We got up with pretty weather. It figured that the day we would be in a cave it would be nice. We did our normal morning routine and got ready for our ride to Blue Creek Village. It was in the same direction that we had gone for the waterfalls so we knew it would be a long bumpy ride.
The ride wasn't that bad. Antonio was our tourguide for the day so I think we officially had every guide at the resort during our trip. Josh sat up front and as normal cracked jokes. Today Becky and Randy got to join in his cheesiness when he laughed at his own jokes. The Canadian couple from the beginning of the week was back and joined us for the day. They had been diving for 5 days and were back at Cotton Tree for 5 days or so. We joked with them that they were the first people to join us on a daytrip. They must be brave.
I had looked at pictures and read some reviews of this trip. I had a bathing suit on with some hiking shorts and tank top over top. I had my trusty Keen's on too. I understood we would be walking through some water. And headlamps. Apparently caves are dark.
We got to the "park" at 11:30. Antonio said we would do the caves first then eat. He obviously didn't understand that at 11:30 I was ready for lunch. This hike really must not be much if he thought we could wait until after to eat. He handed us each an XL life vest and we started hiking towards the creek. We were in the center of the little village with locals washing their clothes and bathing in the water next to us. Along the walk (about 20 minutes) we passed a small place to stay along the creek. They were kind of like duplexes. Very minimal and in an extremely remote place. Along the walk Antonio told me a story about how when it floods it is very dangerous here. One time he was leading guests on the hike during rainy season and they got out of the cave with about 30 minutes to spare. Don't worry, you can tell when that will happen by the change in temperature. That made me feel very safe.
As we got closer to the cave the hiking turned into rock jumping. Slick rock jumping. This must be the hard part that they had warned us about. I wondered how the older couple from earlier in the week could have done this.
We got to the cave and it was pretty impressive. All of a sudden it was in front of you. We took some pictures and started gearing up. Antonio dropped pants to change and Becky thought it was hilarious to get me to turn around right at that moment. Wonderful. It was pretty warm out so I went down to my suit except for my shorts.
I was surprised by the Canadian couple. They had all this gear with them. Snorkels, underwater cameras, expensive regular Canon camera. I figured they knew what they were doing. They asked if they could use their snorkels in the cave. Antonio said sure, but it is dark. It's a cave. You can't see anything. They put all their stuff in a dry bag and we started into the cave. I was a little shocked when the first part was to basically jump into the water and start swimming.
We continued to swim for a long time. I didn't remember this part in the description. We got to a part where I saw Antonio up ahead (he completely took off and left us - I followed Josh in front of me) and he was standing on a rock. Oh good the swimming is over. Nope just a rock to go over. I pretty soon realized there was no walking in this hike. Just a one mile swim/climb each way
I must say this is one of the most amazing things I've ever done. There were parts where we literally had to climb small waterfalls. You had to help each other up and find footholds without letting the water knock you back down. Josh is petrified of caves and water he can't see into. He kept telling me how amazing this was.
After the first waterfall I asked Antonio where we were going. He said hopefully to the end. I later found out that many people can only make it to the first waterfall (about halfway) and that during rainy season it gets pretty impossible to pass certain spots. Right before the end where the huge waterfall is there was one last climb. I tried to get up and couldn't. Becky tried and with Randy pulling and her figuring out to climb it backwards we made it. I really didn't think I would have the strength and I was so proud of our group Antonio was off somewhere. He didn't seem to concerned about us. We got to the top of that last climb and it was straight out of a movie.
Remember that scene in The Goonies. That's where we were. We asked if we could climb the big waterfall that was coming out of this hole about 15 feet up and Antonio just laughed. He told us all to turn our lamps off and it was pitch dark. Then you could see some daylight up at the top of the cave. I about freaked out with the darkness and we quickly turned our lamps back on. Okay, now back out. It was a tad easier getting back out but still a tough climb/swim.
Halfway in the other couple put their wetbag on rock to store. I have no idea how they thought they could swim in swift currents with a bag over their heads. They had a really hard time getting back out with it. We found out that night that water had gotten into the camera bag and ruined his camera body. Again, why you would risk it, I don't know.
We got out and we were all pretty hyped up. We had some lunch down by the river which was one of the most miserable points of the trip. I had gone all week with maybe 3 bites total. The problem was that the water had washed all my bugspray off and I got devoured by these little flies. I was covered in bites. I finally took my lunch and ate in the van. I don't know how everyone else managed.
The day quickly got away from us and as we were eating it started to rain. Very fitting. We got back to the resort and I realized how nasty my bag was going to be the next day with all these river wet clothes. I also realized that I only had 2 pairs of pants and both had now been worn in a river. I was pretty sure that would not smell good on the plane ride. Uh-oh.
After cleaning up we headed back to the lodge. Becky's favorite drink "Mojo River Splash" was the special for the night. The bartender said it was special since it was our last night. I think he wanted a big tip when we checked out. I think Josh ordered some more fruity frozen drinks. Becky and I took advantage of the special and we started meeting the new faces who had arrived that day. One couple was actually from Charlotte. They tried to convince me to go to Cat Island in the Caribbean for a while and then asked us a gazillion questions about the daytrips we had done. I thought we had been high maintenance!
Dinner was fun with such a big crowd. We talked with everyone about our week. After dinner the four of us vowed to stay up a little later for our last night. We had found the rules for the cardgame we had been trying to find all week. We had a great cap to our trip and then headed back to the room to pack for the next day. This was probably one of the best days of the trip. I'm so glad Becky and Randy had their waterproof camera.
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