El Yunque Rainforest
A Rose
History Alert: King Alfonso XII of Spain first set this land aside in 1876 because even back then he felt that the trees were being ripped down at a fantastic rate of speed. The land was in the Luquillo Mountains, so after the United States won the Spanish-American war in 1898 and acquired this island paradise, the reserve continued to be called the Luquillo Forest. However, in 1935 it was renamed the Caribbean National Forest. Then, in 2007 George W. Bush renamed it El Yunque. El Yunque means ‘anvil’. Who knows what they will call it 100 years from now? As Shakespeare said: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. And so will this beautiful rainforest.
Castle in the Sky
High up on one of the tallest peaks in El Yunque stands a castle. The Spanish Conquistadores built it as yet another way to keep watch for marauders of all kinds; be they pirates or English, or English pirates. Sir Francis Drake sailed these seas and he was one of the boldest, most able of the Pirate Queen’s Sea Dogs. The Pirate Queen being England’s Elizabeth I, of course. He did attack the island in 1595, but now we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
That’s Not True
This observation tower was built in 1963 and is called the Yokahú Tower. On a clear day, you can see the Virgin Islands which are 10 miles away. It does look like a castle though, doesn’t it? And wouldn’t the Conquistadores have given their right arms for a lookout like that?
2 Comments
Rico · January 10, 2022 at 7:02 pm
Having grown up in San Juan I can attest to the unreliable electrical service. More than once did my poor family have to throw out a full wild boar carcass that we had stored in our freezer due to these failures. My hard-working father, Manuel, would then have to venture back into the jungle for another of these delicious beasts. (They make a fine sausage.) He could not afford to buy more boar on a cobbler’s wage.
Complaints, or requests for compensation from local government for our losses were always met the response, “No refunds for those from East San Juan.”
Great Blog!
Rico
Moe · January 10, 2022 at 11:42 pm
Thank you for that interesting story, Rico. Wild boars have always been one of my favorite topics of conversation. However, I’m not sure what you mean by “those from East San Juan” unless it’s what I think you mean. If that’s the case, we’ll leave it for another blog.