The clouds began moving in as we peered over the drop-off to the jungle floor. Acknowledging the cool mist moisturizing our skin as we took in the view a little while longer, all 5 of us began the traverse back to steadier ground. The last thing you would want is to get disoriented in these parts as a slip up here would easily result in a 200 foot plummet to the bottom of the jungle floor…never to be seen again.
The El Yunque rainforest was just phenomenal. Between listening to the beautiful music of the jungle singing and examining all of the beautiful flowers, I just couldn’t imagine a better place to be. It was very obvious that Scottie & the others agreed wholeheartedly as well as I drove our rental car through the windy roads of the forest.
La Coca Falls sign in El Yunque National Rainforest.
As we had originally passed through the towering bamboo trees, La Coca Falls presented itself at our first stop. I had never seen such a dormant piece of natural art. The entire waterfall had a very slight angle that allowed the water to kind of trickle down the face of it. Sort of like an in-house water fall…well 1,000 times larger of course!
La Coca Falls, just over the bridge.
After jumping off the side of the bridge to get a few more “cleaner” pictures (not to be littered with tourist), all of us jumped back into the car to continue exploring this amazing rainforest. I must tell you, simply driving around with the windows down and the music off created a mystical environment in this almost prehistoric land.
Even the weather up here had a totally different feel compared to the rest of the island. Where we had previously been sweating and were quite anxious to jump into the waters of Flamenco Beach, now we were feeling rather refreshed and ready for an excursion. Thus began our hike down to La Mina Falls.
Big Tree Trailhead hike to La Mina Falls.
Parking the car in front of the colosal fern trees, we grabbed our packs and began down the surprisingly maintained Big Tree Trail. I’ve always been amazed at the amount of wildlife that is always around you in the jungle. It’s one of those wonderful things in life that you know is there, but never actually see it.
I had the same thoughts back when I was in Costa Rica with my friends, hiking through the Jungles of Manuel Antonio. In every corner…every crevice there seems to be some living creature waiting to jump out at you!
Stairs leading to La Mina Falls.
And there was no exception to that rule here either! It may not be as shocking as a monkey jumping down at you, but needless to say there is always something moving in the jungle…
Wild lizard looking for small insects on a tree trunk.
Air plants living on one of the many trees in the rainforest.
As we made our way down the trail and to La Mina Falls, the sounds of the rainforest just seemed to get richer and richer from the variety of wildlife moving around. My camera constantly on snapshot mode, I just couldn’t seem to catch any of the variety of birds flying around so I had to settle for the exotic plants and occasional lizard. Even the giant snails began to come out of the woodwork for photo ops!
Large snail taking cover under a leaf.
One small bird in one large rainforest.
As the day grew old, I actually got lucky enough to capture one small bird that was about half the size of your average fist. He was an adorable little fella too, sitting on the same limb for what must have been a solid 30 seconds in order for me to take his photo. Noticing that the group had moved on ahead, I began making my way back to where everyone was but of course taking some shots along the way…
Hollow log sitting to the side of the trail and housing millions of small insects.
La Mina Falls close up.
After hiking for around 30 minutes or so, we arrived at the base of La Mina Falls. The water, initially shocking as we jumped in, quickly had a soothing effect as it cooled off our overexerted bodies.
The energy the water gave out was stunning! Edging to get closer, I swam up to the base of the falls and found some footholds to begin climbing up. A short and slippery 5-10 feet up was a little ledge in just the perfect spot for you to sit cross-legged. Carefully taking my seat, the water felt great as it massaged both my neck and back.
Small waterfall below La Mina Falls, just under the unseen bridge.
I can’t even tell you how long I spent up there meditating with not a worry in the world. Ten…maybe even 15 minutes went by before I crawled back down the face of the waterfall to meet back up with my friends.
Good times at La Mina Falls!
Before it got too late, we all had decided to start making our way back to the car and on up to the peak of El Yunque. I must say, the hike down to La Mina Falls was spectacular but nothing like the second half of our trip. El Yunque brings the term “you’ve got your head in the clouds” to a whole new meaning! 
Stay tuned for Part II of the El Yunque Rainforest!
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I visited Puerto Rico last summer and El Yunque was by far my favorite part. Did you go to the visitor center? The movie they show it pretty neat, that’s how I learned about the coqui frogs found all around the rainforest.
There was some heavy rain when I was there and the water was too rough to swim in the waterfall, we were a little bummed to have trekked all the way there only to turn back.
I have to say I’ve never given P.R. much thought as a travel destination, but your story and photos make me consider changing my mind. Good stuff.
Thanks Greg! You should definitely consider it a destination to visit. Puerto Rico is full of great people, cool things to see/do & the food is fantastic!