Date of Entry: January 22nd 2017
Date of Writing: November 5th 2017
I wake up after a day and a half spent mostly sleeping in Montezuma and waste absolutely no time. I know where I’m going. After all I’ve been here before and I’m headed to my first place I’d consider as paradise outside of Canada, a waterfall I first visited at 16 and have never been able to forget. It’s not the biggest waterfall, and by now it’s far from the most impressive but it will always hold a special place in my heart, and is largely responsible for my all consuming obsession with waterfalls.
Of course the waterfall is a walk away from town, turning out of montezuma backpackers I turn left onto the road and follow it down towards the smaller of the two beaches that surround Montezuma, then it’s back to the road, around a few bends out of town, across the river running out to the ocean and up into the jungle trail which snakes it’s way upwards mostly following the rocky riverbed through the lush tropical undergrowth.
The trail is not perfect by any means and there’s some definite skipping around and leaping from rock to rock, clutching at branches to avoid slipping at times but it’s not that hard and it’s very much worth it. The trail isn’t crowded but it’s definitely busier than when I was here 13 years before. That holds true for Montezuma too, it’s not completely ruined by tourism, but the tourism industry has certainly grown a lot in the past 13 years, and while it wasn’t a secret back then, it’s certainly more popular now.
Still as I climb through the crowded rocky riverbed under the thick green canopy of the central american rainforest I can’t help but get excited for what I’m about to see. This place was my favourite single place in Costa rica in my first trip, I had a giant photo of it hanging in my room backhome until just before this trip when I brought it down to Brazil. I round the last bend in the riverbend and there it is, the water rushing over the dark cliffs, cascading down into a deep clean swimming hole with tons of corners to explore and cliffs to climb for those more adventurous that I. It’s a bit more crowded but otherwise nothing has changed, and it has the same feeling. My heart soars.
Sadly my sd card from my underwater action cam suffered an unforeseen explosion while in my computer sd card slot so I have no photos or videos from inside the pool, but trust me when I say I of course went swimming, and of course just like 13 years before alongside my brother, I went straight under the waterfall and climbed around as best I could. The water here is the perfect temperature, crystal clean and just cold enough to break the heat without chilling the bones. It couldn’t be better.
Now up above this waterfall there are two more, though the trails there are rough, and I’ve only worn my sandles here. I give it a go, and make it up above the first one, but the earth is wet and when it comes time to start descending I decide it’s just too much effort and two hot and so I head back down the way I came, a little ashamed, but also very hungry. Oh well, I guess you can’t see everything all the time.
After another refreshing swim in the first waterfall I decide it’s time to head back to town and eat something, though I decide to walk back along the beaches rather than the road before sitting down at my favourite restaurant from 13 years ago, right at the corner of the smaller beach, where getting the bill is harder than breaking out of maximum security prison. The view from this late lunch is beautiful, like most of montezuma.
That night I just hang out at the hostel, still tired from the long haul travel, but I end up going to dinner with some American folks, who show me the current best restaurant in montezuma, a small place directly across the road from Montezuma Backpackers, with giant ribs that are just too delicious. I know that for the rest of my stay I won’t be eating anywhere else.
