Day 2, Puerto Rico: el Yunque National Forest and Fajardo bioluminescent bay.
This was the day we had the most planned. When we're traveling just the two of us, we like to keep our days pretty loose and unplanned because it's opposite of normal life. We also have a rule that if we go one way into something and there's an alternative way out, we have to try it. We have a "just say yes" policy, since, again, in real life, it feels like we're constantly saying no. Ask our kids, they would agree. (BTW if you're wondering where our kids are- they are with their extremely capable and fun grandparents back home, having a marvelous time).
So, the first thing we did after we ate the best oatmeal we've ever had at that cool bakery I described in the last post, was drive to the glorious, breathtaking el Yunque National Forest.
I'm a sucker for mountains because I don't have any where I live. And this one is covered in rainforest, so it's pretty much the most best thing I've ever seen.
Here, we saw BOTH tropical flora AND fauna. The individual leaves on the trees are larger than my head (see?) and we saw lizards (iguanas are the road kill here, and hang in all the trees) and all kinds of birds.
We accidentally sort of GPS'd our way to the back entrance of the park and then discretely (not actually) jumped into a guided tour that was going up an unmarked trail. The trail was steep and not well groomed, so we straight-up climbed up the side of a rainforest mountian to go play in waterfalls. We were pretty high up, shocked by the beauty, when we could see an even steeper, higher falls. "I WANT TO GO TO THERE" I said, and so we did. We both felt like we'd really accomplished something after all this. It was exciting, and hard work.
Later, we found the big path that the tourists are SUPPOSED to take. It's paved and leads to a giant waterfall with about 300 people sharing the same cold pool at the bottom. We felt pretty awesome.
Then we dranks fresh coconut water straight out of the fresh fruits, opened by some dude with a machete.
So, then I had to pee a crazy lot and it was late afternoon and we hadn't eaten since early breakfast, and we'd burned, maybe 10 million calories climbing a freaking mountain (did you hear I climbed a mountain?), so we had to get somewhere fast to pee and eat. The first place we found was the fanciest of all the gigantic resorts, where all the fancy tourists stay. They reluctantly let us in, because we're pretty clearly hoi polloi.
To say it was posh is a gross understatement. I've never had the pleasure of urinating in a nicer latrine. Then we sat on a deck overlooking the pool that overlooked the ocean. You see, these tourists are SO fancy, they need to contain their fancy in a pool that is merely ocean-adjacent. They wouldn't want to get fish butt on their swanky swimsuits. That's my theory and I'm pretty sure it's right. We sat on the deck and ate and drank and fancy laughed and felt just like that scene in 'Pretty Woman' where she and her fellow prostitute eat brunch at the country club in high-wasted shorts and big hats. I actually had a(nother) cup of coffee at the end of fancy lunch so that I could ensure that I would need to poo in the fancy latrine before we left the property.
And it was everything I'd hoped for.
Then we headed to the little fishing town where the bioluminescent bay is. Once it was properly dark and late, we set out with our tour group in tandem kayaks to find the glowing plankton. The guides were very knowledgeable and educated us on this rare freak thing of nature. It's something about the mangrove trees and chemistry and dinoflagellates.
Well, it turns out the alge took over and the moon was too bright and the plankton were shy or whatever, so we barely saw any glowing plankton in the water. BUT(!!!) it was still one of the most thrilling experiences of my life, kayaking with Robb, a mile through a pitch black mangrove tree-lined channel. It was terrifying. It was SO dark, that the two-way traffic through this natural tunnel was downright dangerous.
For the second time that day, we felt like we'd Indiana Jones(d). It was really fun and exciting and something I'm so glad we shared. And did you catch the part about how we did a tandem kayak and no one died or divorced? That's an island miracle.
Then we dragged our exhausted butts back to San Juan to the hotel and I fell up these stairs here. I wasn't injured or anything, but it's a sophisticated 'floating staircase' so I definitely dropped my shoe into the koi pond below and Robb had to rescue it for me by balancing out on the feng shui ledge.
He's pretty much my hero this trip. He planned this whole thing and it's been spectacular, perfect. He also saved some koi from certain death. He's like Batman.
Day 3 includes beach and the forts of Old San Juan. Stay tuned or whatever.
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