travel blog - rio dolce and finca ixobel

from livingston
we hired a boat
to take the five of us
to rio dolce
we left around nine in the morning
and proceeded down some neat rainforest river systems
we stopped at an aboriginal village
walked around there and looked at some of the handicrafts
the girls bought some jewelry
and i was fighting off a nasty cold
that had crept into my chest over the last 4 days
we stopped at a hotspring
flowing out from the side of cliffbank at one point
which was neat
but not big enough to really soak in
and darn hot!
saw some semi-submerged caves
and some caves in the sky
the cave of the cow
that was way up high on one of the cliff faces
and saw locals fishing from low-riding dugouts
that seemed to dance precariously in the gentle wake of our motor
some of the other tourist boats when ripping by
and they looked like little wooden corks
bobbing in the water
our guide and boatman
slowed down every time we passed the fisherman
he also looked like them...
which may be the reason for his empathy
the boat trip was quite enjoyable
and would have been even more so
if it wasn´t cold and rainy
tho the rain and mist
gave the jungle and cliffs
an exotic flavour
and made me think of all those movies
where stupid explorers
are travelling down a river
with some giant snake or crocodile waiting for lunch
i didn´t see any snakes or crocodiles
darn.
we landed in rio dolce maybe 3 or 4 hours later
had lunch in a tiny taqueria
and found ourselves on a public bus to finca ixobel
(pronounced ¨fin-ka ee-show-bell¨)
which means farm of the tiger and obel leaf or something like that
we had to stand in the bus for a couple of hours
as there were no seats left
but whiled away the hours
playing word games and telling riddles

we crossed an agricultural checkpoint
where men with ak47s stood solemnly
as everyone disembarked from the bus
and all baggage was checked for fruits and vegetables
this check point would be of note in a later story
we ate as much of the forbidden fruit as we could
(oranges are forbidden fruit... good to know)
and then got back on for a 15 minute conculsion to the ride
at the edge of the highway
we donned our packs
and started to hike in to finca ixobel
a couple hundred meters down the road
a truck pulled up
and the 5 of us piled into the bed
for a nice ride the remaining kilometer or so in
finca ixobel is a eco-tourism farm
we stayed in a dorm room for 3 nights there
the dorms were cheap... 30Q a night
the food was expensive tho
there was much to do there
cave trips
hiking trails
horseback riding
swimming in the pond
what did i do?
i spent 2 days in a hammock mostly
trying to stay warm
with the help of sarah´s mummy bag
and get over the nasty cold that had started to mess me up something bad
while the rest of the people went off
hiking, horseback riding and visiting some spectacular caves
i got to live vicariously through their adventures
and sore muscles afterwards!
hehehe
all i can say is
finca ixobel was the perfect place
for me to recover
apparently it had been cold and rainy the 4 days before
(which corresponded to the weather we encountered as well)
and those 2 days
got warmer and warmer
and sunnier each day
laying in a hammock
swinging into the sun and into the shade
is very enjoyable
even when you´re sick
or maybe especially so
=P
i don´t begrudge a single moment of being sick
it was calm and peaceful
and dreamlike
on the last day there
i went for 2 short swims in the pond
after a kind israeli girl - hila
had given me some extra medicine for my chest congestion
the swim in the pond
through hot and warm spots of water
prolly gave me the adrenaline boost
i needed to clear out a lot of the crap in my system
the moon was getting fuller with every passing day
and the fireflies were out dancing every night
it was beautiful!
and when the time came to leave,
i was ready =)