We woke up early to drive to the small town at the base of Matucana. The drive was long but as we got closer we drove through many beautiful mountains. I took a few photos but had to remind myself that we hadn’t even gotten to the place we were going and that I needed to save my battery for the photos I knew I would want to take later on. It’s so hard when everything you see is so beautiful; I just want to capture all of it in photos! Our tour guide led us through the town where we found a sweet, little dog who tagged along with us throughout our entire hike up to the waterfall. The first half of the hike was the most challenging. The sun was hot and we climbed and climbed. About thirty minutes in, the path became more even and each step was less exhausting. As we climbed I took photos of the immense mountains, all the greenery, and the small people and animals I could see at the bottom. I wish photos could do this place justice but it’s impossible to feel the intensity of its beauty through my poorly taken photos. We arrived at Matucana and crossed a crickety bridge over a raging creek, climbed a few more rocky stairs and were finally able to see the huge waterfall tucked into miles of green mountains. Everyone was drenched as we took photos near the fall. We enjoyed its immense beauty and took a snack/water break before heading down through the mountains. I have found that it’s easiest to run down mountains so a few friends and I ran ahead of the group. We had some time to rest near another bridge while we waited on the others. It had been an incredibly beautiful journey. I find such peace in being somewhere so natural and untouched by man. |