Going With the Flow

The shock of the humid and hot weather after San Cristobal had us craving a swim. So we looked up a good place for one in the Lonely Planet book and set off in the direction the front desk waved us in to look for a collectivo to take us there. Two things were a bit unexpected firstly no one was going to where we wanted to go but apparently to another waterfall that was better so we ended up there. Secondly our collectivo was not the regular white vans we’d become used to but rather a truck, or if you’re an Australian a ute. Some people sat in the truck but we got to sit in the back. It had seats and a cage that you sat it. It was open at the front above the trucks cabin and that’s where people put a lot of their stuff. They also stored it under the seats. But we shrugged it off and just went with the flow of the day. Sure we’ll go to somewhere we don’t know in an interesting looking vehicle, why not?

So we endured the half hour bumpy ride with a horde of locals and two Germans in the back of the truck with us. When we got to the waterfalls it was just us and the Germans who got out. We had to pay $20 pesos to get into the waterfalls and somehow we ended up with a guided tour. Which was cool as he showed us where it was safe to jump in from as high as you can get, and where caves were hidden under the waterfalls. It was a series of waterfalls that ran into pools of beautiful blue water that slipped down into another waterfall ending in another pool and repeat. There’s not really much to report about the day. We’d had a lazy morning so it was the afternoon by the time we’d gotten there. We spent the few hours there with the guide and the Germans who had been on the collectivo. Thankfully they spoke English and some Spanish, and the guide spoke a little English so we made it through alive and unscathed. It was an awesome afternoon, and I finally got to test out the GoPro’s waterproof claim which was thankfully good.

Once we finished at the falls we wound back up in town and ended up having a lovely dinner with our two new German friends who were unfortunately leaving that night. So after dinner we walked them to the bus station saw them off and went back to our hostel. Queue the photos!

The view from the back of the collectivo heading back to Palenque