This weekend I took a hiking trip to Palakala Waterfall. As you may recall, I discovered,
while hiking in the Swiss Alps, that I am NOT a hiker. So what prompted this unexpected excursion? I'm not sure, other than my students' assurances that it would be worth the trek.
From almost the moment I got there and saw the mountains looming over me, I knew that this was a mistake. Not only am I not a hiker, but I was also attempting this feat with students who are much younger and much fitter than I.
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| This was the first lookout point on the way up. We are not even 1/4 of the way there and the town looks tiny! |
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| This is what I saw for most of the trip as the guys bounded ahead and I lagged behind! |
But we did have some good times and saw some breathtaking scenery:
I even got to interact with some of the local flora and fauna:
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| The eucalyptus lining the path made parts of the trek smell wonderful! |
One thing I did learn from this trip was that Peruanos are extremely patient! This trek, which is supposed to take, on average, 3 hours, took us 5-and that was just TO the waterfall! Of course this is partially because I had a breakdown halfway through, insisting that I couldn't go on. They patiently talked me through it-motivating me with promises of a beautiful experience (yes), a feeling of accomplishment (maybe), and food (nope!) once I arrived at the waterfall. If it had been me, I would have left me..but they waited, amused themselves taking pictures and eventually, we trekked on.
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The motivational signs along the way were so helpful: Don't turn back, it's just a little further...
(All lies-it was still quite far ahead!) |
But the journey went much quicker once we began to see signs of the waterfall:
And the waterfall itself was refreshing and reinvigorating:
And the fading sun provided some beautiful moments on the way back (which almost made up for having to finish the hike in the dark!):
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