Pureto Rico 2013
It was 3 a.m., and my family, my friend
Charlie, and I were leaving for Puerto Rico in a half hour. “It’s freezing
out,” I exclaimed, stepping outside. Light coming in blinded my eyes for a
second. “Dennis is here,” I yelled into the house. (Dennis is our driver.) My
mom and dad came rushing down. Plopping into a nice warm car felt good.
The plane ride didn’t seem too long; it was only
about three hours. Charlie and I were talking when, all of a sudden, a rush of
sunlight brushed my face, telling me I was finally in Puerto Rico. Once we
arrived at our hotel, the view from our room was breathtaking. We had a great
view of the beach and also a very well-kept courtyard. (We even got to see a
wedding from the balcony!) As soon as we were unpacked, Charlie and I raced
down the stairs to…disappointment. The beach had red flags everywhere…no one
could go swimming because the waves and wind were too dangerous. Luckily, the
water slide was open. We must have spent over an hour on there. After a long
day of travel, it was finally time to go to bed.
“Coqi coqi coqi,” the alarm clock went off. I
sprang out of my bed and got dressed. “Charlie, wake up!!” I anxiously said.
Charlie looked at the clock and sprang out of bed. “I’m hungry. What about you?” Charlie asked. “I’m starving,” I responded. “Let’s go down to the café!”
The sun was shining in our faces and Charlie’s
hazel hair flew back in the breeze, as did mine. “I’m going to get a pina
colada, what about you?” I asked Charlie. Charlie responded, ”Me too.” The
thought of a pina colada made my mouth water.
I knew I was going to get something else also, because
today we were going to the El Junque rainforest and I would need a lot of
energy. All of a sudden, we heard a rumble. I checked outside and realized it was
the shuttle bus pulling in. My parents came down in a rush, we all plopped into
the shuttle bus, and we were on our way.
When we pulled up to the rainforest, my jaw
dropped. It was amazing! There were different
shades of green everywhere. It was like looking at a crayon box with only green
in it. The wooden planks creaked under me as I walked across the bridge. There
was an outdoor gift shop. Everything in there was so unique, from wooden coqi
whistles to hand made clay jewelry. The tour guide said we only had 15 minutes
to shop before we got to explore this fantastic forest. I got a coqi whistle
and a pair of clay earrings.
The first stop of our tour was a waterfall. The
rocks gleamed in the sun; the water crashed down like waves on the shore during
a hurricane. Our second stop was a rustic tower with a lot of stairs. As we
finally arrived at the top, there was a breathtaking view of shades of green
everywhere going on for miles and miles.
Finally we arrived at the six-mile walk. It
looked really fun with green everywhere and big leaves and vines to swing
on. However, it was pure torture. We had
to stop every time we saw a new thing; some things were very interesting, like
the coqi frog. Coqi frogs are an orangeish-brown color which camouflages it in
the night. Its cute little sound is heard throughout the country of Puerto
Rico. When we finally arrived at the El Junque waterfall, the water crashing
down made it seem like the water was having a very loud argument. “Looks cold,”
I pronounced shivering.
“ I agree,” Charlie replied.
We shimmied ourselves into our bathing suits, and
the tour guide painted golden dust on our faces. “Are you ready?” I
questioned Charlie.
She answered,
“Yes!”
“Let’s do it!” I finally said. My foot
numbed as I placed it in the bitter, icy water. I hesitated before I placed my
other foot in the bitterly cold water. The smooth rocks felt good underneath my
numb feet is I eased into the water. As soon as I got a little deeper, I
relaxed. Charlie and I raced to the waterfall. It was a tie according to my
dad. The rushing water felt as if water dropped on your head from 100 miles up
in the air.
I rushed out of the water and dried off. The
second I got my body out of the water, a cold burst of air crept all over my
body. It felt great to wrap myself in a warm towel and put warm clothes on. It
was a six mile walk back up and I dreaded it. Fortunately, I did find 10 coqi frogs, six
salamanders and two lizards which made the walk more bearable. Once the
dreadful walk was over, everyone loaded up in the van and we went to have
lunch. Along the way we stopped at some landmarks including the old San Juan
towers.
“Charlie, isn’t this cool?” I asked
“Yes!!” she answered.
After touring the landmarks, we stopped at a
very good restaurant called El Casita. Charlie and I split mac and cheese,
tostones (a fried plantain), and steak with juca and chimi churi sauce. It was
delightful! After lunch everybody loaded up in the van.
On our way to the hotel, we passed a horse farm,
and lucky for us, the tour guide knew the owner of the farm and we got to get a
quick ride. The chestnut color of the young colt, Dreme, was stunning. Her fur
was finely brushed and ready to ride. I swung my leg over the black silky saddle
and began to ride. The crisp air blew my hair back as I rode through the vast
fields. Nobody else was in sight except for Charlie on her chocolate brown
horse trailing behind us.
A screeching noise came out of nowhere. It
sent the horses flying back to the stable. I had to get a good grasp on the horse
so I wouldn’t fly off. Dreme came to a sudden halt, which sent me soaring
through the air and I landed on a stack of hay.
Luckily, I wasn’t hurt; I walked back over to
Dreme and led her to her stall. I reached into my pocket and grabbed a
peppermint; I know that horses love them. I cupped the peppermint in my hand
and put my hand close to Dreme’s muzzle and let her eat it.
“Vaminos!” Alexander, the tour guide, yelled to us. The
farm was only five minutes away from the hotel, so it wasn’t that long of a
ride. On the way to the hotel, Alexander gave us a quiz on the El Junque
rainforest. Charlie and I got most of the answers right. Once we got to the
hotel, we were both exhausted and went to bed. This was one of the best days of my life and
surely one to remember. The day was filled with exciting and new experiences
that I got to enjoy with my best friend and my family. Maybe someday you can go
to El Junque too!
