Waterfalls

This morning at breakfast, which is served outside, three small monkeys joined us to beg for food. And by beg I mean grab off your plate. Also, they didn't just want any food. They showed no interest in toast or crackers or even bananas. They wanted cake. It was pretty cute.

I had a day to myself today, and I decided to go see the waterfalls. This is a thing people are always doing in Paraty, and I've been very skeptical. I just came from Iguazu, one of the biggest waterfalls in the world. I also just came from Patagonia, where there were waterfalls all over the place. And now I was supposed to pay for a tour to see some more? Please. But I was talking about options for the day with a hostel worker and he told me I could get to most of the waterfalls on the tour by renting a bike.

So that's what I did, and it turns out that "waterfall" is really code for "freshwater swimming hole" they are all over the place, and they each have features, like little caves to explore, natural water slides, jumping rocks, and more.

I spent time biking (walking the bike) up steep hills in the blazing heat, then plunging into cold fresh water at each waterfall. It was a good way to spend a day.

The last waterfall I was supposed to visit was up the 12 millionth hill of the day, and I noticed a bunch of people going into the woods by a sign that read "house of Tarzan" so I just followed them instead. House of Tarzan is a swimming hole with a rope swing and a bunch of different heights to swing off of. It was very fun, and I did all the lower ones.

The local boys didn't bother with the lower ones. They went straight to the highest swinging point, where your forward swing takes you higher than your jumping off point, so you have to swing once, swing back, avoiding hitting any of the rocks, then on your third swing, you are low enough to drop into the water. The local boys were gorgeous to watch. They had ways of controlling the swing so that they could flip upside down, back flip, and all sorts of aerial acrobatics.

I had to do it, but boy was I scared. One of the local boys helped me up the rocks and showed me the rope. He wasn't so sure about me.

"you have to be very strong. It is a long time to hold on to the rope, " he told me.

"I AM very strong, " I replied.

I thought about explaining about crossfit, but I didn't think he'd understand me.

"you have to be very brave. I have never seen a girl do it." he warned.

"I am very brave."

His girlfriend called out, "you have to be a little bit crazy."

"Not a problem." I answered. Then I swung, and it was exhilarating and terrifying and very, very high. Hey, I survived. The local boys all cheered for me.

In Paraty, it is a common thing to leave your bag on the beach and go into the water. This made me extremely nervous, so I kept hiding my bag in the jungle. At the last waterfall I visited, there was no good place to hide it, so I went ahead and left it near everyone else's on a rock.

My stuff was fine, but I saw a stray dog sniffing it and rushed over, thinking it would drag the bag off, but instead it peed on my bag.

It was not a lot of pee, but it was still so gross. I had to wash my clothes out in the river and the bag to the best of my ability. Most of the pee got on my shirt, and I just biked back in my bikini top.

That evening I read my book in a hammock, looking up at the stars and eating chilled grapes like a goddess.Read more