Our Day Off!!!

An explanation of the mangroves.

The mangroves growing in the saltwater.

All of us listening to the researcher.


In old San Juan, Claudines first experience with a twinkie.

The Fort at El Morro in Old San Juan.

A crab at the Mangroves. This is a male. Males only have one pincher and females have 2.
We woke up early yesterday and got ready for a trip out of the rainforest. We began our day off in the Mangroves. It was a big grove of trees situated right on the ocean. They are rather interesting trees in that they can grow in salt water in the absence of Oxygen. We saw many crabs and illegal crab traps and spent about 2 hours learning about the mangroves and the research taking place there. It was EXTREMELY hot and humid and I was beginning to get a bit cranky. The water was very shallow and therefore very warm so totally not refreshing. We left by cramming 16 people into a van (made for 15 small to average people) and drove 40 minutes to another spot. I stayed in the van at that stop to make an attempt at cooling off. My crankiness subsided after I talked to my sister and my husband. We then went back to the research center, dropped off the researcher, Sally, Sabine, Jean and Elles and headed for Old San Juan. It is a lovely city built on a hill that sits on the Atlantic Ocean. It made me think Mexico meets New York City meets New Orleans. Claudine, Ali and I spent the first half of the day shopping for souvenirs while the rest of the group headed up to the Fort at El Morro. We eventually made our way there and it was fascinating. I have never seen anything like it. (See pictures, which absolutely don't do it justice). We all met up for dinner at Mojito's for a traditional Puerto Rican dinner. They love garlic and onions here which suits me just fine. I think the majority of us had garlic shrimp and garlic yellow rice. We then made one quick stop at Big Kmart and home we came for a very restful night.