For Laurie's birthday we go to the other end of Puerto Rico, the west end, to stay at the Tres Sirenas Ocean Front Inn in Rincon. We had a relaxing weekend, every evening we soaked in the jacuzzi while listening to the crash of the surf on the beach. Every morning we had a gourmet breakfast served to us on the porch in front of our room. Harry & Lisa, the owners, told us all about their Bed and Breakfast and the renovations they went through getting it ready and the Caribean decor. Harry took us on a ride all over Rincon to see the other b&b's in the area as well as restaurants, night life and surf spots.

Bill and Laurie of the rainforestinn.com go to Hacienda Carabali and interview Alejandro Diaz Carlo. We find out about the many adventurous you can have on their six hundred acre ranch. There are guided horseback rides on Puerto Rican Paso Fino horses as well as mountain biking and four track rides. He tells us about the history of Hacienda Carabali which his grandfather founded more than forty years ago. He recommends the best days and times to come riding. He also offers special private rides for equestrians.


Bamboo lounge at Hacienda Carabali  http://www.cocoriopr.com/bamboo/

We interview Alan Mowbray at the El Portal visiter center in the Caribbean National Forest. He has written several books about the El Yunque rainforest of Puerto Rico, including "El Portal Rain Forest Center Interpretive Site Guide" which is his latest. The website for the center is http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/caribbean/
Please email Bill & Laurie bill@rainforestinn.com to make comments about this podcast. We want your feedback!

Laurie and I play selections from a jam session we had during the holidays. http://www.rainforestinn.com 

Please put a pin in our map http://www.frappr.com/rainforestinn

or see a video of this http://www.youtube.com/user/rainforestinn Steve Selin  and Dylan playing with a view of the El Yunque rainforest of Puerto Rico in the background

Steve Selin of Selin and Harris Violins was playing the violin.

Shane and Dylan have some pictures and blogs here:
http://www.travelpod.com/members/rainforestinn

Laurie and I went on a day-trip to Vieques island to find out about some things to do there and places to stay. We talked to the manager of Vieques airlines, Bananas bar, restaurant and guest house as well as Blue Caribe Kayaks and Mimi’s guest house for bicycle rentals. Email bill@rainforestinn.com with any questions or check our show notes for links.

The Luquillo Corridor is an untouched beach, home to many birds and a turtle-breeding haven that is threatened by development. The Sierra Club is helping to organize environmentalists who are interested in protecting this beautiful beach. Laurie and I bicycled there recently. We went in through a gate posted with a "no entry" sign. The dirt road we rode our mountain bikes on was for fisherman's access only. Flooding because of the high seas on the beach that day going over the estuary finally stopped us and we turned back but not before recording this podcast.

We go to the Puerto Rico parrot aviary in the El Yunque rainforest of Puerto Rico. There are only 30 parrots in the wild flock and we interview the chief agriculturist who is running the captive breeding program to rescue these beautiful birds from extinction. bill@rainforestinn.com

We go on a hike in the rain forest with Cynthia, an interpretive guide. This may be our podcast number eight but it is podcast number two in our informative series about the El Yunque rainforest. It is 45 minutes long and touches on sounds of coquis, snail breeding, rain forest camping and sierra palm forest history.

We are busy getting the inn ready for season. Fixing the north wing which was the main building damaged by hurricane Georges. Laurie is doing all the painting. We make excuses about the interviews we had to postpone.

We talk to Dr. Lugo about studies the Institute has made in EL Yunque over the last 60 years. Making a historical building "green" (and things we can do at the rainforestinn for the environment). We visit a huge Asubo tree in the jardin botanical sur as well as other trees in the beautiful botanical garden on our walking sound tour. He also describes how the institute works with other countries including Brazil saving the world’s rainforests. He describes their work with schools in Puerto Rico teaching students scientific methods of forestry and GIS studies with satellite photos of land use patterns and land cover change.