Trek Puerto Rico

[KarenS]

From the New York Times: "With 28,000 acres of tropical forest to explore, the Caribbean National Forest, 24 miles southeast of San Juan, is a hiker's paradise. Known locally as El Yunque — named for an Indian spirit, Yuquiye, meaning Forest of Clouds — it is one of the oldest forest reserves in the Western Hemisphere. Also, one of the wettest, so bring rain gear.

There are more than 24 miles of recreational trails, from one-mile walking paths to slick rocky trails within a rain forest that echoes with the calls of tree frogs and exotic birds, including the endangered Puerto Rican parrot. Misty waterfalls are surrounded by tropical flowers and giant bright-green ferns and trees.

Specializing in bird-watching hikes, AdvenTours, 787-889-0251 or 787-530-8311 (cellphone), www.adventourspr.com, has multilingual guides fluent in English and Spanish, who can identify dozens of species of exotic birds. The two-hour hike (round trip) to La Mina Falls for a refreshing splash in the pool is a popular moderate option, while the four-to-five-hour (round trip) trek to Mount Britton promises a more challenging day. There are also a variety of night hikes in El Yunque that combine strolls on easy trails with living-history tours of Taíno Indians and ritual re-enactments, bird watching and identifying wildlife under the star-lit sky."

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