A series of falls

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Today we are up early for our visit to the waterfalls.

A call home reveals that dad is in hospital again. He passed out at home in the early hours. Full marks to my mum who managed to get downstairs, unbolt the front door (heavy, old type, slide bolts...top and bottom!) and raise the alarm with their neighbour. Upshot is that dad was whisked away in an ambulance again. There will be no news till later on so we decide on a half day trip so that we can be back in time to get an update. This is the time when I am thankful for the internet and smartphones (instead of cursing them) - we just would not want to travel if we could not stay in touch.

We pick up some sugared croissants from the bakery and head for the taxi rank. It’s only a short ride out of town so we are there in ten minutes. We pay our entrance fee and enquire if it is safe to swim. We are shown a plan of the area. There is a series of seven falls. We can swim in all three pools but must wear a life jacket if we wish to swim in the deeper pool. This is the one where folk climb on the rocks and leap in from a great height - we won’t be doing any of that!

We start with a reccy. There is a muddy concrete path with bridges over the pools. The waterfalls are stunning but there is a serious current and grab lines everywhere. Hmmm, we wonder where these ‘safe to swim in’ pools are...knowing full well that these are they!

We climb the steep, rocky stairway to reach the top. Actually the views are not so good from up here! We return to the bottom passing some interesting ornamental up-cyled sculptues including a motorbike constructed from old tyres.

We reach the ‘beach’ area - which is the only place that I might vaguely contemplate dipping a toe. I am still wondering if it might be completely foolhardy when a group of lads appear. They have decided to give it a go and I can see that this pool is only wading depth...they all appear to have made it out to the base of the falls barefooted. At least I have my rubber shoes...plus a spare pair since Ian will not be joining me...no surprises there then!

The promised changing rooms are under construction so I squeeze into a tiny toilet area inside a cafe. To be honest, apart from the lads and the cafe owners, there is no one else here! I am warned that the water is freezing by a lady who is accompanying the lads but she thinks it is safe enough.

I decide to wear my snorkelling top but find the water pleasantly warm! Don’t ever swim in the UK if you think this is cold, I tell the lady!

I stride out to the falls and Ian takes some snaps. I don’t attempt to swim. There is definitely an undertow which is fine when standing up but I am not going to chance taking my feet off the floor! The falls are even more spectacular close up but I can’t risk bringing the phone out - it was pretty damp from the spray just from the side of the path!

We are now leaving the falls and we see that a lot of coaches and tour groups are starting to arrive. We could have done this organised tour along with two other places for 650 pesos each. We think our 30 pesos each way taxi plus 50 pesos each to get in is much better value! Plus we have arrived ahead of the hoards! We plan to do the other waterfall tomorrow. The third is for more adventurous types...it involves climbing and zip wires - possibly accounting for the expense but we are happy to give this a miss.

There is a fourth, very tall, waterfall about an hour away but we have been told it’s currently too dangerous to visit. This is the chance you take when visiting at the end of rainy season...the falls are at their most magnificent but you have to time it exactly!

There’s a chance we will have to walk back to town, which won’t be the end of the world, but as luck would have it a taxi has just made a drop off so we get our ride back.

The Oxxo shop has managed to get its coffee dispensers fixed. It’s the only place in town that does these take aways and I am badly in need of a coffee fix. And, while we are at it, I naughtily sneak in a couple of KitKats!

Now it’s back to the hotel to see if there is any more news from home.

A call to my brother, who is with dad now, and all is as well as can be expected. Dad is being monitored for a few days but he is up and about and we can talk to him. His main concern seems to be that we do NOT fly home! OK, we assure him! It might have been a bit impossible from here - the middle of the jungle - anyway, but we will keep a watching brief nevertheless.

Another lazy afternoon to recharge the batteries...a bit of card playing, a dip in the pool, a bit of a siesta is all fine with us.

So now for tonight’s dinner. Choices are somewhat limited here. I would really like something a bit more healthy but the chances are looking slim. We head for a fish taco restaurant but don’t like the look of it, so we return to the place we went last night but choose something different from the menu. We select the item labelled tacos (4 pieces), each choosing a different filling. Two tacos turn up, one of each filling! Seriously they are quite small! So now we have to try to explain that when we ordered one each, we didn’t mean one each, we meant one portion each. Eventually, the lady returns to her stove and another six tacos are duly cooked. Ian’s filling is rather hot, whilst mine is like shepherds pie. Another non-healthy meal but what can you do? Tomorrow I intend to order hamburger and chips - surely we can’t get that wrong?

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