El Yunque

What was supposed to be a 4-night camping trip got cut short by the enormous amount of rain we got during our first night in El Yunque.

We got our (free!) camping permit and so the three of us trekked up to the top of the mountain. You are allowed to camp anywhere, but they recommended further towards the top, where there were less trails and roads and we'd have more privacy.

We searched around for a while for a good spot, and unfortuantely since it was getting dark in a hurry, we just settled for the closest one. The camping in El Yunque is not a campground, but more just public land, so we had to leave the truck behind and hike down a hill with all our supplies.

Hotdogs, beans and red wine and our bellies full we went off to bed!

It was a very noisy night!!! Lots and lots of coqui frogs and many other strange noises kept up on edge for a little while until sleep took us.. Alpen was an angel and woke us up when she needed to go outside.

The next day we woke up to our tent being saturated.. we packed up as quickly as we could and since we were already soaked to the bone, we decided to hike to La Mina Falls. The vegetation here is so lush and beautiful and a lot of wildlife lives here! My sandals broke on the way down so I had to continue the hike barefoot, but by that time my feet were wet anyway so it didnt matter.

By the time we got home, they'd cast flood and storm warnings for El Yunque so it was a very good thing we got out of there! It was a good "snapshot" of the rainforest which has only whetted our appetite and we're eager to go back for more when its nicer weather!