Puerto Rico (Alternate Title: Not a Bad Way to Spend Mother's Day) - Part II

On Wednesday, we took a daylong tour of the island that included a trip to the rainforest, a stop at one of the famous beaches in Puerto Rico, and an evening kayak over Luminescent Bay.

Hola from the rainforest!

View of the rainforest

Note the clouds - they don't call it the rainforest for nothin'

Scenic outlook

Starting our hike to the waterfall

And it's raining - they weren't kidding about that part

We made it to the waterfall!

Johnny Tourist by the waterfall

We were there during the rainy season, which made for a much stronger current and conditions that weren't safe for swimming.  Our guide felt the need to tell us this several times, which seemed excessive based on the speed of the water...

I stuck my foot in just to say I did it, but if you think I was about to jump in that water and be swept to my death, you are sorely mistaken.

Photo opp at another waterfall in the rainforest - please ignore my crazy eyes

We took a break for a light lunch after the hike.  Note:  There is no such thing as a light meal in Puerto Rico

We hit a famous beach after lunch.  Unfortunately it was a cloudy day, and not the best beach weather.  We went for a walk and found a local bar (and I do mean local - I'm certain we were the only white folks they'd seen in the better part of a year), where the bartender was gracious enough to respond to my request for a drink in a coconut by whipping out a machete and sticking a straw in this one pictured below.  I had been hoping for some form of tropical mixed drink, but my request was taken literally, and as she was the one with the machete, I thanked her and simply walked away with my giant beverage.

Then it was on to Luminescent Bay...

Getting ready for our first kayaking adventure

Neither of us have every kayaked before, so why not make our first trip in the dark ocean waters?  Sounds like a solid plan to me! 

Entering the mangrove channel - those crazy branches formed a cave-like structure and made it very dark and creepy all the way to the bay.

Smiling because we're still alive.

The Bay was very cool.  Algae in the water (or some other type of weird science thing that I will never quite understand) creates a glow-in-the-dark effect of the water in the bay at sunset.  We would stick our oars in the water and the ripples would appear to glow.  At times we could see the little glow-in-the-dark life forms swimming under the water, but the most dramatic was watching the waves that the kayak or oars created.  On the way back through the mangrove channel, when the only light we had to guide our way was from a glowstick attached to the kayak ahead of us (not kidding), we kept hearing loud splashes in the water.  I kept trying to convince Kyle that it was some kind of vicious cat species (think puma) out to attack us, but then I remembered that I was also rather defenseless in the dark, unfamiliar body of water and it quickly became not funny.  When we hit the shore, our guide told us that the noises we were hearing were iguanas jumping from the trees into the water (they apparently do this when they are scared - as we were the ones paddling blindly in the dark creepy mangrove forest, I am not quite so sure what THEY were so frightened about).  GROSS!  My career as a kayaker began and ended on the same trip after hearing this news.


Thursday was beach day.  Due to proximity to the equator, it was very important to stay hydrated.

My three amigos

Ummm, Kyle??

Friday was pool day - I mean really, we couldn't spend ALL out time at the beach now, could we?

We started seeing these guys EVERYWHERE around the resort.  At first we thought he was a statue, but then he moved just enough to freak us out.

He had a friend with him too!  This one actually crawled into the swim-up bar.  The bartender kicked him out like he was a stray cat instead of a disgusting reptile.

I got brave enough to swim for a close-up.  Yuck!

We found this one on the path to the beach.  That tail looked disturbingly like a stick and made us question how many times we were fooled by what we thought were harmless sticks earlier in the week.  That place is overrun with these guys!

Enjoying one last Puerto Rican sunset before it was time to head back to our babies.