Hiking to the Falls

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First we want to say a big Happy Birthday to Geoff’s brother, Pete. Hope you have/had a wonderful day. Would send a card but stamps are scarce.

Miraculously, we were able to get our softphone app (this is free with our voip provider) to work on the cell phone as well as the notebook – so now we can make a call from anywhere to anyone using our own phone number. Whatsapp is a great alternative but both parties have to have the app installed. Plus when people call our house it will ring here – amazing. There is one hitch – you have to have a decent wifi signal. The first call we got was from the insurance guy. He will be looking at the property soon. Will talk to him again Friday.

Back in the forest, it was time for dinner. Trekked down to the restaurant. We were the only customers again. The two lady tag team was still there – no sign of a cook. Ordered dinner and looked up stuff to do in Minca. Nothing different than what we already knew. If we get bored enough tomorrow, we might venture out and walk to the waterfall. See how the weather goes. Right now it is very overcast. If nothing else, we will definitely take a walk into the small town and check out the neighborhood.

It is awfully noisy here in the jungle. The birds and insects are really intense. It is ok when they are melodic but this morning at around 5am, one sounded like a lawn mower! Literally. It went on for quite some time and they finally stopped. Not before, I was wide awake, however. Now it is about 6:30am and there is all kinds of music and traffic noises coming through the trees and the birds are back to regular bird noise. The sun is out so no excuses about bad weather. We lolled around the hut until 9ish and decided to dress the part for a hike and a swim – just in case.  

Since it was a hike to breakfast, we might as well be ready instead of having to trek all the way back to the hut. Again, we were the only two at the restaurant. You’d figure someone would show up for breakfast – it’s included! It’s starting to feel like the Twilight Zone around here. Anyway, we made some phone calls while we waited for the food since the router was staring us in the face. First call was to wish Pete a happy birthday and catch up on family news. Next, I called the contractor. We had told him to go ahead and re-shingle anything that wasn’t under the solar panels. He told us we really didn’t need to do that. He was going to fix the mess on the house and re-shingle the whole shed. Those were original to begin with. The real good news was that Al and Tim were going to do it tomorrow and Saturday because, guess what, another Nor’easter is expected on Monday. So we should be all set. As for the fence, our fence guy (who is also a friend) is sailing around Belize right now. He wrote and said he would look at it next week. All this puts our minds to rest. Called a few friends about the house, finished breakfast, and we were on our way.

It’s about a 10 minute up and down walk to downtown Minca. Not much to write home about. Lots of tourist tours being offered, cafes, and small local shops. Well the “not going to hike anymore” rule didn’t last too long. The guilt of doing nothing was getting to us - we felt that we had to earn our hammock time somehow. So, we took the turn to the waterfalls. Far to compelling not to go up and take a look. It felt good being without a guide for a change. I know they can be very helpful and informative but it is also fun and exciting finding out things on our own. Also, life was a bit easier in walking shoes instead of mud boots or sandals. I’m sure it took us longer than the advertised hour to climb up there. Once there, we ran into a few young folk, but it wasn’t

crowded at all. There isn’t a whole lot of real estate around the pool. Geoff dove in first and I took my time getting used to the water. It was a bit cold but nothing like Maine in June, plus after the hot walk it was very refreshing. Most of the kids left but I wound up talking to this woman originally from Dublin now living in London, who was traveling by herself. She looked familiar and we probably saw her in Cabo when we were in Tayrona. She rented one of those hammocks in the tent city which basically looks like a refugee camp. Chatted until we started turning blue and it was time to get out of the pool. Dried off and headed back into town. On our way down we saw a whole lot of people going up. Looks like we got out of the pool just in time. It is going to get crowded up there.

Went into the Lazy Cat Café, which is the place to go we were told. Nice and cool by a stream. Had a great lunch and ordered take out for dinner – we’re staying put tonight. Back in our hut now. I snagged the fan that was in reception because no one ever used it. It’s a god send up here. The sun is shining brightly and it just started pouring rain. Time to look for rainbows.

Next time… Stopover in Cartagena