Oaxacabound

Day 6

Near a tiny town called Tamasopo, native Indian for City of Leaks, there are five waterfalls sites. Everyone I talked to in previous two days said the one to go see was Puente de Dios, good old Spanish for Bridge of God.

It’s a lagoon fed by a series of falls that over time have carved out a labyrinth of interconnected tunnels through the mountain, inhabited by thousands of swallows and bats. You can not only swim at the base as most attractions allow but climb through the tunnels and jump off the falls.

When I arrived, I asked around for a guide. I tried to visit another waterfall yesterday, but Google maps took me to the top instead of the bottom (per previous, not always good at directions). Lesson learned. In parts unknown, find someone who knows them. Fortunately for me and somewhat unfortunately for him, I found Cesar.

Fortunate for me because he was the most experienced one they had (15 years) and the only person at the facility who spoke English. He grew up with his mother in Brownsville, TX. If you’re keeping track, that’s the third guy in 3 days I’ve connected with over Texas. Thank God I didn’t live in Rhode Island.

Unfortunate for him, like most people, I had a higher opinion of my own physical abilities than reality. Imagine. He asked if I wanted to take the simple or hard route, and I was practically offended at him giving me a choice. The hard one, of course! He must have been thinking, here we go again. I figured if I can mountain bike 75 miles a week, surely I can climb around some rocks.

I failed to account for the lack of activity and extensive eating since I’ve been back in the US for 2 months. I also didn’t realize it would mean wriggling thru 24″ donut holes in the rock, fighting tidal currents, or pulling my entire body weight up by one hand on a sheer rock face.

Here’s how we got into the mountain…

And here’s how we got out…

Hmm, apparently Mexican video adds 20 pounds to your image. Good god. Btw, if those swimming trunks look a little skimpy, they are. I dropped mine somewhere along the 1 km trek from parking. We were the only ones there so boxer briefs it was. Why do these things always happen to me (don’t answer).

Anyway, it was 2 hours of the most intense thing I’ve ever experienced. It’s hard to fully capture as Cesar could only film the calmer parts. Thankfully, my trusty guide was much stronger than he looked. Several times, he had to literally drag me to safety. For example, we were passing through one of the larger falls to get to the protected recess behind. He said be sure not to drift out or the torrent would drag me down 15 meters, so of course I immediately drifted out and got pounded to the bottom. I swallowed a quart of water and when he pulled me back up, he said “Told you.” Completely crazy, tons of fun and so worth the 4 hours to get here.