Sept 2 Sunday at the Finca --Waterfall!
Thanks to Don and his phone alarm we were up at 6 am. I had to hunt the phone down in the suitcase before it went off a second time! Breakfast was to be at 8 am so Don and I had some time to wait. We went out onto the veranda and enjoyed the view and to watch the sun light up the world. We could see mountains in the distance and fields and trees we did not recognize.
Breakfast was pancakes and oatmeal with bananas and fresco (fruit drink). After breakfast we took a shorter hike to swim in the waterfall. The trail was partly the same one we took on Saturday but branched off and headed straight down. It was hard on the knees but we took care and did okay. Part of the trail was blocked by a mud slide and the waterfall swim was nearly cancelled. The rest of the group was a good deal younger than Don and I so it was really up to us rather or not we thought we could make the climb over the mud slide and continue on. My response was-- let's give it a try -- and with a little help and the use of my knees (short legs are not a blessing) we climbed over the mud slide. It was so worth the work to get to the waterfall. This waterfall is in the jungle so there was no 'beach front' to shed your clothes and put your things down to stay dry. We all had to find a spot that was relatively safe and dry to change out of our clothes. The water coming down off of the mountain had not warmed up any--it was still really cold and the waterfall was forceful but I really liked the massage/shower. It was still a cold shower but with water pressure! The water was so cold it took your breath away. After struggling back into our long pants we started back to the hotel. The return trip was much harder as we had to climb the mountain. The group of young people were polite and waited for me even assisting on spots were my short legs were a problem.
Dirty but satisfied we returned to the hotel. The cold shower actually felt good and almost warm compared to the waterfall. We had lunch and a break during which we packed all of our wet and dirty clothes so we were ready to return to Xela.
We were later leaving than our tour guide would have liked. It was looking like we would not make it down the mountain before the afternoon rain and we would be changing to the covered van at the bottom of the mountain. The first part of the trip back was done in the back of the pick up with one added person. We all had to put on our ponchos and we put our luggage in plastic bags. It was still a rough trip down and this time we got a little wet. We made it to the van and transferred luggage and all before the heavens opened up! We drove through the monsoon with Don predicting that the rain would stop at a certain time. He was right because it did stop raining at 5 pm which was when we had driven to the other side of the Santa Maria mountain and the rain was blocked. We had dinner at McDonald's followed by church for the 7 pm Mass and then home to our host family.
