Waterfall
On Saturday a really nice man whom we met at salsa class and then at church and has been showing Emily (our housemate) around Antigua, took us to a beautiful catarata (waterfall). We first took a chicken bus about 15 minutes away to San Miguel Dueños. Then Manolo asked a friend if it was safe for us to walk to the waterfall. Then they decided it was safest to ask the police, so we asked the police. 20 minutes later we were in the back of a police truck with 4 police up front. We drove through a lot of coffee plantations and then parked. 2 of the 4 police followed us on foot all the way to the waterfall with big guns. It was a beautiful day and I would have felt completely safe without the policemen, but it was very nice of them to come. I wonder what they would have been doing if they weren´t with us though.
We hiked along a beautiful river with lush greenery. A local was picking out cangrejos (crabs) from the river and let us take a photo. We crossed a bridge we most certainly would not have been allowed to cross in the US. There were planks sporadically attached to 2 cables at the bottom, with 2 cables to hold onto. The beginning was easy, but thaen the bridge slanted so that you had to walk on the tip of the plank to stay on. It was exciting.
Once we crossed the bridge, we reached the waterfall. It was thin and tall and beautiful. We took lots of photos, went all the way up to touch the waterfall- some of us falling into what seemed like quicksand in the process.
Guatemala is beautiful!
-Kara