On Saturday, June 13th we enjoyed one of our favorite days in Puerto Rico hiking in the El Yunque National Rainforest doing many of the things my characters experienced in Surrender to Peace. We took a bus ride 45-50 minutes to El Yunque where we hiked the La Mina Trail to La Mina Falls.
The greenery was gorgeous, and I used this sign in my story so took a picture of it. It has a picture of a crab saying “No littering in my house!” and “Pack it in, pack it out!” which is what Benigno told his followers on the trail.
Several in our group did get in the water at the Falls which was very cool. Chester climbed out pretty far on the rocks without getting wet.
Then we hiked out the other trail Benigno led Joy on–The Big Tree Trail. 
Next we climbed the Yokahu Observation Tower. Here we are at the top of the tower with the cloud-covered mountains in the background.
We also saw flamboyant trees and heard but didn’t see coqui frogs. I will write more about them next week.
