Day 7: El Yunque

Our first stop was Loquillo. Friends of mine told me that this is the city Puerto Ricans go to for their vacation. On the other hand, Julia heard from her friends that it’s a good city to get grilled meats. 

Since Julia is the one who makes the plans, we went to a grill restaurant, ordered way too much food, and had to move on. The next stop was El Yunque rainforest. The guy at the information center booth had a big mustache and was radiating with self-entitlement. We were there with a large group of people, so he got up from his chair to count the visitors. It didn’t look like a very accurate count: he eyeballed everybody and continuously pushed the tiny button on his people counter until he felt like he was about done. “Can we get a map?” Julia asked. “I will give you a map. Be patient!” He replied, “Everybody! Line up at the right corner of the counter!” Everybody scooted to the right. “Other way! Since I’m the one who’s talking, it’s my right, which is your left. That’s O.K. I taught you something new today.”

First, we went to see La Coca falls, where everybody takes pictures.

Then we took a short hike on Big Tree Trail.

Then we went up the observation tower.

And finally, we took a longer hike to La Mina falls.

Aside from the vegetation, water, snails, and birds, people on the trail are also intriguing. Most people are American, Chinese, and Indian. Without getting into the specifics of ethnicities, let’s just say that some are very fat. The others still manage to be in your way. We kept passing a kid in his late teens sitting on various benches along the trail, waiting for his fat parents to catch up. God forbid he would walk with them, or just admire the surroundings while he waits. Instead, he played on his phone. I actually think he ran quickly up the trail just so that he would have more time to play. In one instance, when his parents finally caught up, the three of them started fighting over the most stupid shit. In conclusion, El Yunque is awesome, and people are dicks. 

We got back to San Juan just in time to change clothes and go to Hagit and Kobi’s apartment for dinner. Thank god we did that - we finally had a good, healthy meal. After dinner we sat in the porch that overlooks the ocean and had some white wine. From there we went to the lobby of the Marriott, again, because Hagit said there was going to be a band. She was wrong, so we had a drink and left to buy local chocolate for Julia to bring back to her officemates. We agreed that it would be wise if she didn’t tell them we got it at Walgreens.