Girls just want to have fun… heart pounding, adrenaline pumping, muscle shaking fun. We have SUCH a great group of expats here in Placencia (that I’m so grateful for) that are so welcoming and kind and cool. The moms group organized a ladies only, kids-free adventure outing that was awesome!
We all carpooled out to the beautiful and lush rainforest of Bocawina National Park for a day of hiking, swimming in natural pools, and the seriously insane waterfall rappelling. They also have a zip line course in the park that looked pretty neat.
We had a group of 9 ladies and two guides. Our excursion started off with a fairly intense hike through the jungle.
The path was mostly in good shape but you had better be in good physical condition to attempt this and expect to sweat! Your quads will be burning and you will be glad the guides are carrying most of the equipment.
The falls are 1000 feet high so you have a lot of terrain to cover; just as you’re reaching exhaustion you arrive at a beautiful natural pool. Now I was so excited during the hike that my camera battery died before we even got here! (Thanks Bridget for letting me steal some photos!) The water is clean, cool, and oh so refreshing after the hot hike.
Feeling ballsy? Jump from the rocks around the pool.
After a nice rest, you start hiking again and eventually reach an observation point in which you have a great view of the forest running all the way down to the sea, the village of Hopkins and Sittee River, and the Caribbean sea dotted with dozens of cayes. Belize is such a beautiful country.
A few more minutes of hiking gets you to the jump off location for rappelling. But first your guides provide you with some fuel for the task ahead. Snack time! We were floored by what our guides produced from their packs: panninis, plantain chips, watermelon, and even brownies! These guys know how to impress the ladies. After that huge snack and hot hike we were all a bit subdued but it was time to kick things up big time with the main event.
Rappelling!
Most of us had never been rappelling and after a quick tutorial and the promise that we’d “learn as we went” we strapped up and one by one slipped over the edge. (Sorry for the lack of pictures of us actually rappelling…next time, I promise)
It was a bit unnerving waiting and watching the others go over and out of sight but it was a whole lot more unnerving taking the plunge yourself! You’re rappelling a waterfall but I don’t think any of us anticipated actually being IN the fall during this. The path you take is quite literally in the waterfall and you think “this can’t be right” as the water rushes down upon you flooding your eyes and ears and knocking you off balance.
But that’s how it’s done- wild! You rappel about 250 feet in two rappells. It is exhilarating and I’m so happy everyone in our group got through it and we had a great time together.
This trip was a perfect mix of adventure, activity, leisure and learning. The guides were wonderful about pointing out different plants and their uses as well as keeping our large group moving and happy.
We saw a howler monkey on our hike back to the lodge! It was a full day of fun that I highly recommend to those seeking adventure and not worried about putting a little work in to reach it.
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I enjoy your posts. You have a real talent to make your adventures feel alive. Thanks and enjoy this incredible venture.
Aww thanks Bob! We’re enjoying (almost) every minute of it. Sure do miss BBIYA and all my friends at Longport Media.
Loved caye caulker except 4 sea grass u have 2 get over on a dock in order 2 swim- would like 2 bisit Placencia