Cuetzalan: Cascadas y Grutas

Saturday was essentially a free day for us, and we decided that the best way to spend it would be at the nearby waterfalls and caves! We hired two children as guides and a truck to tow us around, and we were off on our adventure!

It was a bit of a hike to get to the waterfalls, and rain on the way down made things pretty slick. There were a few tumbles in the mud and a lot of worries, to say the least. BUT, that being said, the actual waterfalls were beautiful.

The first one, the main one, was actually REALLY full of people. But it had an awesome pool to swim in and a rock to jump off of. I'm not going to lie; I was terrified, but jumping in was a lot of fun. The water was cold but beautiful-- totally worth it.

We then made our way up even higher to the waterfall that fed into the first one. This one was a lot more secluded (and a lotttt colder), but also very fun!

After the cascadas and the dangerous hike back, we drove to some nearby caves (grutas)! Oh, we totally got to rock the hard hats and head-lights. It was also pretty scary but a lot of fun. I think we were eventually 700m or so underneath the surface?

The scariest part of our whole adventure, though, had to be the drive back into town. The windy, twisting roads were SURGING with water, but our truck driver kept ploughing forward full steam. But, thankfully, we made it back safe and sound-- just in time to watch US lose to Mexico and head out, everyone including the professors, to Toca Toca, Cuetzalan's best and only dance club.