Today, I rented a great little mountain bike to take a ride through the Piñones forest on a beach and boardwalk trail through the woods. Robert, owner of San Juan Bike Rentals (http://sanjuanbikerental.com/), has a great little business going where he delivers bikes, helmets, locks and a handlebar bag direct to your hotel/condo building. If you remember, last year I rented a rusty old clunker for this ride, but Robert's bike was a nearly new ProdecoTec X3 V3 mountain bike.
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| Me and my mountain bike |
The Pinones trail starts at Punta Cangrejob, a cape east of the town of Loiza. The trail winds through ramshackle bars and outdoor eateries like the one seen below that look abandoned during the week but are lifely during the weekends.
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| La Casa del Miami Vice, |
The first views of the trail are of the ocean beaches.
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| Beach View from the trail |
The trail passes through thick forest on the right, more beaches, then turns sharply into the woods. It was very hot and I only stopped when I heard or saw birds, so I have no photos of the woods themselves.
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| Beach-side boardwalk section of trail |
Once in the woods, I did see a few examples of local wildlife. Puerto Rico is not known for a great deal of wildlife, but I photograph what I do see.
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| Northern Mockingbird |
This mockingbird has a great call, actually, many calls, and when I heard him, I was looking high in the trees trying to find him. After a few moments I noticed he was on a branch literally 30 feet away, in full view, and didn't move as I brought out the camera and began to take some shots. If you have sound, you can hear samples of these calls here: http://ibc.lynxeds.com/audio/play/251213
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| Northern Mockingbird |
This blue lizard appeared quickly as I rounded a turn, and skittered off the trail. I was able to get a few quick shots before he was gone.
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| Blue-Tailed Almeiva Ground Lizard |
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| Blue-Tailed Almeiva Ground Lizard |
At first I thought this was a mourning dove, but on closer inspection, it is a Zenaida dove, named after the wife of the 19th century French ornithologist, Charles Lucien Bonaparte, nephew of the Emperor Napoleon. UPDATED: CORRECTION Turns out this is a common ground dove on further inspection. Sorry, so no story about Bonaparte.
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| Zenaida Dove CORRECTION: Common Ground Dove |
Tomorrow, we're off to the Barefoot Travelers B and B on the east side of the island for the night then an early morning walk through the Humacão Nature Reserve.
