Don't Go Chasin' Waterfalls

After the canopy, hills, and leeches excursion we rested for an hour, then had lunch. Professor Heng got us really pumped about the waterfalls that we’d see in the afternoon. To get there, we’d have a 45-minute boatride and a 20 minute hike.By this time; the boat rides became my favorite activity in the jungle. The hikes after a rainy night were not. Still a bit paranoid about leeches, I maintained my technique of always looking at the ground and keeping my feet moving at all times. On the other hand, Schuyler decided to wear flip flops.
At one point, less than 5 minutes away from the waterfall, Eva got a leech on her ankle. She did not panic and waited for Jeremy to help her get it off with salt. In the meantime, Sara got one on her sock. While she was trying to take care of that, Jeremy got one on his shoe. All three of them were in front of me on a narrow part of the path. There was a very steep hill on the left and a 20ft drop on the right, so I couldn’t squeeze past. Suddenly, behind me I heard Schuler panicking, “I’ve got two on me, get them off!” Jeremy began losing his patience, “Do it yourself or wait for me to take care of the others’ first!” This all happened in the span of about 12 seconds. Meanwhile I was still marching in place, trying my best not to show how nervous I was. Professor Heng instructed the people without leeches to keep going, but she didn’t realize that there was no passing room. Within about 45 seconds, all leeches were removed, my stress level went down, and we were on our way again.

A few minutes later, we reached the river again. Its flow was being obstructed by dozens of giant boulders. As few meters upstream, water was falling from a part of the river slighty higher (maybe 5-7ft) in elevation, creating a beautiful scene and peaceful sound. While it was gorgeous, it was not quite what I had imagined when we were told that we’d see awaterfall. Sure there was water falling, but not from overhead in a giant shower-like fashion. It looked like glorified rapids.

Anyway, the Europeans or Aussies were enjoying their swim, complete with Speedos, so Carline, Eva, and I jumped in. The water was very cold and refreshing, but too murky to see the bottom. I had to take my mind off of Rajwantie and my favorite show, River Monsters, to have a good time. Swimming against the current reminded me of how far out of shape I was.

During the boat ride back, Schuyler spotted a giant monitor lizard, the size of a small komodo dragon. It was amazing, since we were 100ft away from it in the safety of our boat (sorry, didn’t get a pic of it)