Written by Dave: On a Sunny Saturday afternoon, the family decided that we needed to do some more exploring. We had walked into campo (the countryside) to the west of town, and decided to explore the east side. From a high vantage point we could see a river down below, and have always wanted to find out a way to get there. We headed down a steep windy road that looked promising, and we emerged to the river. Roads have a funny way of disappearing into nature around here.
The views were stunning, and the water crystal clear. There were many waterfalls surrounding us, and it was quite beautiful.
We were in an area that had a channel to bring water to a reservoir, and then to the areas surrounding our village. This watering system has been around for a long time. You could see the remains of some of the older channels in some places.
Nancy and I walked on a trail up above the river after tiring of jumping from rock to rock for the first 400 yards. Summer and Luie took it as a challenge, and continued along the river. Summer was a great help to Luie when the distance was too great for him to handle.
Summer wore her sandles with socks, but took them off after they got soaked, and just walked in the river. It was fairly cold, and had a definite numbing effect.
Once Summer’s feet were completely numb, she left the river with Luie to come up and walked on the trail with Nancy and me.
We came across this staircase that appeared to lead up the side of the mountain to an unknown area. It was very tempting, but we decided to continue on up the river. We plan to come back and do further exploring another time.
This was a large, deep reservoir that was so clear you could see everything on the bottom. We had seen videos of people swimming in here, but it was quite cold, and we wouldn’t even consider it at this time of the year. Luie was fascinated by the water.
All of the waterfalls were so lush and green. It was almost surreal to walk through the landscape there.
The sun was starting to drop, and in the mountains, that means dark comes quickly. Time to make our way out.
On our way back out, we had some majestic views of our village up above us. It was good to be rewarded with this, as it was a difficult steep ascent back up from the river.
All in all, it was a great walk to explore more of our surrounding areas. Another time we will leave earlier and go again to see what we can find even farther up the river canyon.
Such a pretty area !! Were there birds & animal life in the area ?
Some birds, but we didn’t see animals this time. We have heard that there are mountain goats around here, so we hope to see some. This time of year they are frequently spotted in the area.
BEAUTIFUL, EXOTIC! Like scenes from Tolkins movies. I am wondering where that stone stairway goes. That was a lot of time and work to construct such a passage. Must be something VERY special at the top. Please let me know what’s there when you find out. Good thing you guys are young and in good shape to explore such beautiful, and exciting places. I’m glad you can experience and enjoy such paradise.
Yes, we really are enjoying our time. We are glad there are many places to explore around here. We will explore the stairway, likely on our next trip up the rio.
Unbelievably beautiful! Can’t wait to see what is at the top of the staircase.