Belizean Sean: Into The Wild: Cascada Quest 2014

As the fog was lifting off the jungle this morning I began my quest for la Cascada. The first leg of the journey is 5 miles ride down the road towards Gallon Jug's North gate. I've been devising a plan to bike to the cascada since I arrived in August, but with the extended rainy season this year I've been stuck in the planning stage. We've finally had hot weather and no rain for about the past two weeks. With cool temps this morning the timing seemed right.

With a machete strapped to my bike, I headed in to the jungle for phase 2 of the trip, 5 miles of jungle biking. This is the part of the trip where it is important to know where you are going, as in multiple areas roads converge and diverge with no discernible landmarks...just lots of trees.

Almost immediately the opportunity to turn back presented itself. A week without rain hadn't completely dried up the road. Twice my trusty Schwinn slogged to a stop in 12+ inches of muck.

And as if mud wasn't enough, trees were down across the road all along the way, but the day was young, and the promise of a dip in crystal clear water too tempting.

The 5 miles of jungle biking went slowly, with frequent mud and downed tree encounters, but slow and steady paid off. With 10 miles of biking behind me, all that was left between me and the cascada was about 2 miles of hiking, and two mischievous monkeys.

For about a quarter mile of the down hill trek two spider monkeys kept pace with my in the jungle canopy, throwing sticks and chattering. They proved rather unphotogenic though.

Can you spot the monkeys?

Finally, after 25 minutes of hiking, I could hear the sound of rushing water. On this trip the cascada lived up to its name, with multiple waterfalls pouring into the river.

After 2 hours of biking and hiking it was great to hop in the cold, clear water.

Though there were hundreds of hungry little fish that swarmed me the whole time I was swimming...better than the crocodiles I've seen in other swimming holes though.