Second Stop...Dominical

Dominical-May 26th. My friend Andrew is a tour guide in Costa Rica, so I called him before we went down to get some ideas on what to do while we were there. It turned out that he was going to be there doing a tour with a small group at the same time we were there and invited us to come along on an apparently killer hike. The plan was that we'd hike up through this garden (kept up by volunteers in a community just below the trailhead) and on to a cave where we'd eat lunch and repel down this big waterfall. I was sold. It ended up being one of the highlights of my trip. (On the Right: view from the garden.) There is just something about waterfalls that I totally love. I swear I could sit for hours watching one. They are just so beautiful and peaceful. I love them.....and this one did not disappoint. Wish you could all see it in person. (On the left: The garden...full of sugar cane plants, aloe vera, guanabana trees, flowers, and a million other things...absolutely beautiful. Jessie (guy with the masheti in hand) was our tour guide. He's standing in a field of sugar cane....cut some down for us to try. It's basically like sucking on sweet juicy pieces of wood. I had no idea...it was really cool. Anyway...the garden was amazing. So-on to the cave. Jessie's dad owns all this land and then lets people live there for free if they work to take care of his property...it's like a commune. Very interesting. So they built a trail and then built an entire kitchen in this cave under a waterfall. Hard to picture, so I'm including some visuals....Pictures-(Don't know how they're going to show up on the blog, so consider this a matching game-good luck): #1:Crossing the base of one of the waterfalls to head up to the cave. #2 Looking on the path into the cave area. If you look closely you can see some tables in the distance. The waterfall came off the rock that is hanging over the path to the cave. #3 This was the waterfall we were going to repel down, but while we ate lunch the rain started coming down and within minutes the water was swelling and became too dangerous to repel down. Sad. I was way excited about doing that repel. This is the waterfall that we crossed the base of earlier. #4 Picture of the four big waterfalls from the base of them...we hiked down from the cave to where these four waterfalls pool.....then drops 600 feet-wish I could've seen that waterfall from it's base. #5 This is where the water goes over and drops 600 ft. There is a cable stretched across the edge of the waterfall to hold onto-gets your heart racing to stand there holding on, but totally worth it for the picture. ;) #6 At the base of the waterfalls is this rock we climbed up, maneuvered through some rocks over to where the current picks up a bit and rode the current like a waterslide...although I quickly found out after following Andrew up this little path that rock doesn't have the same sliding comfort that a slide has-shocker. It was fun anyway. Couldn't believe how strong the current was....it was fairly safe, I think. ? I'm still alive, anyway. #7 Ally, Leslie, and Me standing in the base of the waterfalls. #8 The cave...This is a terrible picture , but it's the only one I've got. Like I said, the waterfalls shoot off the rock that hangs over the cave and there was an extreme amount of spray from the waterfall...that's why it's so blurry. But you can see the tables and stools that they've put there...made out of tree trunks, and way up there is a full kitchen. Sink, island, wrap around counter top, stove, etc. It's amazing, nothing fancy, but fancy for being in a cave. We had lunch here after our fun in the waterfalls. #9 View on the path to the cave behind the waterfalls. #10 Path from the cave back out. You can see the waterfall coming down on the left. Our little fun in Dominical was almost over. We hiked down in the pouring rain, but it was so fun. I really don't mind the rain...and I especially love playing in it, if I'm dressed properly for such an event-and I was. The path got so muddy, that we had two people go down and I was practically skiing down the whole thing. It was hilarious. Sounds gross, but the mud looked like ...well, I'll just let you use your imaginations. ;) It took an hour and a half to drive to Dominical from Manuel Antonio and back that on regular roads in the US would only take 30 min. to drive. Pot holes on dirt roads almost the entire trip. After an exhausting day a nap in the van sounded fabulous...but us three girls were booted to the back seat, where you feel every pebble under the wheels of the van so there was no sleeping for us. Back to Manuel Antonio to our new digs...the Backpackers hostel. I've never appreciated the "Goodnight , sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" wish/saying , more than I did in this hostel. Yup, there were bugs all over my sheets. Just little guys. I guess these are the sacrifices you make for $8 a night. I covered my sheet with a flat sheet, and another, and another (Ally had brought two from home and let Les borrow one...they both gave me their flat sheets provided by the hostel. ) And then I covered it with one of my towels...and went to bed. Luckily I didn't come away with a single bite. :)