8
Location: Rio Claro
We woke up at a normal time (7:15), and had a delicious breakfast at Hotel “Suenos Tranquilos.” The normal – eggs, toast, rice, and beans – was our entree per usual. We were excited to start our hike to the waterfall. Little did we know we would be hiking on a sweltering, hot road. We were hiking for about forty minutes before we came to a stop at the entrance place for the waterfall. After 5 minutes of waiting, we finally got into the jungle. Our hopes and dreams were crushed when we figured out there was another hike to the actual waterfall. Fortunately, the walk was short and beautiful. After slipping and falling on the slippery rocks on our way, we finally made it to the waterfall. Although the water was cold, the water was hard not to get into. We were accompanied by daredevils that seemed to be from Costa Rica. They climbed the waterfall from the rocks. It was scary to watch because if they fell back onto their head, they could have been seriously injured or even killed. As they made their way higher and higher, everybody’s mouth dropped lower and lower. Finally, they made it to the top. After staring down below their feet for a minute, they jumped… Our jaws dropped. The sound of their body hitting the water was terrifying, but they were fully safe each time. After ten minutes of them repeatedly going up and down the waterfall, Mara and Kayla wanted to do the same thing that they were doing. The counselors were hesitant at first but then gave in. Anna, the instructor, took them up the long way, not the waterfall way, for safety purposes. After five minutes of not seeing them, they appeared out of the jungle. Their faces filled with excitement; they were ready to go down the waterfall. Mara was up first. She had a perfect slide down and went smoothly down into the water. Kayla, on the other hand, rotated a little bit backward and landed a back flop. The noise was terrible. Luckily, she came out of the water with a smile on her face.
After an hour or two at the waterfall, we decided to depart. We went back to the hotel to check out. We got on the bus and took a two-hour drive to Fatima’s house. After checking out the neighborhood for an hour or so and getting to know more about Fatima’s story, we headed to our new hotel. Oliver and I got the handicap room, which is also the nicest room in all of the hotel. Us getting it was, of course, intentional. We chilled in our room and had an interesting dinner that night.