Puerto Rico - Day 2 - October 10, 2010

Woke up bright and early to squeeze in as much as possible.  Since out flight was delayed yesterday, we lost time and had more to tackle today.  Grabbed a quick breakfast downstairs…delicious, but so unhealthy biscuits were the special today along with the usual eggs, cereal, fruit, pastries, and waffles.  We were very surprised at how many other people were up eating breakfast by 7:30, including an American Airlines crew.  One people-watching observation so far: nearly everyone here, both residents and tourists, are bilingual except us.

Today we drove east of San Juan to the town of Rio Grande where El Yunque National Forest is located.  El Yunque is the only rainforest on U.S. soil.  We drove on PR 191 through 11km of windy roads in the rainforest to reach Palo Colorado Visitor’s Center.  Apparently the access roads and trails were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s to give migrant workers jobs and make the park more accessible.  For a place that receives tons of rain, everything was in great condition.

We decided to hike the El Yunque Trail in hopes of reaching the highest point.  We set out around 10am, and for the first hour we were on a well-defined, but rocky uphill path by ourselves.  With the humidity, we both felt slightly out of shape, especially towards the beginning.  It was a pleasant walk underneath the canopy of the rainforest.  Not really many signs of wildlife except for some lizards/salamanders and the sound of bird or frogs in the distance.  At one intersection, we saw that our trail was under construction and so we took the Mt. Britton Spur that brought us out to the access road to the top.  Although it wasn’t exactly where we wanted to be, it actually worked out fine.  We were able to climb the Mt. Britton tower and get a great view of the top where we were heading, as well as the green hills and seaside towns in the distance.

From the service paved road, it took only 20-30 min. to reach the top.  Although much shorter than the path we could have hiked, the road rose pretty steeply and we weren’t protected from the sun as much.  Just before the peak, we passed several radio towers.  Then we were able to continue to two lookout points.  Roque Yunque was the first.  We scaled a rock for a beautiful view of the beaches and towns at Rio Grande and Luquillo below.  It was clear enough that we could also see San Juan in the distance to the west.  At the peak of the forest, 3,543 feet high, we had a 360 view of the rainforest behind us, Mt. Britton Tower below, and the same view from Roque Yunque.  It was definitely worth the hike for the interesting vegetation in the rainforest and this view at the top.

In the interest of time, we decided to take the service road back down to the well traveled Mt. Britton Trail, and then walked part of PR191 back to the Visitor’s Center in just an hour’s time.  It was already 1:15 by the time we reached the bottom, but we decided that while we were here we should check out La Mina Falls.  It only took about 20min. along the Mina River to hike down to where the waterfall was located.  Lots of people were having snacks on the rocks, and swimming at the base of the falls.  Still hot and sweaty from our hike, we decided to go in.  I made a quick, tricky change into my bathing suit and I was the first one in!  I was shocked that the water was actually refreshing and not freezing cold like the falls in Hawaii, Mariana Falls in Cape Breton or even Diana’s Bath in NH.  The water at the base was rocky in places, but never over my head.  I was able to touch the bottom, which was helpful since there was a current from the powerful falls.  I actually stayed in long enough for Joe to take some pictures to prove that I really went in!  The only difficult part was getting out.  I slipped on the rocks climbing out and got a nice bruise.  Oh well…I’d say it was pretty cool to be able to swim at the bottom of a waterfall so it was worth it!  The hike back was all up stairs and ramps but it didn’t take long.  We were back at the car in under 30 min.

Our other goal for the day was to find the beach.  We decided to check out the nearby Luquillo Beach.  Excellent decision even if we only made it there for 2 hours!  This is clearly where all the locals hang out as the lots were full of people tailgating and playing music.  Tons of food kiosks line the road in front of the beach selling essentially all the same things…drinks and tasty fried snacks.  We decided to park in the free lots here and try some chicken and beef pastelitos and pane de carne (like arranchini).  Brought our snacks out to the beach where Joe could also enjoy a Medallia beer to go with them.

After lunch, we spent a while in the bath water.  Joe has finally learned that he has to take me to Carribean or the Mediterranean if he wants any chance of getting me in the water!  Wished the sun wasn’t going down so fast because we were having such a good time relaxing here.  Took a walk towards the palm tree lined portion of Luquillo where the bathhouses are and took lots of pictures of the cloudy sunset.  The only complaint we had was that it was only 6pm and the sun was already down signaling the end of a beautiful day.

Once again we hit traffic and it took twice as long to get back to the hotel.  Thought it would be nice to take advantage of all the hotel has to offer so we went to the hot tub for a half hour to relax before dinner.  Tonight we were determined to find Metropol, a local chain that serves Puerto Rican and Cuban food that we had heard a lot about.  We spotted the billboard next to our hotel, but for some reason we thought the restaurant was further away.  Took a minor detour down all of Isla Verde (got our only real view of this beach in the dark) until we realized that restaurant might very well be next to our hotel.  Sure enough, we found it almost hidden behind the cockfighting ring and night club. 

Dinner was worth the effort it took to get there.  Joe loved his Cubajito (“mojito and Cuba Libre mixed into one glorious drink”) and we really enjoyed the arroz con pollo that you have to be willing to wait 45 min. to get.  While we waited, we had complimentary garlic bread and ordered empanadillas with some kind of ketchup/mayo/mustard dip that reminded me of a McDonald’s hamburger.  The arroz con pollo serving was so big that we ended up with two take home containers.  Really wished we had found this place last night because our dinner tonight was only $3 more than last night and ten times better!  It was the perfect ending to a great day.