The next day we woke up around six and decided to go see this waterfall that we thought was right down the road that Matt really wanted to see. First we got breakfast from this little buffet line that was really good. Breakfast generally consisted of eggs, plantains, beans and rice, and either mango or pineapple juice or coffee. We realized the waterfall was farther away than we thought and so we faced the same dilemma as before- to hitchhike or to take a bus. Mike and Rachel immediately took off and hitched a ride and we took the bus. When it dropped us off, we walked down a dirt road that was supposed to lead to the waterfall and was dotted by lots of Costa Rican houses. It was a cool little road because it was certainly not a touristy spot and was pretty too. We asked people how far it was to the waterfall but determined that Nicaraguans have no perception of time or distance because throughout our entire trip, the answer was always “media hora” or “diez kilometers.” The road ended up being insanely long and we walked ten miles just to get to there. We tried hitching rides but no cars seemed willing to pick up five dirty teenagers. One truck dropped a crate of pineapples and we were so hungry and thirsty that Matt actually peeled off the exterior with his teeth and we all ate some. At one point in our walk towards the end when we were really desperate, we saw Mike and Rachel in the back of a pick-up truck, grinning maliciously at us as we trudged up the hill. We tried to signal the truck to stop since we all could have fit in the back but they didn’t, and Mike and Rachel did nothing to stop them. Jeff took off running after the truck all the way up the hill but it was no use. I was livid.
Once we got there, our hopes were dashed because it was a national park, which we weren’t aware of, and those cost a lot of money. The ranger told us it would be $10 each and we all just sat there forlornly for a good 15 minutes, unable to muster the energy to go back down but very unwilling to shell out so much money (remember, we had been arguing with each other over 50 cent bus rides so $10 was almost unthinkable in Nicaragua). Finally the ranger charged us each $1.60 and told us if we were stopped to pretend we were some of the American volunteers they took on to do research in the summers. We happily agreed and entered the park. It was my favorite nature walk because it wasn’t grueling or hot and it was very beautiful. There were thermal pools that we swam in and bright blue streams that met orange streams and intertwined while maintaining their individual colors. We found Mike and Rachel when they were on their way down when we were on our way up. We agreed to meet them back in Nicaragua later if possible. We made it to the waterfall where an enormous congregation of Costa Rican policemen and women were gathered taking pictures of themselves next to the waterfall. We took a few pictures and moved on without them noticing or caring about us. We hiked down and out a separate way than the way we came and tried to find a ride but had to resign ourselves to walking once again. We were walking through farmland and asked a man in his yard for directions. He dropped his tools and promptly began leading us. We found out through Carolanne that he actually owned the entire valley. Everything that we could see and more was his and had been in his family since silver was used as currency. His family had bought it for less than 200 pesos and he was immensely proud of all his crops as he showed them to us. But the road he brought us to was just being put in and was a construction zone. He was really angry that it was cutting through his farm. He waved goodbye and told us it would be about a 30 minute walk. Right. So we started trudging up the hills and were really exhausted when Matt began singing “The Bear Necessities” from the Jungle Book and we all chimed in. After a short while we were over the moon to see a truck stop to let us climb in the back. We laughed in that way you do when you’re so tired everything is hilarious and it was like biting into that mango again- nothing felt as good as sitting in the back of that truck looking at the green valley with the wind in your face.
After we were dropped off, we got something to eat and split up into two groups to try to hitch hike our way back to Nicaragua. Matt and Carolanne went together and Destiny, Jeff, and I made up the other group. We hitch hiked with one man for a while and then hitch hiked with a taxi the rest of the way to Liberia and then took a bus to La Cruz. It was too late to cross the border so we got a room in a hotel for $5 each. We stumbled upon a carnival in the town center and found out we’d missed the bullfight by just a few minutes. Destiny was so elated to be at a carnival that she jumped in the now empty pin where people were gathered and danced around. She was asked if she was high by the Nicaraguans. Jeff opened his backpack and got out his swim trunks saying, “I have red shorts. Want to be the bull, Destiny?” So he jumped down there too and waved them around while Destiny snorted and pawed the ground and charged to her heart’s content while I filmed the whole thing. Then we watched the mariachi band for a while and rode the swings before getting ice cream and heading back to the hotel to shower for the second night in a row and sleep. (in real beds!)
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