El Yunque
Monday morning we woke up early, and at 9 am a small van came to pick us up for a tour to the rainforest in Puerto Rico. It's the only real rainforest in the US National Forest System, and neither Sasha or I had ever been in a rainforest. The name of the forest is El Yunque, and it's located at the east side of the island. Rain coming from the Atlantic Ocean first hits the island's mountain rim so there the most rain falls, forming the conditions for a tropical rainforest.
There are no large mammals in the rainforest. Puerto Rico started as a vulcanic island, so it never had any physical connection with the main land. There are some interesting exotic elements in the forest: humans brought over bamboo trees from Asia (to reduce erosing near the roads in the forest), and there are a lot of small pink flowers that are originally from Africa.
A national symbol of Puerto Rico is the coqui, a little frog that makes a very characteristic sound, more like a bird than a frag.
We spent about three hours in the rainforest and a visitors center, a very interesting morning. Later the tour guide brought us to a local shop in the forest, where they served "authentic Puerto Rican food". When we looked at the menu and how the place looked liked and smelled, we decided that it would probably be better to try authentic Puerto Rican found in a less "authentic" restaurant.
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El Yunque
's mooi daar. Vreemde planten en geheimzinnige bomen. Dat zoogdier dat op zijn achterpoten loopt is inderdaad erg vreemd. Lijkt me wel gevaarlijk zo'n vreemd beest. Schrok je niet vreselijk van dat dier? En Sasha, die is wel dapper, maar dit is haar toch te afschuwelijk lijkt me.