In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle...

by Kimberly Querry
May 24, 2007

We started our second Thursday in Puerto Rico heading to El Yunque, the rain forest. Our driver Jose pointed out the “white land” as Indians used to refer to it. Just as it did back then, white clouds crowd the sky around its peak, giving the illusion of the forest reaching to the heavens. It is located on a mountain- like structure, which gives an ominous illusion to the local horizon. We reached the rain forest and began to travel the long narrow paths it contained. Looking around, we couldn’t help but notice the intense shades and tints of the colors surrounding the forest. Everything seemed more alive and vibrant; green was now a deep abyss of emeralds and limes. There were flowers of bright passion red and rosy cheek pink that colored the forest as if it were a painting canvas. We then climbed the rocks and ended up in the center of a waterfall, which proved quite dangerous. As we were climbing back to the path, my friends slid down the sharp rocks, one right after the other as if it were a warped game of dominoes, which are famous here. Luckily, everyone came away with a sense of gratitude for all of our limbs remaining connected to our persons. After we survived the slipping, the sliding, and the hike back to the bus at the top, we headed to the beach. The beach was not crowded like I had expected, but it also wasn’t sunny. The rain that occurred in the rain forest carried over towards the beach as if it were a predator stalking its college prey. We stayed out of the water, which many horror stories had been told to us about, and remained on safe, solid ground. It almost started to rain while we were soaking up what little rays of sun seeped through the cloud cover. At least there were no sunburns that day!