More El Yunque ~ Other People's Vacation Pics

Jezabelle watches us leave... again!

Weren't we just here?  Yes, we were here just two weeks ago with our kids!  Now we're back with our best travel buddies, Robert and Kathy.  El Yunque is simply a "must do" when you come to Puerto Rico.  Bruce and I are realizing that when we have guests, we're going to get to repeat some of the favorite tourist attractions again and again.  Luckily, we don't mind at all because, like the beach walks, no two are identical.

Mountain Water

On the trail to Juan Diego Falls

Once again we were up and out the door for a full day of touristing, this time with Robert at the wheel.  We scratched Jezabelle on the head at the door and took off with one short stop at the mountain spring water pipe.  This water comes straight down from the mountain sources and is sweet and clean.

Not long after that, we're at the entrance to El Yunque once again.  This time the park wasn't as crowded so we found great parking at some of the earlier stops.  These are things we didn't get to see with Melissa and Michael so we were excited!

Robert beginning the climb...

Yeah, we'll just sit here and watch!

First stop was the pool at Juan Diego Falls!  There were quite a few people there enjoying the pool and climbing the falls.  Robert is our fearless one, so he climbed the falls to see what was up there while Bruce, Kathy and I sat on a log in the shade watching the antics of the kids in the water.  It's cool here in the mountains, but the dappled sunlight warmed our skin and the sounds of rushing falls and laughter filled our ears.  It's just simply nice here!

Juan Diego Falls, El Yunque

He made it!

Robert went back from the edge where there is a second falls and another pool.  He said there were a few people up there, and he showed us the pictures.  We're just fine with that!

Next stop... Britton Tower Trail!

Bruce and I did this rather long hike with Melissa and Michael.  This time, we hung back and waited at the rest stop while Robert and Kathy went on alone.  I was much more interested in taking photos of the flora and fauna of the park than I was in taking another sweaty hike!

 I snapped away, enjoying the way the sun filters through the trees.  When I was done taking photos, we sat and just listened.

If you try, you can filter out the happy voices of the other visitors and just hear the forrest.  The quiet is loud!  It's like the trees are whispering continuously, punctuated by the odd Coqui with the double "co"... Co Co QUI!

The quiet trail between groups.

A rustle nearby alerted me to our inquisitive little friend...

We could see the tower high atop the mountain.  That's where Robert and Kathy went...

A small group of visitors stopped and shared the cool shade of the rest stop with us.  We enjoyed conversation with them until Robert and Kathy returned.  They made the hike in much less time than we did with the kids, even with the picnic stop!  We said goodbye to our fellow travellers and returned to the car to continue on...







...to El Baño Grande!  Wait, what?  Doesn't Baño mean bathroom???  Well actually... it does, and it doesn't!  In this instance it means pool (Which is also called a picina).  No wonder I'm having such a hard time learning Puerto Rican Spanish!

Kathy taking a photo of me, taking a photo of them!

Robert and Kathy next to the "boat rock"

I know... help that boy pick out some clothes!

Bruce and I were happy to accompany our friends to the top of the next viewing tower, the Yokahú tower!  There is no hike except for the one up the winding staircase, then you still get a stunning view from the top!

Well that's the end of the tour and the photos from the rest of the day are mundane.  We stopped at a tiny hardware store on the way out to pick up some toilet parts.  Seems we always have some sort of toilet malfunction when Robert and Kathy are visiting... no fault of theirs!  But Robert is awesome and fixed it for us!  He's on the A-list for sure!

Click on this photo to see ALL of the pics from this day!