Venao, across the road from surfers paradise there is another world

When we go out exploring the area around Pedasi, we usually find a road that leads to the ocean.

This time we went in the opposite direction. Eco Lodge is just past the main town of Venao and we had heard it had a hike which included a waterfall. As soon as you turn into the parking lot there is a reception area where you pay the fee ($4 per person, goes towards forest restoration) and get a map.

Just a short walk, up a little hill, and you come to the lodge. We were headed towards the Cascada Trail.

We are so not good at following directions, somehow we missed the turn off to stay on the orange trail and continued on the brown trail. At some point we had to turn around and retrace our steps.

Along the path there were several markers, with the back of our map providing the explanations. Our first marker was the Jagua tree, we missed the blossoms as it blooms between May and October, but the fruit remains on the tree for most of the year. The fruit juice is used by some indigenous people for temporary tattoos as it turns the skin blue. And yes the fruit is edible. Our Spanish teacher remembers eating it as a child.

Next was the Barrigon tree. It is nicknamed ‘big belly’ because of its ability to store water during the dry season. Our map suggested hugging the tree, putting your ear against it and have someone beat it like a drum. We did and it sounded hollow.

We made it to the falls. Currently not very big as we are well into the dry season. However, the path was steep going up and down so I imagine it could be quite slippery during the wet season.

Even though most of the hike was in shade, it was so hot. Felt good to put my feet in the water and splash my face. In hindsight we should have just got in the water. We certainly had lots of privacy.

The hike was beautiful. We did not go to the top, apparently there is a spectacular panoramic view. Next time, with better footwear 🙂

Cheers

Ruth