Day 5 - Cave Exploration

Our guides were not happy with our group because everyone was up with the sunrise around 5 AM.  We all slept pretty well once Sam and Stuart stopped giggling J  All you could hear all night was the roar of the waterfall.  Nobody was bothered by dripping water off the rock or by the giant cave crickets around us.  It was such a surreal experience to wake up in an open cliffside!

We had the most amazing breakfast we’ve had since we’ve been here- banana oatmeal, fruit salad, toast with grape jam, tea, and fresh brewed coffee.  It doesn’t sound all that phenomenal, but it was delicious!  We left with just our water and cameras for a different waterfall further up the mountainside.  Our hike up was much steeper than yesterday, but thankfully, it wasn’t 3 hours.  The only thing we really had to worry about were the soldier ants once Jesse disturbed their nest…

The waterfall had a 25 foot drop into a gorgeous blue pool below.  The water was FREEZING, but most of us took the plunge off the waterfall!  The pool was very deep and Dani said “it was exhilarating.”  It was great to everyone cheering for each other as they prepared to jump.  Mateo swam under the waterfall and started to climb it.

 When we made it back to camp, the Rustic Pathways group we met the other night was there.  They were going to stay there and rappel as well.  Before we all ate lunch together, we had the option to go check out a 600 foot waterfall further downstream.  12 of the students decided to go with Mau, Mateo, Mrs. Wooden, and myself.  It was definitely worth the extra hiking time.  The view was unbelievable!  We held onto a cable going across the stream and took pictures off the edge.  We trekked a little further up to a pool under a smaller waterfall and took a group picture.  It was absolutely breathtaking.

Our cave adventure was over after lunch.  We ate quesadillas and took off on the hike back.  It was not near as bad since the majority was downhill.  There were a few people who slipped on the mud going down and we all felt a few muscles in our legs that we never realized we had.  It was a lot shorter trip and we were happy to be done with it… until we realized we had to crawl back into the vans.  We had 2 days of extensive hiking and slept in a cave.  NOBODY smelled great.  We left all the windows open in the pouring rain on the drive back.  It was a race back into the base house for who could get the first shower!

Everyone was really tired, so it was a lot of chill time before dinner.  I sat and caught up on two day’s worth of this blog, while Sam, Blake, Connor, Dani, and Ali helped me remember everything we did!  Some people lounged on hammocks and we watched as there was a new refrigerator, a washer, and a dryer delivered to the house.  Yay for upgrades!

After dinner, we played some games in the soda.  We played an intense, back and forth game of “Pterodactyl.”  It kept going and going until Sam fell out of his chair and EVERYONE was laughing, so we had no idea who the winner was.  We also played a skit game from “Who’s Line is it Anyway?” called “Party.”  We have some great actors in our group!  By the end of all the fun and games, it was 9 and pouring rain, and we called it a night. 

It’s hard to believe our trip is half over!