El Yunque, as it is known to locals, is the smallest U.S. Forestland Park, 28,000 acres, and one of the oldest, established in 1903 when President Roosevelt proclaimed it the Luquillo Forest Reserve. The beautifully verdant rain forest is actually much older, protected by virtue of having been set aside by the Spanish Crown in 1876 while Puerto Rico was still ruled from Madrid. Today the forest looks much as it did when Christopher Columbus first set foot in Puerto Rico 500 years ago.

El Yunque resident, one of dozens of colorful lizard species that inhabit the rain forest.