Day 40 19.08.15
We woke up after a goods night sleep – thank god, because it was really time! I had some pancakes with fruit and some lovely maple syrup and then headed to the van to drive to a nearby waterfall. Before we left we got to see some local petroglyphs, images carved into rock by indigenous people many many years ago. They were round shapes, or twirls engraved on rocks to either send messages or to engrave knowledge of for example astrology and the solar system. We don’t really know what these petroglyphs mean but it is what we assume.
We then left towards the waterfall. It started raining on our way up, and so the vans had great difficulty in climbing the hills. The wheels were turning, the air smelt of rubber and the passageway was muddy so the next van couldn’t drive up the road. It got to the point where we all got out and walked the rest of the way.
It was quite rainy, but that didn’t bother us too much, considering we were going to hike about an hour to see this waterfall.
We reached the pathway through the “jungle” and started walking. The rain was hitting the leaves around us and the sound was amazing. It was calming too and made the hike so much easier. The pathway lead over “Stock und Stein” (I’m sorry, I really like this German expression: “sticks and stones”, however not quite related to Rihannas “Sticks and stones will break my bones but chains and whips excite me…” ) up and down we went, partially climbing over an old river bed.
When we finally arrived at the waterfall, the view was amazing. A waterfall with a 40 metres drop was just very impressive. The area where the water gathered at the foot of the waterfall was ever so shallow and it seemed odd, especially seeing the amounts of water that were coming down from the waterfall. The waterfall definitely did impress, neatly tucked away in an opening of the jungle forest, leaning against a tall cliff full with vertical, water loving plants.
After having hiked up to the waterfall and being rained upon we were all drenching wet. (I definitely forgot my umbrella or better said underestimated the weather change…) With the light mist of the waterfall and a breeze, it got really chilly and we were keen on returning to the bus to warm and dry up.
We walked back, this time seemingly faster, like horses knowing on their way back there will be food awaiting them at the stables. I felt like I saw a lot more animals on the return to the van than on the way to the waterfall, probably due to the amount of rain pouring down and us desperately wanting to see the waterfall. We stopped for several butterflies and moths that were all clearly identified from the cards depicting the wildlife and labelling them. We were already quite close to the car park when I saw a butterfly, I called our guide for identification and he couldn’t find this butterfly on the overview. It seems as though this butterfly has not yet been classified. I therefore took it upon myself and called the butterfly the “black Carina Schmetterling” or the “black Carina butterfly” however you want to say it. The Schmetterling version is the official one now, (Just kidding, we probably just couldn’t find the butterfly on the identification sheet, or it came from Costa Rica or something like that…)
On our way back to the van we even saw a group of wild howler monkeys sitting in the tree talking to each other. Really great!
Everyone was just really tired and keen for food after that hike and so we very much enjoyed a chicken curry when we did get to the restaurant. It was great having something that wasn’t chicken and rice for a change. Especially as it was a good curry too, maybe not spicy enough, but still really tasty. We stayed there for nearly two hours, drying off and enjoying the few rays of sun.
After lunch we drove on to the hot springs, or better said a large basin of hot thermal and clear water. It was equipped with everything from a rope swing to a slackline tied from one side to the other. Some of us tried out the rope swing while a whole bunch of us tried the slackline. No, none of us managed to get very far, especially not very far when letting go of the rope helping you onto the slackline. All it produced were bruises and braises.
It was great fun though and we had a good time relaxing in the water, and I am pretty sure everyone’s skin was a lot softer when we got out of the water. A real fountain of youth :).
We headed back with the mission of finding some marshmallows for the bonfire we were having at night. The first stop we did lead us to a small convenience store that sold us miniature marshmallows – none that you could put onto a stick. We then continued to an even smaller convenience store and managed to find one bag of normal sized marshmallows. How weird to find marshmallows on the side of the road in a tiny store on a remote island.
We drove back and relaxed a bit and got ready for dinner. I had a tomato soup, thinking that it would be just as good as the chicken soup, but unfortunately that wasn’t so, and I wasn’t really that hungry after the great curry.
We headed over to the bonfire on the beach, all sitting together watching the flames and getting up every once in a while to roast another marshmallow in the embers, while listening to the waves coming on to the shore. Delightful!
After that – straight to bed.
