Our 12 hour-day started at 9am when the bus tour picked us up at the hotel. After picking up some other passengers, we drove east to the municipality of Fajardo, where we entered the National Park of El Yunque rainforest.
Right away were were told the rules: everything you are wearing will get muddy and wet, so leave the bus with only the necessary.
FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Yunque_National_Forest
El Yunque National Forest (Spanish: Bosque Nacional El Yunque), formerly known as the Caribbean National Forest (or Bosque Nacional del Caribe), is a forest located in northeastern Puerto Rico. While there are both temperate and tropical rainforests in other states and territories, it is the only tropical rainforest in the United States National Forest System and the United States Forest Service. El Yunque National Forest is located on the slopes of the Sierra de Luquillo mountains, encompassing more than 28,000 acres (43.753 mi2 or 113.32 km2) of land, making it the largest block of public land in Puerto Rico.
Team Canada - surrounded by Americans - ready!
The hike up and down the mountain to the waterfall is considerate moderate.
The challenge is not to slip... and to keep clean. Both impossible!
Although there are many groups coming and going all day, the traffic here moves pretty organized.
Although there are many groups coming and going all day, the traffic here moves pretty organized.
This is just the beginning.
My advice now: don't resist it! Embrace it!
The visitors in this tour had a couple of options: to stay relaxing in the lower poll, or to hike up another 10 minutes to go down in 10 seconds into a natural slide formed by volcanic activities.
That's me in this photo sliding down. Super fun!
FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Yunque_National_Forest
Ample rainfall (over 20 feet a year in some areas, or an average of 120 inches of water up to 240 inches of water a year) creates a jungle-like setting—lush foliage, crags, waterfalls, and rivers are a frequent sight. The forest has a number of trails from which the jungle-like territory's flora and fauna can be appreciated. El Yunque forest is also renowned for its unique Taíno petroglyphs. It is said that indigenous people believed that El Yunque was the throne of their chief god Yúcahu, so that it is the Caribbean equivalent to Mount Olympus in Greek mythology.
The tree roots are huge and gorgeous, forming natural walls and caves.
The visitors in this tour had a couple of options: to stay relaxing in the lower poll, or to hike up another 10 minutes to go down in 10 seconds into a natural slide formed by volcanic activities.
That's me in this photo sliding down. Super fun!
In the main pool there are here different cliffs you can jump off, up to 20 feet high.
Here is Juju jumping off the highest.
You can also jump off from a rope into the main pool, like Sofia is doing here.
The tour guides also take photos and videos and share with the visitors by the end of the tour.
Lunch was late, by 3pm, but delicious.
I wish I had gotten the name of the side of the road restaurant, with an adorable server named Dario and best great traditional Puerto Rican food.
Pulled pork with rice and beans.
From the restaurant we met another tour guide who took us to the second (and optional) part of the tour. We drove to the Laguna Grande (Big Lagoon) to see the bioluminescent bay.
FROM: https://www.discoverpuertorico.com/profile/laguna-grande-bioluminescent-bay/9055
Laguna Grande is located to the east of San Juan in the town of Fajardo and it's one of three bio-bays found in Puerto Rico. The blueish glowing effect in the waters is caused by dinoflagellates— microscopic organisms that react to any movement in the water by activating their glowing defense mechanism. When planning your visit to this natural wonder, keep in mind that the glowing effect is better appreciated on moonless nights, the darker the better!
Obviously my Iphone camera doesn't capture well the beautiful moon and the planet (?) right below it, but I tried.
We started the tour on sunset but pretty soon it was pitch black, which is a great experience kayaking into the mangrove.
Juju was in my team.
It took us a little while to get the hang of it, but we figured it out.
It's kind of funny to kayak in complete dark, with a bunch of inexperienced kayakers through lower tree branches and roots hanging, in a narrow mangrove corridor.
Bumpy but fun!
Bioluminescent bays or "bio bays" are bodies of water where microscopic organisms called dinoflagellates grow in quantities large enough to produce a "glow-in-the-dark" effect called bioluminescence. When you paddle or splash the water, these organisms shine in a neon blue-green color, making the water look as if it was lit by billions of glowing stars.
There are only five ecosystems in the world where the concentration of these dinoflagellates is high enough to be considered a bioluminescent bay, and Puerto Rico is home to three of them!
This is a photo I stole from a website.
No one was able to photograph the bioluminescent water last night, but this is more or less what you see when you touch and move the water, with a little less intensity.
The darker the better!
It's magical!
FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioluminescence
Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms Bioluminescence occurs in diverse organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria, dinoflagellates and terrestrial arthropods such as fireflies. In some animals, the light is bacteriogenic, produced by symbiotic bacteria such as those from the genus Vibrio;[2] in others, it is autogenic, produced by the animals themselves.
For me the stars were as fascinating as the bioluminescent water.
It was just a phenomenal experience to be with family, surrounded by powerful nature in a peaceful environment.
Unique.
