They're Back!

We had a very fun time in the coffee plantation highlands and forests of el Parque Nacional de Imposible, although, if you talked to David about it, he might not call it fun. We arrived in the outlying town of Ahuachapa on Monday, where we needed to catch another bus to Tacuba. We decided to find the restaurant owned by the woman I met here at the Bahia Resort, and as we were walking, her husband drove by, stopped, introduced himself, picked us up, and drove us to the restaurant. Being the only gringos in town, it was quite obvious to him that we could be the people Cyntia had described to him the day before.

We had a delightful morning visiting with them. They ended up taking us on a tour of their home in a gated community close by and eventually drove us to a picturesque little colonial town named Ataca. We hoped to meet up with them again the next day and try their food, which looked wonderful, but that never happened. We wandered about, got rained on, sauntered by the colorful mercado, found a tiny local restaurant for a delicious lunch and caught the bus back in time to catch another bus to Tacuba.

Once in Tacuba, we walked the town and found the Hostel de Mama y Papa. What a beautiful little home with several rooms and a gorgeous garden of reds, yellows, purples, oranges, and greens. Flowers and plants were everywhere. But no Monola, the guide we were to meet. We had been led to believe we might be able to take horses into the park, which was a mystery to Manolo's dad. His parents took royal care of us, even taking us to the "shortcut" trail down to Luna Falls, and we visited some great hot mineral springs in the late afternoon. We had two young guides who did the trail with us, and they were great, although they spoke no Ingles. Papa knew of David's sore knee but perhaps didn't really understand how serious it was and because he could drive us part of the way, he may have figured that the two miles straight down and back were doable. Another delightful couple from Santa Monica joined us on this venture. I think we were the only gringos in Tacuba.

While in route, David was dying. Our young lead guide cut him a cane de cafe and that helped him tremendously. There were many steps which were slick with mud and thanks to the roots of jungle trees and our gortex boots, both David and I made it down very slowly. There was a spectacular waterfall cascading into a gorgeous swimming pond, and we all dove in to feel the tingle of the cold refreshing water. The water under the falls next to the rocks was wonderfully warm, and when we slithered out on the huge rocks, the sun soaked into our souls. We ate Bimbo bread sandwiches of ham, cheese, and black beans and cheese and ate small sweet bananas.

The trip out was straight up, and the exercise felt great to me. We were very thankful that David could actually walk the next day and seems to be fine now. It was very challenging and painful at the time. Cold beers and the hot mineral springs helped to bring relaxation to our weary limbs, and we all slept well that next night, in spite of the dogs barking and the chickens cockodooing each hour of the morning. We left yesterday for San Salvador and finally found ourselves back in the marina by dark, but it was a very long day. That is another story. Sorry not to be more exciting, but perhaps I will have the energy to get into the feelings and sensations of our experiences when I get a chance to send pictures. I will try to do that tomorrow or even tonight. We must go give Sidewinder a bath and re-anchor. Love to all. Our trip was very special in lots of ways............. to be continued.