Puerto Rico, Day Four

Once again, I headed out early - this time to the Luis Munoz Marin airport to observe CBP (Customs and Border Protection) process arrivals. Most of the process is pretty routine, but it's still cool to watch. Passports these days are sophisticated; they have a readable chip that includes a photograph and bio data. The CBP officer scans the passport and then takes a digital photo of the traveler for comparison, using face recognition software. Awesome. The morning went by really quickly and before I knew it, it was time to meet R for our final adventure in Puerto Rico.

The El Yunque National Forest is amazing, even in the drought that Puerto Rico is currently suffering. It wasn't as drippy as I expected, but beautiful nonetheless. The visitor center is entirely outdoors, which I thought was a stroke of genius. I was hoping to see some wildlife while we were there, but no such luck - just lush green landscapes. Poor us.

In a tower overlooking the rain forest.

Because we got to El Yunque fairly late (it's a bit of a drive from San Juan), we didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted to exploring the hiking trails. Next time!

The next day we got up and went in search of a leisurely breakfast. We first checked the menu at the beautiful ocean-view bistro at the hotel but instead of having breakfast we had a good laugh at the prices ($14 for oatmeal?). We moseyed down the street until we found a great little local place that allowed us a table right next to the open window, just steps from the ocean. Paradise in Puerto Rico.

You can bet we'll be back!