The "Forest of Clouds" Story

Sign for the El Portal Visitors Center.

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting a few rows behind Hymie, our driver and tour guide, in his small bus on our way to the El Yunque National Forest on the island of Puerto Rico.  What was once established as the Luquillo Reserve in 1903 was renamed Caribbean National Forest in 1935 and then El Yunque National Forest in 2007.  

The El Portal Visitors Center 

El Yunque is the only tropical rain forest in the United States National Forest System and its name may be attributed to either an aboriginal Taino (native Indian) word yu-ke, which means "white lands," or the word "anvil," which is yunque in Spanish.  El Yunque is located on the slopes of the Sierre de Luquillo mountains, encompassing 28,000 acres of land which make it the largest area of public land in Puerto Rico.  The park receives over 200 inches of rain a year, in some areas, which is created in some parts by the trade winds from the Atlantic assaulting the mountains.  We traveled about half an hour from our hotel in San Juan to El Yunque's El Portal Visitors Center where we exited the bus and watched a short film on the rain forest.  

Our tour guide, Hymie, showing a tree variety.

After a quick visit to the gift shop Hymie talked about some of the vegetation and flowers in the nearby area.  The trumpet tree, coffee tree, ginger tree, bread fruit tree, banana tree and tree fern were just a few of the surrounding items we saw.  Then on our way back to the bus Hymie pointed out an enormous termite nest in a tree.  

Termite nest in a tree with tubes leading from it to the ground.

Mud tubes led from the ground to the nest and when Hymie brushed a tube, termites exited.  Our tour today will take us to various locations throughout the forest, but there are other tours that take you along a multitude of trails with one trail that takes you to the peak of the rainforest.  Needless to say, people with any type of medical problems should be happy with a bus tour through the rain forest.  

The La Coca Falls with little water flow.

Back in the bus, we made our next stop at the La Coca Falls which were without the cascading fall of water due to less rain in the last day or two.  We then made our way to the Yokahu Observation Tower where you could see to the coast through the clouds.  It was at this point that the rains came .... and the borrowed umbrella from our resort which I so loyally brought with me, was in the bus.  Hymie assisted Carol back to the bus with his umbrella while I absorbed the rain.  During our time at Yokahu we had the chance to see some of the wildlife in the rainforest when we spotted a hummingbird and a few geckos of various colors.  Allegedly there are Puerto Rican Parrots, the Coqui tree frog and the non-venomous Puerto Rican Boas, but we didn't spot any of them.  Our final stop took us to the La Mina Trail which is a trail made in the 1930s by workers who earned 50 cents a day.  We wound endlessly through the forest which got its name from an Indian spirit, Yuquiye, which means "Forest of Clouds," then back to the bus.  A stop on the way back at an authentic Puerto Rican restaurant made the trip a unique and extremely interesting tour.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - click on photos to enlarge. Also, I'm sorry to say that many of my notes were made illegible by the rain so I have posted the following photos  without any ID.

 

A multitude of geckos of various colors.

The Yokahu Observatory

View from the top of the observatory.  A true "Forest of Clouds."

Rounded staircase.

One of a myriad of streams.

The La Mina Trail constructed in the 1930s.

Since much of the rainforest is on rock, the roots of the trees and plants grow above ground on the rocks. 

The names and initials of the workers who built the trail.

Hymie walking in front of us.

Bamboo as thick as your arm.