Girls On The Loose And Bruce ~ Rainforest Edition El Yunque
Banded Caracol
No way could we go back home without driving the 20 minutes more to visit the REAL El Yunque Rainforest!
But first, we take you to a continuation of our morning coffee hour. We are beginning to recognize the critters who hang out here!
This Banded Caracol snail has moved all of 8 inches in the 24 hours since we last looked in on him...
While we enjoyed this morning's coffee, and a brief rain, we chatted with our resident Romeo... This cute little Anole Cristatellus - the Puerto Rican Crested Anole. We have noticed that these Anoles come in a variety of shades and patterns, and their crests can vary as well. They also seem to be somewhat territorial, as we see the same lizards in the same places, day after day!
So this morning, just the same as yesterday, our Romeo was trying diligently to attract the favor of a certain petit brunette. Juliet is small, and cute as a button, with a really pretty design on her back. I think our Romeo is smitten. She, however, is still keeping her options open.
Juliet is at the bottom left, and that's Romeo top right.
For a solid 45 minutes, she never moved... while Romeo wandered around, doing pushups and puffing his dewlap, jumping around on dew covered leaves and taking a little sip of water now and then. Today, we have noticed another mating ritual! Every time Romeo is within sight of the female, he begins to wave his tail seductively. Even I got a little turned on...
While watching Romeo, we noticed that he has a busted nose, and we wondered what happened to him. He continued entertaining us with his antics, until suddenly, Juliet zipped across to the other side of the patio and disappeared around the back of the door! Romeo went over there, but she was still aloof, so he continued with his morning toilette. And then....
See Bruiser on the corner top. Romeo is behind the door bottom
I guess we know now what has happened to Romeo's snout! This beefy boy, Bruiser, appeared on the scene and Romeo fled back to the safety of his station behind the french door. From there, he could watch what was going on, but had plenty of notice should Bruiser decide to come rough him up some more.
Bruiser seemed confident in his virile superiority, and so began his pursuit of tiny Juliet unopposed... It was at this point, that we decided it was rude to continue with our documentary...
Bruiser has his eye on Juliet far below... I CAN'T LOOK!
LOOK!!! A BIRD!! This Reina Mora eyed our lizards briefly before vacating the area.
Snapping out of it... we remembered that this morning, we had to check out of our rainforest paradise. But not before we took another little stroll around the grounds. I was so happy to see that the Crepe Ginger has decided top flower for my personal enjoyment! These are one of my favorite tropical flowers, not that all of the gingers aren't extraordinary!
Fairy houses
We packed our bags, cleaned out the B&B and loaded our gear and our selves into the car... before breakfast! Our plan was to continue on up 191 to see if we could get into El Yunque from the south end... then to head off to brunch at a place I've been dying to try! Yes, this trip is also about food!!
The drive up into the rainforest on 191 is nothing short of spectacular. There are B&Bs up there that we think maybe we might check out sometime... But today, we're only going for a look-see, and to kill time until the brunch place opens.
We parked outside the gate-that-never-opens... and continued on into the official National Park grounds. We crossed a river and walked down the road. It is becoming more and more covered with fallen leaves, but it's still in pretty good shape for a stroll. I remember coming here in 2016, and we had a picnic beside a tiny stream with itty-bitty falls and deliciously refreshing mountain water! Who knows if it's still here or not...
Walking through the sun dappled, fresh mountain air, is most soothing. Of course, I have to take pictures of EVERY flower we see, and I've spent hours and hours enjoyed learning their names! I have found two really nice resources for identifying flowers and critters here in Puerto Rico.
Photo credit: Mi Amiga, Sue
Can you see some tiny sparkles?
Of course, I slipped out of my flip flops, and climbed right on up to that tiny little pool. The waterfall might have been in somebody's private garden, but if you look close, you can see that there are treasures coming down from the mountain heights. The gravel sparkles with little flecks of GOLD! Now I'm not going to kid myself, I'm sure it's Fool's Gold (is it???), but I took one little piece home with me just in case I ever need a fall-back plan.
My gold fleck
Mountain hair, don't care!
I had to lure Sue into the stream to help me get my gold down without getting my butt wet!
We continued on a bit further. It seems that every time I say we will turn back at the next bend in the road... there's another bend up ahead! We noticed that there has been a mudslide on the side of the road, and the forest has simply continued growing right there where it landed! Gotta love nature!
The mudslide has come back to life!
We did see a couple of raspberries, but we left them. This is the flower that comes first.
But wait... WHAT are these little butterfly things???
Turns out, they're young Begonia Decandra (see mature flowers above)
There truly is an abundance of awesomeness, all over this island! All you have to do is look around, and it practically finds you! But we are beginning to be ravenous, and looking forward to the whipped-creamy goodness that is the promised brunch... We drove the 25 minutes to Aromas de Kaffa, and were horrified to find their "cerrado" sign out! Not a light was on in the place. Come to think of it... there wasn't a light on in town! I quickly consulted their Facebook page, and much to my chagrin... they just posted an update. Due to a power outage... they remain closed today!
OMFG!!! Now what! I've got Susan looking at me with the stink-eye, and she's beginning to growl. Why is this happening to us??? We're good people. We've been charitable. Our Karma is shiny!
So, I consult the Google, and find the next place... and off we go. Another 13 minutes, with Susan's mood rapidly deteriorating in the seat beside me. I begin to have my doubts as Google takes us into a residential area. We have arrived. Nope. Nothing here! Well crap!
She's looking at me again... and I'm starting to become uncomfortable with that steely glare... So, I find yet ANOTHER place on Google. Come on Google... don't fail me again.
What is THAT???
I think Sue is going to hit me as I whip into the drive next to this magnificent tree for a photo! I think it's actually a type of pterocarpus. Pterocarpus indicus, or India Padauk, if you can believe the book I bought recently for this purpose... OK, on we go. She's fading...
We arrive to the next, and final brunch place of the day, and hallelujah, they're open! I tell Sue to go on in and get us a table while Bruce searches for his mask... And... it was a wait, but finally, satisfaction. El Kafe in Humacao, to the rescue!
Breakfast box for three...
It wasn't until after we had ordered, that Sue told us she wanted French toast, and so we had to take on more of this three-person-meal than we expected... But we made a valiant effort! Still with leftovers, we packed ourselves back home.
Just as I was relaxing with the washing machine chugging away, Susan called me to come down to her place. URGENT!
Seems that when she collected her semi-wet towel from the post back at the B&B, she didn't notice the stowaway when she stuffed the towel into her bag. That is, until she began doing her laundry!!!
Sue knows I'm desperate to see these little guys, but I guess you have to sleep in a tent to be worthy of that honor! Next time, I'm camping!!
This concludes our little staycation festivities. We will DEFINITELY come back to Casa Parcha! And, we can't wait for our next adventure with our Amiga, Sue!
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