Getting There - Aneel's Travelogue

Today's excitement was a hike in Parque Nacional El Imposible. The hike in was pretty easy: all downhill with a few stops to admire crabs in a stream and a random snake. Once we reached the river proper, the waterfall jumps began.

I only did the first two jumps. Those two were straightforward plunges, maybe 10 feet down into deep pools. There was a little bit of aiming, to try to hit the deepest parts, but they were from overhangs, so if you fell straight down, it wouldn't be a huge problem. The next three all involved jumping well away from the starting point, and no running start was possible because of the slippery rocks at the top. Since I was sliding around on the trail, there was no way I was going to trust the grip of my sneaker soles 30 feet above sharp rocks.

For a couple of the jumps I skipped, there were ways to walk around nearby, but for one of them, I had to put on a rock climbing harness and climb down the sharp rock wall. Luckily, sharpness is actually an advantage when climbing. There were lots of holds.

After a rest by the last pool, we started the climb back up to the top of the hill. It was almost an hour of solid climbing, punctuated with opportunities to taste local fruits and hold a small lizard. By the time he was passed to me, the lizard was so accustomed to being held that not only did he not scamper away at the slightest provocation, he didn't seem to want to be put down on leaves or branches. I ended up carrying him up the mountain a ways before he finally decided to jump.

To and from the park, we traveled in the local manner: standing in the back of a pickup truck on a rough dirt or gravel road with lots of gullies and washouts. That was an adventure in itself. The trick is holding on tightly enough to the rollbar that you don't go flying as the truck rocks back and forth crossing uneven terrain, but not so tightly that you get exhausted.

After returning to the hostel, Mona and I took a scenic drive out to Lake Coatepeque, making only a couple of wrong turns along the way. We're staying in a hotel that reminds me of the 60s.