Yesterday, we went on a tour of El Yunque National forest. Pretty amazing place. The day started with the usual craziness including, trying to find the Westin (we had to drive to the Westin to meet the tour). Then once we were on the bus, we were taken off the bus because our tour voucher was different from the rest of the people (there was a MetLife convention going on at the other hotel). But very shortly, we were returned to the bus. Craziness.
The tour was great though. The tour guide, Manny, was entertaining and a reasonably knowledgeable about the area. Some interesting facts: the park was established in 1903. The area gets 200+ inches of rain per year (it did rain lightly on us while we were there, but for the most part it was gorgeous weather). We saw among other things, bananas, coffee (hmmm... coffee), numerous "house" plants, palms, ferns, teak, snails, and a walking stick.
We hiked down to a waterfall as a group. Some of the group was slower, but it forced us to keep a leisurely pace. At the waterfall, after a little hesitation, I swam around a bit. The water was not heated, but the air was a warm 80 something. It was fun and refreshing. Though I dealt with damp clothes for hours afterwards (I am guessing in Colorado, I would have dried out in an hour or so).
While leaving the rain forest, we bought some fried "tacos" at a roadside stand. Yummy!
