Ocean To Clouds In 2 Hours

As we ate the mango and drank the coffee looking upon a beautiful sunrise this past Saturday morning, Maria gazed at me with her loving eyes; "Do you want to go to the beach?" she asked. I, still high from this new life and love I had found, gave an affirmative. We read the Bible like every day and loaded the car. Off to the ocean we went.

I now live in Puerto Rico. You can drive in any direction and be at the ocean in no time. Puerto Rico is only 3,508 square miles. The longest point East to West is 110 miles and North to South is 40 miles.A very small country, but rich in everything. I feel blessed by God to be in this beautiful paradise. This is where the Atlantic ocean meets the Caribbean ocean with Spanish being the primary language, but English is very prevalent.

We arrived at the beach early enough that the throngs of people had not yet arrived. We swam and held each other in that romance that will never die. We walked and talked; hugged and kissed. People starting arriving, so we decided to leave.

The day was still young. Maggie grabbed my hand and said, let's go to the Yunque. I smiled, because as of yet, I had not experienced this wonder. Yunque in Spanish means anvil. It is my understanding that by air when you look upon El Yunque, it is shaped like an anvil.

El Yunque is a national forest and a wonder of the world. There are several mountains that form El Yunque which is also a rainforest.

We drove into these mountains and I was in awe. My ears popped as we drove higher and higher. There were waterfalls and we turned off the air conditioning and rolled down the windows. The fresh air blew a beautiful pure fragrance into the car. We had reached an elevation that seemed impossible to do from sea level to near 3000 feet above all within 2 hours.

The sound of mystical wildlife filled the air. Only God could inhabit this place I thought as I smiled at the woman I love. We looked down in the haze; we were actually above the clouds.

We stopped at a small waterfall and I entered the water that was as clear as glass and colder than ice.

Here are some facts about El Yunque:

• Average temperature at El Yunque is 77.9° F at the lower elevations and 65.3° F at elevations above 3,280 ft. It rains almost everyday. Average rainfall is 200 inches a year. It usually rains more during springtime and autumn.
• Three types of fauna are found at El Yunque, reptiles, birds and amphibians. There are 8 types of lizards, 13 types of coquies (Puerto Rican tree frogs that sing). 50 types of birds, including the Puerto Rican Parrot which is an endangered specie. There is only one type of mammal natural to El Yunque and that is the bat, there are 11 types. There are also many varieties of fish, shrimps and other aquatic animal life. Also found, but very rare are snakes. The Puerto Rican Boa can reach a length of 90 inches. Hunting in El Yunque is prohibited and punishable by law.

• El Yunque is divided into 4 forests:

  Tabonuco Forest- Located at elevations of up to 2000 ft, trees grow to a maximum of about 115 to 125 ft tall. Tabonuco and Ausubo tree are the dominant specie but there are plenty of Yagrumo , Guaraguao, Laurel Sabino and giant ferns.

  Palo Colorado Forest- Occurs at 1970 ft-2950 ft. Here you can find lots of Caimitillo, Caimitillo Verde and Palo Colorado.

  Palma Sierra Forest- This forest is found at elevations of over 1958 ft, as its name describes, the Sierra Palm is the dominant specie.

  "Bosque En Las Nubes" (Forest in the clouds)- Located 2500 ft above sea level, this forest is limited to the highest mountain tops. These trees do not grow over 12 ft. It's usually very windy and the earth is saturated with water. Common tree species are Némoco, Roble de Sierra, Limoncillo Guayabota and Camasey.

I would recommend this to be a vacation you plan soon. Puerto Rico has so much to offer and I am ecstatic to live here. We will soon be married here and I have asked God to show me how I can help this beautiful island He created in any way I can.

Below are some photographs I took of El Yunque.

May God bless Puerto Rico and may God bless you too!

© G.L. Boudonck