El Yunque Rainforest, Puerto Rico

El Yunque Rainforest - Puerto Rico - March 201 - ©trryan

From the Away Network: Puerto Rico's El Yunque National Forest boasts the distinction of being the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. National Forest System. It's also the smallest of all the national forests at 28,000 acres. But don't be fooled—there's big adventure waiting in this enclave just east of San Juan. Rain descends on the thickly vegetated hillsides in biblical proportions, making the plant life here remarkably diverse. Beneath a towering canopy of trees, some more than 1,000 years old, fronds of giant ferns arch gracefully over the rainforest floor, bromeliads and epiphytes sprout from every nook and cranny of host trees, and rare orchids dangle in a profusion of colorful blooms. -