El Yunque y Vieques

After completing our volunteer experience in San Juan, we rented a car and drove to the El Yunque rainforest, the only rainforest in the U.S.  We stayed in a cabin called the Sugar Shack (AirBnB) and were right on the edge of the rainforest.

Each day we trekked into the forest and explored waterfalls and trails that led to towers to see the amazing views.

If you go, you must use recreation.com to purchase entry tickets ($2.00).  They are controlling the number of visitors through this site.  We were able to get the tickets the day before at 8:00 am, when they offer a few tickets to late-comers.

Jon went down a natural water slide. He said it was great, but not designed like those ones in the water park. Therefore, it hurt. Bridget was already nursing some injuries, so she decided not to try it. The mango coconut limbers afterward were very tasty, though.

After El Yunque, we drove back to San Juan and took a puddle jumper to the island of Vieques, along with Culebra, these are known as the Puerto Rican or Spanish Virgin Islands.

 

Vieques has beautiful water that is great for snorkeling, which we did daily.

Wonderful beaches were within walking distance of our hotel.

Horses, and a cow apparently, roam the island.

We took a night kayak tour in a bioluminescent bay.  However, pictures were not possible, as we didn’t want our phones at the bottom of the bay.  We had a great time on the island and in the rainforest.