Puerto Rico!! Part 5--El Junque

When we arrived back in the Fajardo, the rental car company van was waiting, and shortly we were on our way to El Junque. A few years ago we visited the Caribbean National Forest, but it was shortly after a hurricane had severely damaged parts of the park and we were not able to tour much of it. (As of April 2nd, the official name of the park is "El Yunque National Forest."

Our first stop was the Yokahu Tower, which was closed on our previous visit. This tower was built by the CCC back in the 1930's and it provides a fabulous view of the sea and the surrounding countryside.



















After a quick stop to consult a map, we headed to the end of the Mt. Britton trail. The hike up to the Mt. Britton tower is easier than it looks--that's the tower at the top of the mountain in the picture on the left. The trails in the park are textured concrete and rocks, not very wide but providing good traction even when wet (most of the time).






































Since it was not raining on this particular day, we could see the seashore and also the outskirts of San Juan (not shown).














































We still had some energy left, so we decided to return to La Mina falls, a spot we had visited 6 years earlier. This time it wasn't Sunday so we went for a dip in the falls--very cold.




















































At the end of the day, we drove to the Ceiba Country Inn where we spent the night, dozing off to the sound of Coqui frogs.



















In the morning, we drove around the Northeastern corner of Puerto Rico, then went to Luquillo beach for a couple of hours. There is not snorkeling, but the beach is lovely, located on the former site of a coconut palm plantation.



















Sadly, it was time to return home after a memorable stay.