Intern Nate continues his Puerto Rico Adventures…
Episode 3: Las Tinajas in Fajardo, Puerto Rico: The Great Escape
I struggled the next morning (after a great night at Noche de San Juan (or Puerto Rico) fighting the blinding rays of the sun. It hurt my eyes when I slept facing it, so I turned my back against it only to find my back was sizzling as if I was lying on a heated cooking pan. I forced myself out of bed by 11 A.M. and did my zombie walk into the bathroom for a prolonged shower. After my shower I met up with Peter at local bakery for breakfast right across the street from our hotel, and this was where our next imminent, crazy, and spontaneous adventure began.
At the local bakery we bumped into a group of 3 guys and 1 girl. They were all excited talking amongst themselves about an exotic river. The words, “exotic river,” caught my attention, but then I heard these words, “jumping off 40 ft. cliffs into crystal clear water.” Now all my attention focused on the thought that I had to somehow go with them! And, Peter, being the spontaneous and random person he is, walked over to them and asked them if we could possibly tag along.
At that moment, I thought quietly to myself: “Pete you are so stupid. They don’t even know us. You ruined our chance of ever seeing such a place. They are going to say no.” However, this group of adventure seekers miraculously gave us the answer of YES that I never expected in a million years. Peter and I hurried up back to our hotel rooms and changed into our bathing suits, then met back up with them back in their van parked right outside the bakery. The ride was two hours, the first hour was on a straight highway, but the second more nausea-filled hour was on bumpy off-road ride through the twisted and curvy dirt paths of a steep mountain. And, I am not going to say, “as if I was going to puke,” because I really was going to projectile puke at any moment, but luckily for everyone sitting in front of me the van came to final halt.
WHEW! I quickly jumped out of the car only to find myself standing in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing exotic about this place. It was all just dirt paths leading into the forest forking into more dirt paths leading into more undiscovered parts of the mountain. Therefore, I started to question the people who brought us there. They said, “Don’t worry. It’s just a little hike in order to reach the final destination,” so we started hiking up an endless and narrow dirt path. We hiked over twenty minutes until we finally came to a deterrent wall of a local old guy’s house. “NOW WHAT?” Peter and I asked. They told us that we must trespass and sneak through this private property, in order to reach this exotic river (a.k.a. Las Tinajas). Best of all we learned that this disgruntled old man usually comes out of his house with a shotgun when he suspected there were trespassers in his property.
What seemed like a good idea back in the bakery quickly manifested to what was becoming the worst decision ever made! We all hopped over the fence and clandestinely jolted through the property as if part of a secret ops mission. After a couple of more difficult hikes through narrow paths we saw a guy swinging from the top of a tree into crystal clear waters totally secluded from the rest of civilization. The river was surrounded by boulders, underwater caves, tall trees, cliffs that ranged from 20 to 40 feet, and mini-waterfalls making it vibrant with nature’s touch. It was essentially the most beautiful and dreamy-like place I have ever been to in my life.
Naturally, Peter and I tried swinging off the tree; however, we did not land it with such finesse as the first guy did. Our bodies were all contorted whenever we let go of the rope that we would end up belly-flopping in the water. We stayed there for about an hour or so before heading further up in search of the diving spots. The hike up the river was not easy at all, because the river bed was filled with slippery rocks. There were spots where we steadfastly gripped onto boulders in order to stabilize ourselves against the rapid currents. In other spots we hopped from boulders to boulders. Along the way there were natural slides (and they were fully functional!), natural spas, and all the cool things alike that I do not want to mention and get you jealous.
About an hour and a lifetime’s worth of fun later we finally reached the 40ft. cliff we were to jump off from. We got out of the water and did one of Bear Grylls’ rock climbing maneuvers up the side of the cliff. And, “oh my god,” 40ft. may not seem like a lot, but when you are hovering 40ft. up in the air it feels like the tallest thing ever. My legs started to give out as I looked down. I did not want to jump anymore. I wanted to climb back down, but as I started to turn around Peter shoved me and I flew. The next thing I know I had no grip of anything, my feet where not touching ground, my heart felt like it was coming out of my mouth, and I started squealing like a five year old girl. Peter and the rest of the guys came jumping down one after another. After that initial jump I became in love with that cliff. I jumped and jumped again for the next two hours, and each time my girl-like squeal slowly went away.
Intern Nate Takes the Plunge
It started getting dark out, so we hiked back down the same river trail we came from. Only to find that we were a little lost. We spent two hours trying to find our way back. By the time we got to the car nightfall was fast approaching. They drove us back to our hotel. We invited them to the hotel pool out of courtesy for bringing us on such an amazing adventure, but luckily for us they turned our invitation down. I said “luckily,” because my whole body was soar and aching from hiking the whole day. All I wanted to do was to sleep, and I did so soundly the whole night.
