More of Puerto Rico. El Yunque National Forest.

El Yunque is the only rain forest under the care of the National Forest Service. 

 

 

 

 

The history of the El Ynque National Forest is extremely rich.  The Taino Indians, who inhabited the island called it 'Boriken', believed that the cloud capped peaks in the Luquillo mountains, which they called 'Yuke' were a sacred place occupied by the good spirit 'Yokahu' to whom they prayed for protection from the bad spirit 'Juracan' (Hurricane).  From the Taino who prevailed on the island for over a thousand  years. 

In 1876 while Puerto Rico was ruled by Spain, Alfonso XII designated 12000 cuerdas (curda=.97 acre) of land in the Luquillo mountains to be a forest reserve, making El Yunque on the the oldest reserves in the Western Hemisphere.

What a wonderful location to spend the day....need to take boots and poncho next time to do some real walking!