The Rain Forest

What a day!!!  I visited the El Yunque National Forest today.  WOW!!   This park is not any forest...it's a tropical rain forest, and it's the only one in the United States'  National Forest System. 

The Taino indians called these mountain ranges home.  "Yuke" in their language means white lands and refers to the mountain tops usually covered by clouds.  Can you tell this is where the name of the park came from??

Here are some pictures from "Big Tree Trail"..

You can hear the sound of rushing water about 3-4 minutes before you get to La Mina Falls.  It is beautiful and LOUD!!  It typically rains about 4 times per day here...and can rain up to 240 inches a year.

El Yunque is a small rain forest compared to some found in South America.  There are no monkeys or alligators here, but there are over 50 species of birds, 11 bats, 8 species of lizards and 13 species of tree frogs.  It's also home to thousands of species of insects.  Thankfully, snakes are rare here!!

It was fairly quiet here during the day - other than the sound of water and  the sound of a few coquie (tree frogs.)  The ranger told us at night....it is a VERY DIFFERENT scene.  

"At night, the forest comes alive.  Millions of insects fill the air.  Moths such nectar from flowers.  Bats and owls fly out of their nests to feed.  Millions of coquies (tree frogs) climb tree branches to eat the insects.  The forest is lit by cucubanos (like fireflies.)  The sound of the coquies 'chirp' is louder than the waterfall."

I sure wish I was camping in the rain forest tonight.  Off to pack...we'll be returning to Orlando tomorrow morning.  Goodnight Coquies!!

Hugs,
Flat Rylie