Wildlife Museum in San Juan

On Wednesday May 23, 2012 the Talented Students from our school S. U. José A. Vargas were taken to the new Museo de Vida Silvestre (or Wildlife Museum) in San Juan that allows people to see what all sorts of wild animals from around the world look like. It is filled with a variety of mounted animals in displays that depict their natural origin and behavioral habits.

The museum itself is not that large, but it is well done and presented. The ground floor has its main feature a 2-story Tree of Life display featuring a huge Baobab tree, along with the many animals that depend on the tree for water and food. All sorts of wonderful animals are set there. It is amazing to see how long a giraffe’s legs are!
 The second floor is divided into the 12 biomes (environments) that are found throughout the world. As you walked from biome to biome, the dioramas of animals and plant life changed. It was really good. I thought the artificial snow and water used in the displays was really lifelike.
You can walk around on your own, reading the information and really looking at the dioramas. There are English/Spanish bilingual signs at each display describing the animals and their habitat. But do not miss the guided tour. They have 6 educators on staff, and they are able to offer tours in Spanish, English and 3 additional languages. It was really good, and well worth the hour or so that it took.

Río Camuy Cave Park

Seventh Grade Students!

On Wednesday May 9, 2012 students from José A. Vargas School went on a field trip to Río Camuy Cave Park to enjoy one of the most beautiful wonders of our country.

Río Camuy Cave Park is part of the third largest underground river cavern system in the world. We enjoy a safe, guided tour of the marvels. From sinkholes and cathedral-like caverns to views of the mysterious river and its eons-old stalactites and stalagmites. Be sure to wear comfortable, non-slippery shoes! .

The caves at Camuy are actually 45 million years old, but it took a few million years for nature to adorn their towering ceilings with crystalline stalactites, their walls with flowing stone tapestries and their floors with mushroom mounds of stalactites. Few cave systems in the world are as massive or dramatic as the Rio Camuy Cave Park; none have a thundering tropical river traversing countless miles of uncharted channels. Three crater-like sinkholes and one cave of the huge system in the park are open to the public and they are truly memorable experiences.

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El "Parque de las Cavernas de Camuy", red asombrosa de cuevas subterráneas naturales de piedra caliza.

Las cuevas fueron creadas por las aguas subterráneas del río de Camuy, hace ya más de un millón de años.

Se documentaron en 1973 en el libro "Discovery at the Rio Camuy", escrito por Russel y Jeanne Gurnee.

Alrededor de las cuevas se creó un parque público de 268 acres, que está situado en la ruta 129, kilómetro 9.8.
Este lugar es impresionante, una de las formaciones subterráneas más grandes del hemisferio occidental y hasta ahora solamente se han explorado siete millas (11 km) de esta serie de cuevas de piedra caliza.

Los caminos de la selva tropical descienden suavemente a las cavernas en forma de catedral. El parque es una de las redes de cavernas más grandes del mundo.