El Yunque Rain Forest

On Monday we went to visit El Yunque, which is the only rain forest in the United States.  It was so beautiful there and unlike anything we had seen before.  We bypassed the visitor center and went straight on to find some of the waterfalls.  First up was Coco Falls, which was right on the road.

View of the falls.

Have I mentioned the humidity in Puerto Rico?  Made it hard to take pictures sometimes!












We found the trailhead to La Mina Falls and started off.  And it was about 3 times as long as I thought.  Oops.  The kids were troopers and Ike did a pretty good job, but Dave complained about 75% of the hike.  Oh well, I really wanted to do it and sometimes kids just have to suck it up right?  Anyway, we hiked and hiked and hiked until we finally got to the falls.

Trudging along.
















We frequently stopped for breaks.

Feeling how cold the water was.

Looooong trail to the falls!

I think it was worth it though!  Had to work hard to get this picture without people in it.

Dave trying to swing on a vine that was hanging by the trail.

Ike kept scampering off the trial to go on adventures by himself.












After the hike, we treated ourselves to some pinchos and rellenos at a stand along the road.  We ended up really enjoying the morning we spent exploring the rain forest and hope we can get back someday to do some more of that hiking!  :)  But seriously, I read the book Wild (the one about the lady who hiked solo for 3 months) while we were in Puerto Rico and now I want to go backpacking...maybe when the kids are older?