Falling for Puerto Rico’s Rainforest

I went to Puerto Rico for the rainforest.
 
Not that I didn’t enjoy the beach.  My husband and I spent our first day lounging pool and beachside at the Ritz Carlton in San Juan, arguably the most opulent resort in the area, and just minutes from the airport. We sunk our toes in the sand of San Juan’s best beach, we drank Pina Coladas, we enjoyed the pampered service and the meticulously manicured grounds.
 
After a day of totally non-productive beachside bliss, we rented a car and headed for the mountains.
 
Puerto Rico is primarily a mountainous island, although it’s easy to visit without ever venturing into them. Just an hour’s drive east from San Juan took us to the southern part of El Yunque National Forest, the only tropical rainforest in the U.S Forest Service System.
 
The landscape at El Yunque is rugged and dramatic, and the road we climbed to our destination, the Casa Cubuy Ecolodge, was winding, narrow and offered nail-biting views over the edge into the lush green valley.   The owner had advised us to “keep driving until the road ends” to find the lodge. They didn’t warn us about the chickens in the road or local cars careening down the other direction.
 
Casa Cubuy Ecolodge is about as different of a lodging experience from the Ritz as you can get. Built into the side of the mountain, the lodge boasts gorgeous waterfalls within view of nearly every brightly painted room. Instead of fancy poolside bars, the lodge has a simple outdoor bar that works on the honor system. And, instead of manicured grounds like the Ritz, the natural rainforest wilderness surrounds you. 
 
Once we checked into the lodge, we headed to our room, a simple, two-room unit with a hammock and single beds in the front area, and a queen bed in the back. We ditched our rolling suitcases, grabbed the Nikon, and headed down the path for a closer look at the falls. The steep path down was overgrown with giant bamboos, banana trees, and towering ferns. The waterfall pools were easily accessible for toe-dipping or a quick swim. We spent some time drinking in the view, then headed back to the lodge for dinner.
 
Casa Cubuy serves both breakfast and dinner “family style.” (Breakfast is included; dinner is extra and requires advance notice.) The owners use all fresh, local ingredients in their food. After dinner, there’s not much to do but kibitz with the other guests around the large outdoor dining table, which we happily did. There are no TVs, no casino games, no phones in the rooms. We fell asleep that first night to the cacophony of coqui (tree frogs) and rushing water. I never slept so well in my life.
 
The next day, we opted to join a group of guests for a one-day hike with local guide Robin Phillips into the rainforest. Robin lives down the road, and has a farm where he grows exotic fruits from all over the world. His one-day hiking tour into the rainforest came highly recommended. Now we know why.
 
The eight-mile roundtrip hike seemed to fly by. We walked up the road to begin our hike through the forest, following pipes that were initially constructed by the electric company to channel water into reservoirs to produce power for the area. A self-taught botanist, Robin found wild fruits and edible plants for us to try along the way. We stopped to eat our boxed lunch at one of the dams and went for a refreshing swim.
 
After lunch, we headed to a rocky outcropping with a chained-off, rusty ladder (left over from the electric company project) leading up to the top of magnificent waterfalls. “We’re going to climb that thing?” I asked incredulously. It looked a bit imposing, but Robin assured us the falls at the top were worth the climb. To get up the caged ladder, we had to wear our packs on our fronts. I took a deep breath and didn’t look down when it was my turn to climb.
 
Once up the ladder, we spider-crawled up about 300 feet of steep rocks, with Robin pointing out the proper handholds and footholds the whole way. It was a bit challenging, and some people in our group were not “hikers” per se. But Robin got us all up to the top of the waterfalls safely.
 
At the top, the view was stunning. We could see out over the entire valley, all the way to the ocean. The natural pools of the waterfalls were not to be missed; we paddled around, exultant in our successful climb, sitting under the falls to revel in the forceful water pounding over our smiling faces.
 
That night over dinner, the group enthusiastically reminisced about what an amazing day it was. We had shared an experience not one of us will likely ever forget.
 
The next morning, we left the rainforest and headed back to San Juan to the Intercontinental Resort for one last day on Isle Verde. The massive pool at the Intercontinental had a few “cute” manmade waterfalls that we enjoyed sitting under.
 
I smiled, thinking how, like most things in life, the real thing is just so much better than the imitation.