Don't go Chasing Waterfalls
a weekend full of mini adventures, some exciting, some disappointing
03.26.2010 - 03.28.2010
86 °F
The weekend after Caye Caulker was a little bit more relaxed. People's parents were all visiting, so Martha's Inn was on the quiet side. Friday I had the annual general meeting for my service learning project; which was very successful, and that evening I went to this cute little place called Kumquat Cottage that one girl Dani's parents had rented out. We had a cookout with her family and played bocce with stones and limes. It was a great night, and one of the first in a while to remind me of home. I got a bit homesick, but it was good to be a bit distanced from the typical San Ignacio evening.
Saturday morning I went with one of my roommates' Kalyn, another girl Margaret, and her father to Mountain Pine Ridge. Mountain Pine Ridge is a protected area right outside of San Ignacio town. Its off a long and extremely bumpy gravel/dirt road, lined with so many pine trees that you aren't sure if you are still in Belize, and instead feel like you've been transported to somewhere with landscapes more similar to Colorado. In the protected area, we first went to Thousand Foot Falls, expecting to be able to hike down and see these, according to the guidebook "amazing" falls. However, when we got there and paid the 2 bz entrance feel it was actually just a lookout where we stood miles from the falls and couldn't actually hike down because it was "too dangerous." What a scam. But this is Belize.
After that we decided not to listen to the guidebook anymore and instead chose to choose our own path. We took a side road that had a sign for Big Rock Falls, and it ended up being well worth it. There was a five minute walk down to some pools that were attached to a beautiful waterfall. It was gorgeous and the water was really cool on such a warm day. We spent a few hours swimming around and enjoying ourselves before we headed home. That little side stop certainly made up for the disappointment of the Thousand Foot Falls.
Sunday was a whole new adventure in itself. We went on a field trip for my adventure and ecotourism class, out to a small man made Caye for lunch and then to the Swallow Caye Manatee Sanctuary. On the way to the sanctuary we saw two dolphins (or porpoises couldn't be sure) alongside the boat and they were gorgeous. I love dolphins, and seeing them in the wild truly made my day. We saw a few manatees later in the afternoon, but overall the dolphins to me were more exciting. The manatees were hard to spot in the cloudy water of the sanctuary.
It amazes me the field trips that we go on for our classes. Keep posted because next weekend I am going to be going on two more field trips that are bound to be great adventures.
Posted by akalisze11 04.12.2010 19:42 Archived in Belize Tagged foot
