El Yunque & The Beach

Today was scheduled to be an all day field trip. We were going to go from sea level to a height of approximately 1800 feet in the El Yunque rainforest and then return literally to sea level at the beach at Luquillo, or Balneario of Liqullo, on the Atlantic Ocean.


This is where I picked up a small booklet on El Yunque.


We met at the Portico at 8am and boarded the van for the trip to El Yunque. El Yunque is the only tropical forest in the U.S. National Forest system. Dr. Ignacio Olazagasti accompanied us on the trip and provided an ongoing description of where we were going and what we would be seeing. He also answered questions from the class. Ignacio provided a wealth of information durng the trip.

We headed eastward on a route that had the Atlantic Ocean to our left, and the natural fauna of the Island on our right. We passed through some some small towns and eventually drove through what Ignacio termed a typical Puerto Rico small town. It had the church as the center of town as well as the gas station and other small shops. Gas was selling at approximately $.69 to $.71 per liter. So if you multiply that by about 3, you can get a ballpark estimate of what gas costs per gallon. It's a little bit cheaper here than at home.

We headed for the town of Rio Grande, which bills itself as the home of El Yunque. The Puerto Rican Travel Planner that we were given upon arrival states that forty- five percent of the Caribbean National Forest (El Yunque) is within the municipal boundry of Rio Grande. It also states that this area is the wettest area in Puerto Rico with over 120 inches of annual rainfall. It was here that we began our ascent up El Yunque. The roads were narrow and in some places extremely windy. We eventually parked and began walking a narrow trail through the rainforest. The humidity was not as bad as I expected it to be. In fact, with the breezes, it was actually comfortable. I saw all types of fauna. Some had leaves as big as a small person. I found out that bats are the only mammals native to the forest.

I took some video in the forest, but at some places I was shooting blind because of the footing on the narrow trail. I bought a small guide for El Yunque, but for as well done as it is, you cannot understand the magnificance of the rainforest unless you actually see it and hear it yourself.

There are loads of research topics that could be taken from the rainforest. The book points out that many of the medications we take today come from the rainforest, cortisone being one of them. Others are used to treat heart disease, leukemia, and nervouse disorders. The book also states that only a fraction of the more than half-milliion plants that grow in the rainforests have been investigated in the labs. This topic could be of use in biology or chemistry classes.

We then packed up and headed back down to the beach - specifically Luquillo Beach. The beach had a curved shape to it which provided very calm waters. the planning guide described it as "a mile-long stretch of sculpted sand against a backdrop of massive palm trees. Further out you could see waves breaking in the open sea, but on the beach, they just rolled in as if you were on a tranquil bay, but Ignacio told me it was indeed the ocean. This beach is known as a balnearios, which is a government run beach with parking, restroom/shower facilities, life guards, and snack bars. I didn't see any lifeguards and you could literally drive the van onto the beach, which we did.

Coconut/Palm Trees Along the Beach








Notice the fish in the cooler.


Ignacio holding court during lunch.

The snack bars were also called kiosks. There was a strip of them perhaps the length of 2 football fields. You could probably compare it to what we might call the "boardwalk" at a beach at home. Not all of them were open though. We had lunch at the first one on the end. Our driver then parked the van on the beach. From what THe kiosk that we selected was a good move. It was the largest for seating and food selection. It also appeared to be the cleanest and safest, which I confirmed when I went exploring the length of the kiosks. Everybody had lunch then did their own thing. I walked the entire length of the kiosks checking out the area. As I got away from our location, the litter seemed to increase on the walks and road. There were quite a bit of empty beer bottles, both intact and smashed on the ground. There didn't appear to be any concerted effort to maintain this area despite how beautiful the beach was.






At 3pm we met at the van, which you can see is literally parked on the beach, and headed back to school.

Later that evening several of us went into El Viejo San Juan. I had asked Ignacio where I could find a genuine gift or artifact from Puerto Rico -- not something made in China. He gave me the name of a shop that he says he uses for genuine Puerto Rican works when he exchanges gifts with others. I came up with a ceramic figure depicting a carnival mask. I had it shipped home. It was fragile and told the sales guy that while I am sure they do a good job of packing and shipping things; U.S. Airways does an even better job of throwing things. So I paid the extra money to have it sent home and hopefully arrive in one piece. Some examples of the artwork in that store are: