Puerto Rico travel diary: El Yunque rainforest
The charm of golden sand and sapphire waves meets the natural beauty of El Yunque rainforest: it is Wyndham Grand Rio Mar hotel, our last destination.
We kept the best for last on this trip, we thought, as we walked into Wyndham Grand. This majestic oceanfront resort is locked away between a mile stretch of secluded beach and the velvet greenery of El Yunque National Forest.
Jungle view from our room @Wyndham Grand Rio Mar
El Yunque: White Earth
El Yunque, formerly known as the Caribbean National Forest, the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. National Forest System, but it is also a sacred place in Puerto Rican culture. Many believe its name comes from the Taíno word Yuke, or "white earth", a reference to the sublime clouds that gather around the forest's mountainous peak. It was where the god Yúcahu reigned from a mountain throne on El Toro, battled chaos, and protected Borinquen (the Taíno name for Puerto Rico). You can still see Taíno petroglyphs in the southern part of the forest.
Soon after the Taíno - historic indigenous people of the Caribbean - showed gold to Christopher Columbus during his second voyage to the Americas in 1493, the Spanish enslaved them. But gold wasn’t the only resource the Spanish took from Puerto Rico: wood was also a precious commodity, and Spaniards nearly deforested the entire mainland before converting El Yunque into one of the oldest forest reserves in the Western Hemisphere in 1876.
What’s the climate in El Yunque National Rainforest?
El Yunque National Forest is located on the slopes of the Sierra de Luquillo mountains, encompassing more than 113.32 km2 of land, making it the largest public land in Puerto Rico.
There is no distinct wet or dry season in El Yunque; it rains year-round. We experienced refreshing showers briefly followed by scorching sunshine.
The temperature and length of daylight remain fairly constant throughout the year. The average temperature in the summer is 26 °C high and 20 °C low and in the winter 22 °C high and 15 °C low. Temperatures can drop below 10 °C on clear nights during the winter, but never below freezing. All of these factors provide a year-round growing season.
Where did we stay in El Yunque National Rainforest?
We stayed in Wyndham Grand Rio Mar, a majestic oceanfront resort that is locked away between a mile stretch of secluded beach and the velvet greenery of El Yunque National Forest. The resort boasts two championship golf courses & tennis centre, a spa, fitness centre, 10 restaurants & bars, a casino, two nature reserves, and a guest experience program that encompasses the beauty and nature of its magical surroundings - including iguana feeding and morning sunrise yoga which is always high on my list. We spent most of our time here chilling, reading, sleeping and breathing in the crisp air from the rainforest…
Everything about this place is neat, elegant, luxurious yet extremely down to earth. With iguanas policing around the pools in Wyndham, morning yoga on the grass, or a book I can’t put down - I just felt in so much harmony with everything around me. Nestled between the ocean and the jungle, wherever I looked there was pure, noble beauty.
The ocean and and the jungle… my two favourite things on earth.
