We started the day early, thinking that we could catch the ferry and go to the island of Viques for the day.unfortunately, the line for ferry tickets was very, very long and our chances of getting aboard we're next to impossible. And so, we switched to plan B and headed for the El Yunque Rain Forest for a hike to be followed by a swim at Loquillo Beach.
The El Yunque Rain Forest is a cool, mountainous, sub tropical rainforest.
The true sub tropical 'Rain forest' occupies very little area in Puerto Rico, only a single, crescent shaped, band on the windward side of the El Yunque mountains. It lies wholly within the El Yunque National Forest Reserve. This life zone is characterized by an annual total of 3,400 mm of rain.
The trade winds blow from the north east and these mountains ( 3,500 ft elev. ) are in the north easternmost part of Puerto Rico. As the warm moist air rises when it meets the mountains and cools off, it dumps the rain...and intensifies the wind.
We hiked the steep Mt. Britton Trail which ended at an observation tower from which we could see the ocean when the mist cleared for a few seconds. The hike down was much easier than the trek up.
A stop at the beach for a swim was very refreshing.
When we returned to the condo I made malanga chips. Malanga is a root vegetable native to the tropics. When I saw it Ralph's (the local grocery store) I was intrigued and decided to buy it and then figure out how to cook it. Thanks to online recipes, the chips were a hit.
Tomorrow: Seven Seas Beach.
1 comment:
What's on the menu...are those two ladies on an eating frenzy after experiencing a harrowing drive? They look happy...being silly is fun!
BB
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