Chasing Waterfalls
Once again, I went off chasing waterfalls. (Raise your hand if the 90’s song by TLC just popped into your head.)
This time it was to the pueblo of Santiago Apaola which necessitated a ninety minute drive out, and due to traffic and just plain cussedness of the universe, at least two hours on the return. I wasn’t tracking by that time. I was tired and just wanting to get back. But it sure felt long.
I’d booked the tour through Coyote Aventuras. Fun times and a good group. I wasn’t going solo since I knew beforehand, I was (at a minumum) a fourth wheel to a group of three. But as I walked to the meeting point, I wondered if the tour would be in English or Spanish? Not greatly important, since the key points were to be out hiking but still, I was curious.
Turns out, my partners-for-the-day were a brother and sister (Grif and Erin) and their cuz Amy — all from the country to the north of here: USA. Grif from NYC, Erin from SF, and Amy from LA, they were as spread out across the country and my own fam.
Add in a mix of exuberant guides (Mara, our official guide, Arturo our driver, and Jose the local), it was an amazingly fun time. So much laughter, often at my expense, but hey, it’s what makes it fun. And they all like dogs and cats. So yeah, an epic day.
We started out from the flat area of town heading upstream into the canyon. Pretty narrow and quite cool.
Petroglyphs and a lost (and found!) contact lens were the highlights of the canyon walk. Other than the scenery, company, and hearing a couple of new species of birds, that is. The birds, sadly didn’t make my life list. Even though Merlin captured an ID based on sound, if I didn’t see them, they don’t make the list. Thems the rules.
Then it was to the other side of town and down into the waterfalls. The trail down was steep and mostly staired. Being the idiot that I am, I tried running them on the return. Ha. I haven’t felt that badly after a run since, well, a couple of days ago. More fodder for the nagging thought that I may not ever get back into the shape I was pre-ablation. I just can’t seem to get enough air moving.
Bah. Enough of the negative Norris. The waterfalls were spectab. The water color is from a high mineral content, and what you see in the photos is what it was. No enhancements here!
After slogging back up, we had an excellent meal at the local fonda. Don’t really know what I had, other than it was tasty, a bit picante, and all around bueno! We climbed back into the van and climbed back up to the top of the canyon for some final photo ops.
I was one wiped out puppy when I finally made it back to the hotel. A good night’s sleep and I’m now ready to go. And go I shall. It’s a moving day, and I’m schlepping off to a new place here in town. It’s the first that’s not a hotel-ish in the area, and a bit further off from el centro, but I’ll have a kitchen to make coffee!
Be kind and take care of yourselves. If you can, care for someone else, too.
Slang, out.
Isn’t is ironic that we are impressed by water falling off a cliff? Key word WE. The minerals form travertine and are really cool. This waterfall is reminiscent of Havasupi Falls in AZ, USA. Also spectacular! Looks like you had a great day!