Wednesday morning began with Michael heading down the street for snacks, breakfast, and a backpack which I would need for the hiking adventure and didn't have. He returned with almonds, sandwiches, coffees, and a backpack. Not a bad little errand boy... :)
At exactly 7:05, the Acampa guides pulled up in their van as promised. We climbed in and quickly met Cynthia and Dave, a couple from NYC our same ages. They were super nice and we chatted with them nearly the entire drive to Toro Negro after picking up the Woods family (of five) at a supermarket parking lot (they had driven a ways and it was a convenient meeting spot). With our group of nine, we headed off to the rainforest (Toro Negro).
We chatted on the way there and eventually found ourselves winding up steep mountains, driving through little villages, and observing everyday Puerto Rican life in the rainforest. Pretty cool!
Upon arriving at the starting spot, we donned our safety headgear, prepared our harnesses, got our gloves, and headed off into the rainforest and on our adventure! And, WOW, I don't even know where to begin!
There is a man, Jorge, who goes through every four days to re-cut and clean the paths with a machete. Yes, you read that correctly, a machete, on foot, twice a week. These paths aren't like El Yunque rainforest which gets 1,000,000 visitors a year -- these are working but primitive paths cut into the mud, making it a much more natural and organic experience.
So, we headed up and down the five miles of paths cut by Jorge and his machete. The first part was nearly straight up and grassy and muddy -- VERY steep and very strenuous. We definitely got our exercise for the day (week? month?). As we continued down the paths it was up and down and across and over and through -- we saw frogs, ate berries, saw snail eggs, climbed past prehistorically dated trees, swam in waterfalls, hiked up through waterfalls, and took lots of pictures! (Before the camera died towards the tail end of the adventure...whew.)
It was really an incredible experience, and definitely one of the coolest we've ever had. There we were, in nature, experiencing it, with beautiful weather (so cool ALL day, not hot at all!), zero bugs (and I do mean ZERO), and the canopy to keep us out of the sun and comfortable. Wow!! Plus, because we had a young, fit group that was ready to take all the excursion had to offer, we were able to go a little more quickly and then experience some extras because of the time we saved and the pace we kept. Raymond and Manuel (?? We think that was his name...) were great guides and really allowed us to experience a TON!! They were beyond fantastic.
So, after all of this, plus the six ziplines to take us back down what we had climbed up, we ended up in the tiny village right next door for a homemade lunch. Pork, chicken, rice, beans, potatoes, and fried bananas... YUM! It was delicious and we ate a TON of it, two plates each, scarfing it down as if it were our last meal.
After eating, it was back into the van and towards San Juan. We made the 1-2 hour drive easily despite a little bit of rain, and I even took a little nap. When we got back we exchanged numbers and e-mails of the other people on the tour since we had all gotten pictures of each other, etc. Cynthia, Dave, Michael and I said we'd text if we wanted to get together -- sure enough, we ended up seeing if they wanted to go to Jam Rum Bar & Bistro right down the street from their hotel (and a few blocks from ours) which we had tried Monday night (SO good!!). They wanted to and so we made a reservation online for 8:30 and met them.
Over a pitcher of passion fruit sangria, white bean soup, and various other appetizers, salads, etc., we chatted about work, our hobbies, life back home, etc., and got to know each other. They are a really fun couple -- she's in banking but is looking into teaching. I started talking about the long days, which blew her mind, and thus the floodgates into why teaching can really suck opened, lol! Whoops! :) It was good, though, because she had NO idea -- once again, someone who thinks it's 8-3, summers off, etc., which could NOT ever be further from the truth. Ever. Ever. Ever. Did I mention ever? Geez. Anyway, so, I gave her the skinny, and her mind was indeed blown. Ay, ay, ay!
After dinner we chatted outside and then headed back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep after a VERY tiring and strenuous day!!
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