Photo of the Day 405

Luquillo Beach, Puerto Rico, United States, 2003

Photograph by Amy Toensing

Under cloudy night skies, palm trees stand awash in green light on Luquillo Beach, Puerto Rico. This scenic view of an empty beach may be deceiving—more than four million people inhabit this island, which is only a hundred miles (160 kilometers) long and 35 miles (56 kilometers) wide.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "True Colors: Divided Loyalties in Puerto Rico," March 2003, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Dayy 398

Open Doorway, Puerto Rico, 2003

Photograph by Amy Toensing

An open doorway, tangled in vines, frames an idyllic scene of gently waving grasses in Puerto Rico. This small island boasts other unforgettable scenic views—particularly in the tropical rain forest reserve called El Yunque. Established by the king of Spain in 1876, it is one of the oldest existing reserves in the Western Hemisphere.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "True Colors: Divided Loyalties in Puerto Rico," March 2003, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 116

Girl Jumping into Water, Puerto Rico, 2003

Photograph by Amy Toensing

A girl free-falls into a river in Puerto Rico's Caribbean National Forest. The area, also called El Yunque, is just an hour's drive from the capital, San Juan, and is the only tropical rain forest in the U.S. Forest Service system. It was first set aside as a reserve by the king of Spain in 1876.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "True Colors: Divided Loyalties in Puerto Rico," March 2003, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 69

Insect Eaten Leaf, Puerto Rico, 2004

Photograph by Peter Essick

Light permeates an insect-eaten leaf in Caribbean National Forest, Puerto Rico. The only tropical rain forest in the United States' national forest system, Caribbean National Forest is a 28,000-acre (11,330-hectare) preserve to the east of the capital, San Juan. It receives, on average, a whopping 15 feet (4.5 meters) of rain each year.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Case of the Missing Carbon," February 2004, National Geographic magazine)