Day 13: El Salto

Today we almost died. As Hannah McKenney, Janie's hero, put it, "We're almost there! And by there, I mean heaven!" After church, we (the MKs) all wanted to go to a waterfall. We eventually convinced our wonderful friend Gabe to drive us. We tried to save time, which is a crazy idea in Honduras, by driving up the mountain as far as the road would allow us, avoiding potholes, trenches, and steep ravines. When the road got too treacherous to keep driving on, we climbed out of the crowded Land Rover and started walking down the road, which soon turned into a simple footpath, which soon disappeared entirely. Led by our friend Deibyn, who "knows the way," we ended up sliding down the steep slope of the mountainside, fighting through tall grass, vines, bushes, and thorns. Our courageous friend Julie got the most injured by getting stuck in a thornbush. Finally our much-more-effective replacement leader Gabriel McKenney found the long-sought river by falling headfirst into it, when the tree he was leaning against broke. When we all emerged from the undergrowth onto the more open riverbanks, we looked back up the mountainside and realized that we had missed the path by only 20 feet. We continued to trek deeper into the jungle following the river, having to leap from rock to rock dodging the rushing rapids and sometimes having to swim through the water due to the steep, impenetrable banks. At last we arrived at the incredible Cascada del Rio Coco. Today was the first day we had ever jumped off the TOP of a waterfall. Janie had unarguably the loudest and to some, the most entertaining scream--the height of the jump even gave her time to take a breath in the middle. While most walked the long way around to get to the top, Caroline (along with Gabe) proved herself most adventurous by scaling up the side of the cliff. After a couple of hours enjoying the river and our snacks and drinks, we rushed to get back to the car before dark. But just as we were assuming that our day's adventure was over, there was a moment of worry because the car key was nowhere to be found. Dr. Jeff and Mrs. Rosanne McKenney drove a spare out to us. Moral of Story: Never follow a Honduran who claims to know a way that saves time.