Feb 23rd 2009 - Jump!

I didn’t get a very good nights sleep under the very ineffective mosquito net – I feel like I’ve fed the majority of the mosquitoes in the area with my very tasty blood. I didn’t want to get up this morning as I was so tired, so bitten and loving the sounds of the morning of the area – some of the insects sound like machines!

After breakfast we set out on a little excursion to a waterfall. We travelled by pick up truck (no seatbelts – wouldn’t have survived in the UK) which was fun and when we got to our destination we found out that the organisers had not brought enough Wellies for us all. Like a gentleman, I let the girls have them instead but the sandals I had on got so muddy that it felt like walking on ice at points. Then the next day I found out I had lost them to mould as the trip destroyed them!

The trek was interesting, it seemed not to take too long on the way there (even with a stop to try some red termites which tasted like sesame seeds) although the heat was incredible – especially as it was so humid as well. The conditions and the slipping and sliding meant that by the time we reached the waterfall I was sweating horrendously! The water was cool but I resisted the urge to just get under so my first time under would be from the jump.

The waterfall was about 10 metres high and I found it quite difficult to get to the jumping point first time round (almost slipping off the edge twice). I was the first to jump and it felt so damn good. The rush was amazing and it made me determined to bungee at some point. It was so much fun I had to do it again, and led some of the others who were unsure beforehand.

We swam around the pool for a bit, with Chloe and I almost drowning each other behind the waterfall, before we all reluctantly headed back for an even more slippy walk – it was so bad I had to remove my sandals for some of the time just to be able to keep going. Before we left the location we made a gorgeous sugar cane drink where we had to push some bars to grind the juice out. On the trip back we headed through a little carnival and got a soaking from the locals which was nice as it cooled us down some more!

We had lunch, tough some of us had double lunch (thank you Sophie), before a game of charades and Pictionary (with some interesting guesses including ‘Santa dick’). I spent some time to chill with Chloe before tea with Mia and Josefine. The rest of the evening was just relaxing and playing with Roko – a wonderful, playful dog who belongs to the hostel.