More from Puerto Rico

The following day was one of the most amazing days on our trip. We started off by heading to El Yunque National Forest, the only tropical rain forest in the United States. Just driving into the forest gave us some incredible views. We stopped at a little food hut along the way to take in the sights.

We'd read about La Mina Falls, a very popular waterfall to visit, and decided we had to go too. It was only a short hike and we enjoyed being in the rain forest. You could hear the call of the coqui's. We never were able to see any of these little frogs but their call is very distinctive and you knew they were close.

La Mina Falls

When looking into the falls we read that people swim under the waterfall all the time. In the summer's I guess it is packed with locals. The water felt a little cold but how often do you get to swim under a waterfall?

Kevin tested the waters first and made it out alive. After watching a couple other people go under I decided to try it too.

Not only was the water cold but it was coming down really strong. It took my breath away briefly and nearly knocked out a contact but I survived. Neither of us spent too much time in the water and decided to enjoy the waterfall from the bridge instead. 

I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked because my camera (which I'd plugged in to charge the night before but the outlet wasn't working) ran out of batteries. Unfortunately I had left my other camera back at the hotel and it was a long enough drive back that we couldn't go get it. It worked out okay since our next big activity was on kayaks and at night so good pictures would have been difficult to take. 

After El Yunque we drove a little further to Fajardo to go on a kayak tour of the Bioluminescent Bay. It is impossible to describe this experience but I'll do my best. The bio-bay gets it's name from dinoflagellates, microorganisms that glow whenever they are disturbed.  We boarded our kayaks in Fajardo Bay at sunset and made our way over to Laguna Grande from there. Even though I didn't have a camera I did manage to find a couple photos online to at least give you an idea of what we did.

Through the mangrove channels to Laguna Grande

We were kayaking along and staying to the right of the channel (it was bigger than this picture shows) as instructed when the kayak behind us veered to the left and crashed into the mangrove trees. This led us into hysteric laughter when suddenly we looked down and saw the water. A glow appeared anytime something disturbed the water. Even though we knew what we were going to see...seeing it was completely different. We'd stick our hands in the water and it looked like "glow" coming our of our hands. We finally reached the lagoon where we were given more information about the luminescence and allowed to paddle around for a while. Because they are trying to preserve the bay people are no longer allowed to swim in the water but I found this picture online. 

I actually charged my camera that evening so I was ready to go for our next day of excitement. We hoped in our rental car and drove to go and check out the caves of Camuy. We had a little time to kill before the tour began so we entertained ourselves.

Outside Parque de las Cavernas del Rio Camuy (Rio Camuy Cave Park)

The tour started with a ride down to the opening of the caves. The ride itself was absolutely gorgeous.

Ready for some caves!

This is a view of the entrance to the caves. The way the light came in was incredible and it was cool to see all the green right at the entrance before abruptly stopping just a few feet into the cave.

We were told by our taxi driver from the airport that they filmed bats leaving these caves and used that in the Batman Returns movie. I guess they also recorded the sound of the bats and used that in the movie as well.

From the entrance of the caves looking in.

The caves were formed by the third largest underground river in the world and were first discovered in 1958. While one of the largest cave systems in the world it is the largest in the Western Hemisphere. A lot of the caves still haven't been mapped and only a small part of it is open to the public. 

The caves were so massive and it was really neat to be inside of it. The only bad part of the tour was when immediately after being told to be careful (not only over and over) but in one slippery spot in particular an older lady fell. Kevin thought he heard something break and the lady said she thought she broke her ankle. We'd sat next the this lady on the ride down to the caves and she told us how this was the last day of their vacation and this is what she'd been looking forward to the most. I felt so bad for her...hopefully she is recovering nicely.

Next up was a short drive to The Arecibo Observatorio; the largest radio satellite in the world. The 1000ft main dish of the satellite was built inside the depression left by a sinkhole. 

Hanging out in the museum Kevin is playing with a toy model of the satellite. It is so massive! Golden Eye 007 and Contact were two movies that had scenes filmed here.

Not only was the the satellite really cool but there is an amazing view of the mountains.

Headed back to our hotel after this to rest up for more adventures in Puerto Rico.