“It’s a jungle out there” has been cliched to the point that the phrase almost always brings to mind a complex urban landscape. But sometimes…
It really is a jungle.
Our views from Yokahu Tower extended more than ten miles, out to Luquillo, Fajardo and San Juan and into the North Atlantic waters that border Puerto Rico’s northern shores.
To the west, Los Picachos and Pico de El 
Yunque rose from amongst the 240 known plant species native to El Yunque National Forest. Far to the east, beyond our sight but visible from El Yunque Peak on the clearest of days: the Virgin Islands.
As we breathed it all in, I remembered swimming years before in the seas of St John and Virgin Gorda, only vaguely aware that Puerto Rico was just over there… to the west. Now I stood on Puerto Rico’s main island knowing that I’d once 
chased eagle rays through waters just over there… to the east. As my brain slowly arranged it all in geographical order, it struck me that whether surveying jungle, ocean or mountain, a little on-the-spot perspective is more effective than any map in connecting them all across one beautiful and ever intriguing planet.
Updated from September 29, 2010.
thanks
Hi Heather.
I had lost track of your blog but found it again today. Hope all has been well with you.
Thank you, Joe! I’ve had a couple of (website) moves but like all the features of my new address. So glad to have connected again! Life is very good -hope the same for you!