Jungle Fever, part 1

We spent a couple of days in Rincon, then drove back through San Juan to get to the rainforest on the east side of the island. I have to confess, I really liked Rincon and would love to go back, maybe when the kids are older and a little more accomplished in surfing. The drive was a bit long and brutal, mainly because there was so much traffic. There were times that we were slowed to a crawl, and it never seemed to end. The worst of it was in San Juan, and the trip took us several hours. The kids were miserable, I felt bad.

We arrived in Luquillo in the afternoon and had to meet up with the woman who owns the house in jungle. She’s an expat from who knows where who has been living in this area for 30 years. Amazing how people end up where they end up. Her husband is a surfer, and for the record, the waves were pretty good on this end of the island. I didn’t know they surfed here, I figured the surfing was isolated to Rincon. Good to know.

We spent a couple of days in the rainforest, and believe me when I tell you, it’s the real deal, pretty impressive stuff. I felt like I was in the Amazon, not that I’ve ever been there. It was actually pretty impressive, and you don’t really think about it, but PR is pretty darn lush. The rainforests are pretty extensive, and there is a lot to see. Plus, because we aren’t in South America, it’s pretty manageable, and we don't have to worry about cannibalistic warriors, malaria, or piranhas. The forest is overseen by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, so the roads are well maintained, which may diminish the authenticity of the experience for some, but that's fine by me.

We were only there for a couple of days, but that was enough to get a sense of the place. It rained quite a bit, and the cacophony from the wildlife was amazing. The first night I couldn’t sleep because the noise was deafening. The coqui frogs were going off. The last time I was in PR, some of the locals were telling me that the coqui is sort of the national animal. There are several specie endemic to the island, and coqui is the popular name for them. The moniker represents the sound they make, and once the sun goes down, they go crazy, and believe me, it was loud.

As I mentioned, between the frogs and the thundering sound of the rain, I couldn’t sleep, though I guess we were getting our full rainforest/jungle experience. It reminded me of living in NYC, the constant noise that you eventually drown out.

We woke up the next morning to very pleasant conditions, with a cool breeze to tone down the heat. I think we are on the cusp of the hot season, so the weather hasn’t been too bad. If anything, I think the weather has been nice, both in Rincon and in Luquillo. We had some food for breakfast, and then went for a little adventure in the jungle. The roads are winding and steep, so we had to take them slowly, but we found some beautiful scenery. The jungle is amazingly lush, and there are beautiful waterfalls and rivers.

We found a nice spot along the river and went for a swim. The water felt great, and the kids had fun climbing the boulders and skipping rocks. We were getting the most of our rainforest experience. Now I’m guessing the rainforests are pretty extensive because PR is fairly mountainous and we were only on a small part of the island, but it was really nice.

After a long swim, we jumped back in the car and headed up the road to see waterfalls and explore more of the forest. After our big rainforest adventure, we headed into the town of Luquillo to get some food and check out the beach, but that’s a story for another time.

Until then, thanks for reading.