EL YUNQUE : HIKING AND THE SECOND WATERFALL

We had no idea when this road was going to end before we had to turn around so we decided to hike in the rainforest. There happened to be an entrance to this hiking trail not too far from our last pit stop. I couldn't recall how long the trail was but it was enough for us to realize that we weren't gonna be able to start and finish hiking the trail in the remainder time we had left before heading back towards Loiza for the parade at 4pm.

While in the rainforest, we hiked through a narrow stoned walkway that was 3 feet wide. The road was barely wide enough for us to walk side by side. We didn't notice many hikers around us on the way in. It was hard to get lost since the path was the only possible way we couldn't have gone. It was either a huge drop on the left side or hills and slopes on the other. Once again we were surrounded by sounds of the Coguis (tree frogs). We didn't run into many animals nor any exotic birds during our hike. Although it rained the entire hike but we stayed dried thanks to the thickness of the forest that provided us cover.

After about 10minutes which seemed like forever since we were anxious to get to the waterfall, we started to wonder if we will even see the waterfall before we had to turn around. It was then, some hikers on the way back informed us of the waterfall being 15 minutes more ahead of us. It was a rather relief and exciting.

Suddenly we started hearing noises like monkies calling and I told Jessica that those noises must be people ahead of us because we knew we would've seen monkies by now if there were any. As we got closer to the noises, we heard gushing water falling and there it was. I personally preferred the second waterfall. There was a bridge that parted the path of the fall mainly due to the dangerous rocks and 59 foot drop on the other side of the bridge. The other side of bridge was accessible, we could swim in the fall. Some were just wetting their feet and some were swimming near the fall. As for me, I decided to just test the water out with my hands. It was rather chilly.

We exited the rainforest after visiting the waterfall. By the time we hiked back out of the rainforest, we were hungry. On the way down the mountain, we stopped by a food stand. Next to the food stand of course stood a souvenior store that kept me interested. It was like bait for most tourists. Well it worked! Anyway the food was great even though they were all deep fried. Below you see me with a bbq chicken on stick along with stuffed mash potatoes with beef in the center (its the round looking thing on the plate.) Well, the image you see with a platter and a drink had a cheese stick looking thing (it was actually corn and cheese), the stuffed fried potatoe ball I was telling you about and lastly the fried fish with batter. I was thinking about a side salad by the time I was done with that meal. Oh not to forget the passion fruit refreshment. It was Jessica's fav. drink during the trip because she had another during our next meal. It was good though. I don't blame her.

After the meal our trip back to Loiza begun. But first we decided we had to take a nap. So we found a parking lot near a bakery and a chinese restaurant not to far off the highway. That nap was needed after all that driving and hiking. I think it was the greasy food that was settling. HA!

NEXT: BACK TO LOIZA FOR THE PARADE.