Pulhapanzak Waterfall

My adventure for today was a trip to the Pulhapanzak Waterfall. But "today" is actually Tuesday and you're not seeing this until Thursday because I scheduled it that way. Wednesday is a travel day and I'll be on an island without internet on Thursday and Friday, so I figured I'd space the postings out a little bit.

ANYWAY. I hadn't exactly planned to go to las cascadas, but a couple of people from my hostel were going and since I didn't have anything better to do, I figured I'd tag along. The three of us hired a taxi and made the 20 minute trip. Had I done this on my own, I probably would've opted for public transport, but considering how far away it was I was kind of glad that I didn't end up doing it that way.

It's 60Lps ($3) to enter the park and another 130Lps ($6.50) to go behind the waterfalls with a guide. We all quickly decided that going behind the falls was a must, so we made our way to the office to get our tickets and meet our guide.

My lucky streak with good guides continued with Luis. He was a guide not in the let-me-educate-you-about-this kind of way, but truly in the you-need-to-follow-me-to-make-it-through-this sense. He was awesome because he told you every step of the way what to expect, helped you along the slippery parts, and even lent me his hat so that I wouldn't lose my contact lens as we moved through the super powerful falls.

You see those falls right up above? They are 43m high, the tallest in the area for sure. THAT'S what we walked/scrambled/slipped behind. It was pretty awesome. There were opportunities to do some cliff jumping, too, but my dorm mate sliced the bottom of his foot pretty badly doing just that. Sliced it enough that he thinks he may end up having to cut his trip short by a month and go home. I let his misfortune be my warning and played it pretty safe.

Tonight I'm picking the brains of some of the staff here at the lodge to figure out logistics of getting from here to Isla el Tigre tomorrow and then from there to Nicaragua a couple days later. I'm feeling a little anxious about it because it's well off the beaten path, there aren't a lot in the way of budget accommodations, and I may well be one of the few foreigners around for miles. The owner of D&D said the best way around it is to knock on doors and ask about lodging and even meals. Wow. Wish me luck! Since there's no internet on the island, so I'll be back (from Nica) sometime over the weekend.