It's El Yunque rain forest and Fajardo's Lagunas Grande bioluminescent bay Day.
Or EYRFFLGBB for short.
Trying saying either one of those ten times fast.
We started the day with a marching band. In retrospect, it was appropriate for the adventure ahead. We were meeting our ride at the statue of Christopher Columbus, and there was a band, with marching and batons and everything. It was a great way to start the day. I love it when something spontaneous like that happens.
Then it was off to the rainforest.
El Yunque is the only tropical rain forest in the U.S. Forest System. As happens in rain forests, El Yunque receives over 200 inches of rain each year. This is the home of the coqui tree frog, endangered green parrots, giant snails, and thousands of native plants. Giant ferns and tiny lizards. The green parrot was down to 19 birds in 1967 - they are coming back, with some serious help, of course.
We hiked through the forest, saw two waterfalls, and lots of snails.
Overall, it was a great trip!
Or EYRFFLGBB for short.
Trying saying either one of those ten times fast.
We started the day with a marching band. In retrospect, it was appropriate for the adventure ahead. We were meeting our ride at the statue of Christopher Columbus, and there was a band, with marching and batons and everything. It was a great way to start the day. I love it when something spontaneous like that happens.
Then it was off to the rainforest.
El Yunque is the only tropical rain forest in the U.S. Forest System. As happens in rain forests, El Yunque receives over 200 inches of rain each year. This is the home of the coqui tree frog, endangered green parrots, giant snails, and thousands of native plants. Giant ferns and tiny lizards. The green parrot was down to 19 birds in 1967 - they are coming back, with some serious help, of course.
We hiked through the forest, saw two waterfalls, and lots of snails.
After lunch, we headed towards Fajardo and the Lagunas Grande to see some glowing plankton. There are an estimated twelve bio bays in the world, and Puerto Rico has three of them. To be honest, I'd never heard of this natural phenmomen until I started looking up things to see and do in Puerto Rico. The glowing blue light is produced by microscopic algae (dinoflagellates) that emit tiny flashes when the water is disturbed. It is best to see it on overcast nights, from a kayak. We got the kayak, but the sky was clear and there was a gorgeous full moon.
But first, let's get into the kayak, shall we?
Here's how this works. They tell you that you shouldn't bring cameras or anything, because you might get wet. They don't tell you that you need to wade into the bay up to your waist in choppy water and lug yourself ass-first into a bobbing kayak. Then we had to battle the sea as we attempted to paddle across the bay into the mangrove forest, with the wind coming strong from the right of us. I was so glad that I'd been doing those personal training sessions - my arms got a serious workout. K and I worked well together, good cooperation and communication - essential when you are avoiding tipping over.
But first, let's get into the kayak, shall we?
Here's how this works. They tell you that you shouldn't bring cameras or anything, because you might get wet. They don't tell you that you need to wade into the bay up to your waist in choppy water and lug yourself ass-first into a bobbing kayak. Then we had to battle the sea as we attempted to paddle across the bay into the mangrove forest, with the wind coming strong from the right of us. I was so glad that I'd been doing those personal training sessions - my arms got a serious workout. K and I worked well together, good cooperation and communication - essential when you are avoiding tipping over.
K and I glided into the curvy canal through the mangrove forest. It was a quiet, fairytale place. The roots dip into the water, looking like long legged ladies, elegantly arching above us. It was lovely. We wound through the canal, making sharp turns and avoiding the pointy branches...until.
Until we hit a very strong current that pushed us towards the right of the canal. We kept paddling left, right until we hit the trees and we both leaned left to avoid getting poked by sharp branches. That was a mistake. We were in the water, fighting the current, the ropes holding our oars and the mangroves. Now, during our orientation we'd been told that if we tipped into the canal, we could just stand up and get back in the kayak, because the canal wasn't very deep. I'm nearly 5'10", and I couldn't get my feet under me. The kayak was upside down, my feet were being pulled under it due to the current, and K ended up tangled in the oar ropes, which then got tangled in the mangrove roots under the water. It wasn't pretty.
K held onto a tree, I tried to move the kayak to a shallower space, but we were just too tangled. The guides came by and finally got us unhooked. We muscled our way back into the kayak (again, thank god I'd been doing those upper body work outs!). The guide paddled alongside us, then said, "Oh, and when we get out to the bay, I'll patch that up." He was indicating my leg. I looked down and had two eight inch cuts running down my right shin. I'd been attacked by mangrove roots.
K said, "For two people who didn't want to go swimming, we sure are wet!"
I just bled out while we continued paddling to the Bio Bay. Which was totally worth the dunking we'd just had. It got darker and darker and as we dipped our oars into the water, it would glow blue around them. We could sprinkle the water onto our dark clothing and watch it glow for a few seconds. It was magical. Even with the full moon - which really only enhanced the view from the dark bay - we were able to see this amazing natural phenomenon.
Then it was time to paddle back through the mangrove canal - in the dark.
In. The. Dark.
I can't speak for K, but I was very nervous about tipping over on the way back. In the dark, tipping over would mean pretty much terrifying chaos. The guides would flash occasional lights during the hairpin turns, but that was it. We made it through - again, I was thankful for a good kayaking partner.
We got back to old San Juan late, and were hot, sticky and had been dunked in a mangrove canal. We visited the drug store first, for antiseptic and bandages for me. But we were hungry. We enjoyed our last dinner in San Juan with Puerto Rican tapas and drinks. A beans and rice croquette is so much better than it sounds.
Until we hit a very strong current that pushed us towards the right of the canal. We kept paddling left, right until we hit the trees and we both leaned left to avoid getting poked by sharp branches. That was a mistake. We were in the water, fighting the current, the ropes holding our oars and the mangroves. Now, during our orientation we'd been told that if we tipped into the canal, we could just stand up and get back in the kayak, because the canal wasn't very deep. I'm nearly 5'10", and I couldn't get my feet under me. The kayak was upside down, my feet were being pulled under it due to the current, and K ended up tangled in the oar ropes, which then got tangled in the mangrove roots under the water. It wasn't pretty.
K held onto a tree, I tried to move the kayak to a shallower space, but we were just too tangled. The guides came by and finally got us unhooked. We muscled our way back into the kayak (again, thank god I'd been doing those upper body work outs!). The guide paddled alongside us, then said, "Oh, and when we get out to the bay, I'll patch that up." He was indicating my leg. I looked down and had two eight inch cuts running down my right shin. I'd been attacked by mangrove roots.
K said, "For two people who didn't want to go swimming, we sure are wet!"
I just bled out while we continued paddling to the Bio Bay. Which was totally worth the dunking we'd just had. It got darker and darker and as we dipped our oars into the water, it would glow blue around them. We could sprinkle the water onto our dark clothing and watch it glow for a few seconds. It was magical. Even with the full moon - which really only enhanced the view from the dark bay - we were able to see this amazing natural phenomenon.
Then it was time to paddle back through the mangrove canal - in the dark.
In. The. Dark.
I can't speak for K, but I was very nervous about tipping over on the way back. In the dark, tipping over would mean pretty much terrifying chaos. The guides would flash occasional lights during the hairpin turns, but that was it. We made it through - again, I was thankful for a good kayaking partner.
We got back to old San Juan late, and were hot, sticky and had been dunked in a mangrove canal. We visited the drug store first, for antiseptic and bandages for me. But we were hungry. We enjoyed our last dinner in San Juan with Puerto Rican tapas and drinks. A beans and rice croquette is so much better than it sounds.
Overall, it was a great trip!
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