Waterfall skinny dipping and other slick adventures
San Ignacio, Belize.
106.6 kilometers ridden.
Woke up and got in a quick bit of relaxing before
it was time to start getting ready to ride. Ed, Aaron, and I would be heading
out to Big Rock Falls and 1000 Foot Falls on the bikes. I got most of the prep
done and found out that Aaron had already eaten breakfast so I walked around to
the bar and restaurant combo we had been drinking at the night before. I got an
omelet with bacon, cheese and veggies and a side of "toast bread".
The toast bread was more like fry bread and was very good.
I went back to the hotel and Ed had arrived. We
finished prepping the bikes but Ed and Aaron then want to go for a few things
so we ended up at a smoothie shop where the guys grabbed wraps and I had a
smoothie. Service took the usual forever I have come to expect in Belize but
the smoothie was good. We went and geared up before setting off from the hotel
Tropicool.
The ride out was spectacular and full of both
twisty canyon type passes on good pavement and lots and lots of gnarly two
track and logging roads. We stopped for a bit so I could set up some ride-byes
on the DSLR on Tripod. It took a bunch of time but I really hope it ends up
being usable for later. The majority of the remaining ride out to Big Rock
Falls was spent in the rain and on some incredibly slick mud. Ed was riding
with his feet out like out riggers more often than not. I had a great time
playing aggressively on the bike as I did camera work with the gopro and helmet
cam.
We made it to Big Rock Falls and I took my bike
down the small trail to where there were a number of horses tied up. I parked
the bike and took some photos while waiting on Ed and Aaron.
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| Decided to get a little artsy with my editing on this one |
We hiked down the canyon to the river, passing
the hikers who had come in on the horses as they came up, and finding the rock
pools to be totally devoid of any people. A few moments after arriving Ed set
the tone by stripping down naked and taking photos by the falls. Aaron was the
first into the lower rock pools to swim with me splitting the difference as the
second to get naked and the second into the water for swimming. We swam in the
lower pools for a while before deciding to work our way up to the upper pools
and eventually the falls themselves.
I shot a ton of gopro footage climbing on,
jumping off of, and just generally the falls themselves. After what was likely
an hour or so we called it and headed back to our stuff where Aaron had posted
up sunbathing. Just as I was headed back I saw Aaron motion to me because other
people had just arrived. I squatted down and pulled my towel to wrap myself in.
It was a bit of a chuckle to walk by the two guys and two girls as they went up
to the falls and I went back to my clothes.
We made the hike up the steep canyon wall
assisted by the placed rocks and wooden steps just barely more than a foot wide
and likely only 9 inches or so deep. The steps were weathered and studded with
crushed metal bottle caps nailed in place for traction. We each got our bikes
loaded and made for 1000 Foot Falls.
The ride was good fun and I got to push myself
and the bike a good bit by setting up camera shots with the fender mounted
GoPro and my helmet camera.
1000 Foot Falls was not nearly as impressive as I
hoped for and was actually a 1600 foot set of falls blocked by lots of trees.
We tried to get the most out of the trip though and all took photos and chatted
a bit.
The ride back put us into darkness and with Ed's exhaust
having sheared off at the cylinder we were trying to take it easy and keep the
bumps to a minimum. I had a bit of a close call as I made a right hand turn
through the really good section of blacktop and an oncoming truck was taking
his bit out of not just the middle, but most of my lane too. It gave me a bit
of a scare.
We got back and decided to go for dinner at a
different curry spot. It was the same place I had taken breakfast as well as
our watering hole the night before. I chose poorly and had the tandoori chicken
which was dry and basically shit.
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| The presentation was nice at least |
After dinner we joined by a few of Christine's
friends. I had actually spent a large portion of the night talking with Cat. When everyone got up to leave I opted to stay behind
a bit and finish talking to Cat. When I finished talking to Cat and went to
find everyone I had no luck. I went into all the shit clubs and bars in the
area but just couldn't find them. I went back to the hotel and just used the Wi-Fi
for a bit and messaged them to say I was calling it a night. I stayed up to do
a bit of writing and called it a night.
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