Great Times

We had a lot of great times, but we miss our friends who couldn't come.

Bio Bay

The Bioluminescent Bay was AMAZING!!!!!!! When we reached the end of the mangrove tunnel that we had to kayak through, the Laguna Grande was right in front of us. We moved our paddles, hands, and feet in the water. Whenever we moved, the water glowed blueish-white where we touched it. It turns out that the dinoflagellates' glow is a defense mechanism. It was absolutely gorgeous. When we got back to shore, we all were so happy that we got to go see this wonder. We learned that the exact same species of dinoflagellates are only in 5 places in the world. Bio Bay was truly a one-in-a-lifetime experience!

Biobay and Old San Juan

We had an exciting trip to the biobay. The kids did a great job kayaking and we were all amazed by the dynoflagellates that create the light when the water is agitated. Earlier in the day we toured Old San Juan,the San Cristobal Fort including the dungeon,and the capitol building. We ate at El Jibarito and shopped. Apologies for any misspellings. I can hardly see this tiny screen on my phone! These kids are amazing and have been wonderful travelers. People have commented several times how impressed they are by them. See you all manana.

Puerto Rican Fruit

On our way to Luquillo Beach yesterday, we stopped at a fruit stall and bought pineapple, coconut, and mango. They were all really delicious. MMMMMMMMM......

Old San Juan

Hi! It's Tori. We are all disappointed because we missed our trip to Bio Bay due to a huge storm system moving in yesterday. HOWEVER, we might be able to go tonight after our trip to Old San Juan. Everyone is really hoping that we can go.

Today, we are really excited to see all the old forts, go shopping, and see the cool old buildings in Old San Juan!

Bye for now!

Breakfast Time Again

Hi there from Puerto Rico! It's Kylie again, and this time Tori's next to me reading every word I type! Today we will go to Old San Juan. We are going to leave our hotel at 9:00am. We are really excited to visit the Old City!!! We'll have a post about it later.
And must I say, from a student's point of view, missing our kayaking trip really was a major disappointment. I don't like Puerto Rican weather anymore...

Bye for now!

Let the sun shine!

We headed out for a morning in El Yunque rain forest southeast of San Juan. Bright sun and blue skies lasted most of the
day as we visited the visitors' center for a short movie (in Spanish) about the history of the National Park, then headed out for two hikes into the forest. Our tour guide led us through a beautiful hike with great information about plants, flowers, history, and cultural stories about tour surroundings. Our second short hike ended at a waterfall where we could get in and swim. The kids (and chaperones!) were so excited to swim, laugh, play and enjoy this unique experience. We wrapped up our visit with a walk up the observation tower with a 360 degree view of the rain forest, the distant beaches, and a hazy view of St. Thomas in the far horizon. Ironically, we had no rain in the rain forest, which no one minded.
After a short drive down out of the mountains, we went to Luquillo Beach for an afternoon of swimming, soccer, relaxing and playing on one of the most beautiful beaches in Puerto Rico. The kids have really lived in the moment today, literally taking the plunge into a extraordinary environment and soaking in this chance to be together.
The rain did finally return while we were having dinner, so we had to amend our kayaking plans and we hope to do the bioluminescent bay tomorrow night.
We are off to Old San Juan tomorrow to explore the forts and European flavor of the oldest part of the city. And I'm sure we'll find our way back to the ocean before the day's end. Buenas noches!