Bocawina: Waterfall Rappelling and Zip Lining

Wednesday was another adventure-packed day for us. We left at 7 am to drive to the Bocawina Rainforest Resort where we would spend the day waterfall rappelling (yikes) and zip lining. 

Bocawina


Our guides for the day were Carlos, Elvin and Vincent. When we arrived, we were each outfitted with a helmet and climbing gear (carabiners, ropes, etc.). We had a 1.5 hour hike through the jungle ahead of us to reach the falls. Carlos said the first half of the hike was a "warm-up" and the latter half would include about 4,000 steps, mostly in the form of vertical stairs. He does this hike 2-3 times per week and can get to the falls in 25 minutes. I guess we tourists slow him down significantly. As we walked, Carlos pointed out different types of vegetation, trees, insects and animals. He showed us a plant that resembled a fern called a sensitive mimosa (no, you cannot order it as a breakfast drink). When you sprinkle a bit of water on it or touch it, it shrivels up out of view. They used to surround prisons with it so it was easy to see when someone tried to escape. He also showed us a tree colloquially called a "bastard palm." With its long, skinny trunk, it seems non-threatening at first glance. Upon closer examination, we saw the tree was covered in 2 to 3 inch long spikes. It's called bastard palm because people tend to accidentally grab it with their hands. The spikes inject a fungus into your skin that causes extreme pain. You have to remove the spikes quickly to lower the risk of infection. We gazed all around us, surrounded by thousands of species that were trying to harm us and we had no idea. What else should we avoid making contact with? For all of its threats, the jungle provides many healing antidotes as well. You just have to know what to embrace and what to avoid (which, we do not). Everyone in Belize is incredibly knowledgeable about their surroundings, probably because they had to be from an evolutionary perspective. What you eat or touch can be the difference between life or death, poison or healing. Earlier on our trip, Oz pointed out a poison oak tree situated right next to a tree that is its antidote. The paradox is everywhere.

As we continued to hike upward, I noticed myself grabbing trees next to me for stability, which is natural and habit. I kept reminding myself I wasn't in the woods of Virginia or Vermont and needed to stop grabbing my surroundings. If you think you're going to fall, it's probably better to do so instead of blindly grasping for the unknown. We eventually reached the falls and hung our gear on a (non-bastard palm) branch. We continued on a bit further to a watering hole to rest, eat and to cool off which was incredibly welcome at that point. I had never sweat so much in my life as I did on this hike. My clothes were drenched and the water poured off of me continuously the entire time. We noticed a rope dangling from the rocks above the watering hole and used it to climb up. A few of us jumped from the rock cliffs into the water. While we rested, we ate warm chicken and zucchini sandwiches (delicious), homemade plantain chips and watermelon.

Watering hole

Climbing up

Lauren jumping in

Me jumping in. I may be part frog.

Soon, the relaxation was over and it was time for waterfall rappelling, which we were all a little apprehensive about. Carlos started scurrying all over the mountain effortlessly setting up ropes as we sat and waited. The other guides put our gear on, and we clipped into a rope on the cliff for safety. We then received a brief tutorial on what to do. Key points: you need to trust your gear. Leaning back seems scarier, but it will make rappelling much easier. Your body should be in an L-shape with both feet planted against the rocks as you lower yourself down. Your right hand should be feeding the rope through a figure-8 device into your left hand. Pushing the rope through is what lowers you slowly. Look down over your right shoulder to navigate. There will be two guides below for safety who can stop you in case of an emergency. If the guide needs to tell you something, he will jerk the rope. It's the only way to get your attention since you cannot hear over the falls. It seems simple, but once I saw the precipice we were going over (backwards), I could feel my adrenaline rising. I tried to calm down and trust the process because you can't remember anything if you're nervous.


All geared up. Yes, those are knee pads.

Literally clinging to the mountain in fear

La Tache was brave enough to go first. I watched her drop backwards off the precipice, but after that I could not see anything. Comforting. Then it was my turn. I started walking backwards, slowly feeding rope through my device and then dropped...off of a cliff. Once I cleared the initial drop, I started descending slowly, my right arm feeding the rope. The guide jerked my rope and I looked down at him. He was motioning for me to go left into the falls. I wasn't sure if that was correct or not, so I continued down more. Once again, he jostled the rope and pointed left. I finally felt a large rock below me, blocking downward movement. I understood why he was telling me to go left. I moved into the falls and thousands of gallons of water poured down on me for what felt like forever. I could no longer see or hear and had to rappel blindly. I slowly continued down, my feet slipping on the slick rocks under the falls. At this point, I was only a little nervous and was mostly having fun. I finally saw the bottom where the guides and La Tache were waiting and breathed a sigh of relief when I hit solid ground. As I loosened my grip on the rope, I realized my hands were cramping and were in a claw shape. I had been gripping the ropes so hard that my hands were incredibly sore. I took my gloves off and tried to loosen them up before part two. I clipped in for safety and waited for more people to descend.

Me, about to go over the precipice


Go backwards over this. No big deal.

Lauren rappelling


Lauren, navigating the waterfall

Everyone else who descended after La Tache and I went to the right of the large rock, away from the waterfall. I think the guides were messing with us making us go through that. Looking back, I am glad they did because being submerged in the middle of a waterfall was an unreal experience. Part two was much longer but less precarious. There was not nearly as much water and there were dry patches where it was easier to grip with our feet. What made this descent difficult was its length, and we all felt ourselves getting tired. Once I was on solid ground again, I was relieved. We watched the rest of the group navigate their way down the falls one by one. After we hiked back through the jungle to home base, we had lunch and prepared for the next activity: zip lining.

Belize has the longest zip line in Central America at about 2,300 feet. We had nine courses to complete and the eighth one was the record setter. We were re-outfitted with gear, received a brief tutorial and hiked to the first zip line station, which resembled a tree house. I've never zip lined before but, after waterfall rappelling, this was nothing. We went through the nine courses quickly. Two guides would go ahead of us and one would stay behind to get us started. The guides would ride the zip lines upside down and sideways for fun (we did not). As you approach the end of the line, the guides motion for you to come forward or to slow down (I was told every time to slow down, oops). It is fairly easy to decelerate quickly if need be. You do not have to apply much pressure with your hand to do so. It's easier to go too fast and slow down at the end then to slow down too early and not make it to the platform. In that case, you have to pull yourself to the platform or, in extreme cases, be rescued by the guides. It was amazing to see more of Belize by air, zooming over (and sometimes hitting with our feet) large palm leaves.





After all of this, we were - understandably - exhausted and covered in bug bites, despite all of the repellent we constantly applied. The jungle is a tough place. Back at the resort, Lauren and I went for a quick swim in the sea before showering the gobs of sunscreen, bug spray and sweat off of us to be presentable for dinner.


Tokyo 2020 watch out


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