EL YUNQUE: HIKING IN THE RAINFOREST
- Luis G.
- Jul 8, 2016
- 2 min read
Early in the morning we headed out on the one hour and a half drive from Manati to El Yunque. Halfway to El Yunque, we stopped at the Old San Juan to have some breakfast.
(TIP: Take the toll-road and carry lots of quarters to pay at the stations. Its about a dollar for every 15-20 miles of toll-road)
The route we took was beautiful, the luscious greens and bodies of water mesmerized you as if it was the scene of a Hollywood movie.
Finally at around 11:00am we arrived at El Yunque National park and started driving up the mountain. At about half way up we stopped to checkout the Yokahu tower observation point. We climbed to the top and the sight was breathtaking. A 360 degree view of nothing but jungles and nature as far as the eye could see. Also, we got to climbed up to La Coca falls on our way up to the trail head.
Our next stop was the parking lot to the entrance of the hiking trail that leads to Las Minas waterfall. It is about a 2-3 mile hike through the jungle to get to the waterfall but all of it; The humidity, the heat, the mosquito, the distance, all of this is nothing compared to the wonderful sight and feeling you get when you are immerse in the middle of the jungle. There is so much to see at every turn and around every corner there's something amazing waiting to be seen.
When we finally arrived at las minas waterfall there was about 20 people there which surprised us because we were told there is usually about 100+ people there. I guess we got lucky or just got there earlier than most. We jumped into the water that seemed like a brick of ice since we were walking for a couple of miles in the heat and what it seemed like 80% or more humidity. After the initial shock of the cold water, as your body cools down the water starts to feel warmer as your body adapts to the temperature, in about 5 minutes the water feels like heaven. We went under the waterfall and and took some pictures and relaxed for a few minutes.
After an hour or so of enjoying the water, we got out and explored the surroundings. We took the trail and headed back hiking down the mountain. On our way down we noticed all the locals were wearing this funny hat made out of this gigant tree leaf. It is the Puerto Rican mimi hat on Disney or the chullo in Peru. It looked really cool to wear one that we had to make one. Before heading back to Manati we had to stop at a local shop and buy coconut water to hydrate and help the locals.
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