El Yunque Rainforest

 We hiked one morning in the El Yunque Rainforest – beautiful!  The road up to the rainforest was narrow and winding, lined with great clumps of tall bamboo that occasionally broke onto beautiful vistas over to the coast.  We arrived early and had to wait for them to open the gate, then hiked the Rio Sabana trail.  This southern end of the park has been cut off from the main area to the north because the bridge spanning the river collapsed – twice – and isn’t going to be rebuilt.  Consequently, this area of the park is less crowded, and for most of the time were the only ones on the trail.  The trail was shaded by various hardwood and palm trees, and tall tree ferns.  Bromiliads were everywhere, hanging from the trees and nestled in the undergrowth, as were many species of fern, and vines draped the trees.  We heard lots of birds and tree frogs.   A few small streams flowed down rocky beds, but we saw many dry beds; it must be pretty impressive during the rainy season when the streams are full, and much more difficult to hike in the mud.  At the end of the hike, we cooled our feet in the pools of the Rio Sabana.