Day 23 - What If?

Today was a good day. I think we are all getting to that point in the trip where we are still really enjoying ourselves, but we are tired and don't need to overly exert ourselves every chance we get. We decided to lay fairly low and head out on a boat ride to visit some hot waterfalls. We first set out from our flooded dock at Tijax (pronounced Tee-hash) around 9:00. We rode past "bird island" on our little boat and got to see thousands of white and black birds crowd on some small island in the middle of the river (or lake?). We then went by some impressi9ve looking fortress the locals had built hundreds of years beforehand to ward off the invading Indians and Spaniards.

Once we arrive at the "finca," or farm, we wait around for a half hour for the tractor to come by that was going to take us to the waterfalls. Gemma had been to them before and assured us that they were worth going to, as the waterfalls were really warm and the pool below was nice and cold. So the tractor, old and worn down, pulled us behind in a cart that was even older and more worn down. The ride was bumpy and we all got to know each other a little better as we constantly flailed all over each other.

We were disappointed when we finally reached the waterfalls, as the recent rain had caused the river to ride and become quite muddy. Ready for a challenge, I started to climb the rocks on the opposite side of the falls (the side we hiked into) to find a good entrance point. Luckily, a local worker warned us of the dangers and probably saved me from doing something foolish. We showed us men (Andrew, Brent and I) how to safely enter the river (which involved diving blindly into the muddy water, against all our better judgment). We did so, swam against a strong current and finally reached the other side. We then hiked up a steep hill to get to the river that fed the waterfalls (the hot river). Once up there, we realized that it would not be as nice as we planned because the river smelled of rotten sulfur and was too small to do anything other than wade barefoot. So, we made our way back down. Some of the more adventuresome women in the group, decided that they wanted to give it a try. Shannon and Hanna did an exceptional job of fighting the current and were able to share in our disappointment with the sulfur water.

On the way back, a bird pooped on Haley's shoulder and Shannon's face. While Haley's was only on her shirt compared to Shannon, she was not able to wash it out and now has another nice souvenir in the form of a nice skid mark.

After getting back to the hotel, we all just shriveled like prunes the rest of the afternoon in the hotel pool. Because of the compromising shower/jungle situation at Tijax, we all counted this as our shower, figuring the chlorine would kill off most of the bacteria.

That night at dinner, after a small mishap when ordering our food (they thought Haley had ordered two servings of tomato soup (yeah, we didn't get it either)) we played celebrity "who am I" and another intense game of "what if?" Both were a lot of fun as I was branded as a transvestite and Haley was accused of being in the adult entertainment industry in what ended up being the best game of "what if?" we have yet played.