On our first day with the group we visited and hiked in the 60 acre Caguas Botanical Garden which is outside of San Juan. Although the garden is closed to the public on Mondays we were met by a guide who introduced us to much of the Puerto Rican flora we would see during the rest of the trip.
The gardens are built on the site of what was once a commercial sugar mill and many ruins of the old mill are incorporated in the grounds. Walking through it is difficult to believe it has only been open since 2007.
I also got some photos of some of the fauna of Puerto Rico…
This is a termite nest…we became very familiar with these…
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The snails were everywhere too….
Someone with good eyes spotted an iguana in an African Tulip tree…
We heard many more birds than we saw…Our guide told us what each was but I’m afraid I didn’t write them down…too busy with the camera.
I was happiest to get a photo of this coqui…a Puerto Rican tree frog and a symbol of the country. Although we could hear them often this is the only time someone actually spotted one of the tiny things…and it wasn’t long before it hopped off. They sound similar to our spring peepers…but louder…and were charming. I did buy some to take home for my grandchildren:)
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Our hike had a special non-botanical destination…Hidden in a very secluded area are some original Taino Indian petroglyphs, They were off the beaten path and weren’t easy to get to…
….It did feel like we were in a sacred place.
