When I woke up on January 2nd I had no idea what was in store for me. At seven a.m. I awoke to my alarm going off as usual. After a short breakfast we were off to the rainforest of El Yunque in Northeastern Puerto Rico. On the ride there “Papo” our master tour guide proceeded to tell us all kinds of interesting facts about El Yunque. He related to us that the rainforest received as much as 250” of rain a year.
Given all of the rain that falls there it makes for a incredibly slippery paths and rocks. In fact while I was trying to be daring to get a good photo of a nearby stream I slipped and nearly fell in, luckily some rocks prevented me from sliding to a watery demise. Having been bested by the river boulders I moved on.
I continued to trudge throughout El Yunque where our other tour guide (and personal favorite) Jose proceeded to impart some knowledge. Jose began by telling me that there were only three mammals that were inhabitants of the rainforest and only one of them was native! The Spanish brought over rats from their boats and to fix this problem the people of the island introduced the mongoose. At first glance this might seem like a wonderful idea but, alas it was not. You see the rats are nocturnal and the mongoose is not. They literally never see one another. Fail.
The other Mammal is the bat whom “Papo” said was the only native species to the forest. Papo also told me that there are 13 species of bats on the island and that 11 of them live in El Yunque!
Needless to say the experience I had in El Yunque was unlike anything I have ever done. It was simply amazing. I really feel that it was the highlight of the trip so far (even better than the New Years party at La Concha, thanks Vince!) If you come to Puerto Rico you must absolutely go to the U.S.'s only rainforest El Yunque!
The rat and the mongoose story was priceless and it is a good one to tell again. El Yunque was priceless.
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