our own here. Our guide said she would be leading a group on a hike in about 20 minutes for anyone who was interested.
I wandered for about 15 minutes enjoying the serenity and my beautiful surroundings. I peered down on a stream 30 feet below a bridge, a deep ravine that seemingly came from nowhere. I walked up to a minilake, no more than 30 feet in diameter, a perfectly, startlingly still body of water. I enjoyed it immensely but had no idea what I was looking at or its historical or scientific signifigance.
I figured the guide would provide this info and joined her hike. We wound our way through a series of interconnected trails in a quickly moving single file snake. The guide stopped once or twice to point out something or other, but for the most part everything was just pretty scenery. Even when she did stop and talk it was hard to hear her unless you happened to be right next to her.
Don't get me wrong. I really liked El Yunque. I even liked our guide - she was personable and knowledgable and answered lots of questions about El Yunque and Puerto Rico. But I didn't feel like I had a guide along while actually exploring the rainforest.
Our last stop on the way down was at La Coca Falls, a waterfall just off the main road. It is a fairly tame, fairly small waterfall but very pretty. Some of the more adventurous in the group climbed out to the water, entailing a trip across many large jagged boulders. I decided not to venture out after seeing two other people slip.
The weather was great while we were there. I understand that is usually rains every day, but we avoided precipitation. There was a feeling that it was about to rain most of the day, but the heavens never opened up. It was about 15 degrees F cooler in the forest than in San Juan and I really enjoyed the break from the heat.
Many people on the tour expressed great disappointment, and in fact in general people on the cruise were disappointed with San Juan. However, I had a great time and would recommend anyone visiting Puerto Rico go to El Yunque. If you are particularly interested in knowing what exactly you are looking at, study up in advance or hire a private guide. If you just want to enjoy the beautiful scenery, a group tour or a solo trip will do fine.
The National Writeoff
This is my entry into the National writeoff hosted by oakraider1. The writeoff features reviews of national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and other federal lands in the United States. Entries on government-owned attractions in other countries are also allowed. Please read the entries from:
--oakraider1
--claydunn1598
--shalaigne
--brainyblond
--quasar
--toby_baldwin
--Mom2TyZick
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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