Despite the threatening tropical depression headed our way, we decided to try to get to the Mountain Pine Ridge, which is a nature reserve in the west-central part of the country. It's supposed to be gorgeous, with lots of hiking and waterfalls. The weather really was wreaking havoc with the whole country, so when all the schools and most businesses were closed in PG due to flooding we decided - let's leave a day early!
This might sound foolish, because it's time consuming to get out of PG in dry weather, let alone a tropical depression. But I think that illustrates out extreme need to be someplace else. That morning we planned to meet at the bus station at noon. At 11:30 it was still pouring rain. So much so that me and Sophie were told at lunch that the buses weren't running in the entire country, and that the Kendall Bridge was out (this bridge has been out every other week since it was swept away by a flash flood in May). But we were committed. We went to the station and....caught the bus. This just goes to show you how information just doesn't get passed on correctly - not just to PG but also in PG. The restaurant was a block away from the station! It's like a game of telephone in which every person just makes up something new to pass on.
So that was exciting - but what about the bridge? When it floods they take people across in skiffs, but someone died doing that two weeks before - were they still allowing this? Of course!!
We got on the boat and boarded another bus on the other side of the river.
This what it usually looks like (the temporary bridge)
Getting in the boat 
Sophie on the river So far so good. We were planning on spending the night in San Ignacio and then calling our contact at the Five Sisters Resort in the Mtn. Pine Ridge about a ride in the morning. Of course, when we got to San Ignacio, everyone we talked to said that the road was completely flooded, no one would drive us there, it was impossible, we'd never get out there. And even if we did, we'd never get back. So we had a good meal and then went to the bar: Faya Wata. :) where we drank flaming shots and buckets o' death (not so deadly).
The next day was the same - you'll never get there, no roads are open, streams flooding everywhere, etc. etc. So we called the resort and the manager (a very cool and helpful guy named Nigel) and he sent his father with a truck for a decent fee. Turns out, the roads were dry. I am not kidding! Okay, they were damp, and there was one stream that had flooded over the road. I mean, we're from Toledo, that is nothing! I think that the guys in San Ignacio just didn't want to take us out there. When it starts raining here, even if it's not that bad, everything stops. I don't blame them, it just made our traveling a little unpredictable.
So we finally get out there, and it's cloudy, but not rainy!! We immediately go hiking to a spectacular waterfall. We wanted to swim, but as you can see that would have been suicidal. The hike was adventurous (no map) and soggy, but very refreshing. The place we stayed was beautiful and had a great deck overlooking more waterfalls (the five sisters, hence the name). We had our own cabin overlooking the river. It was wonderful and relaxing.
Rachael, John, me, Sophie
Getting a little wet on the trail
Hiking among the pines and ferns
Waterfall - usually a great swimming hole...
...but not today!The second day we went hiking again, this time to find a cave (with a map from Nigel). We did eventually find it, but it took awhile. It was worth it though - caves are so much fun to explore. We wandered around inside, despite the bats and other freaky spidery creatures (you'll have to see facebook for pics of us inside the cave).
Our cabana
The deck
The stargazing deck (or mist-watching, if you visit in October!)
The Five Sisters (really only two or three sisters in the rainy season)
The cave entrance
We found it!
Me at the waterfall
You can get married hereIt was totally worth it - we got a ride (never easy) from our hotel van. We had a lovely dinner, with champagne to start (!), delicious wine, and Italian food for everyone. After dinner it had started to rain (of course) but we ordered mojitos and slipped and slided our way in the dark to the hot tub....which wasn't really that hot. But it was warmer than the pouring rain! At this point you can probably tell that nothing was stopping us from doing whatever we wanted on this trip - even a downpour and no lights could not keep us out of the hot tub! It was fun actually, being in warm water in the rain. We didn't stay in as long as we would have liked, but it felt really nice nonetheless. Of course, when we returned to the lodge our van couldn't get through to pick us up, so the Blancaneaux truck had to take us back (for a fee). Oh well, cheaper than renting a pricey room!
Blancaneaux wine glass
Champagne in a can with a straw! So cute!
Rachael gets excited about champagne
At dinner
The bar - dark, but atmospheric in the candlelight
Here's a better lookOn Sunday we had to start our trek back to PG. Luckily, a truck carrying some honeymooners was heading back to San Ignacio, and we were offered the bed of the truck. No problem! we thought. Well, it turns out that the truck had a back seat, so the bed was considerably shorter than usual. Especially with nine people's luggage in it! But there was really only one way out that day. We tried to get the honeymooners to take one extra person inside, but they were huffy about even holding Rachael's laptop so it wouldn't get wet. Oh well, it was actually a nice ride - very scenic and it only rained for a minute.
Can you tell how crowded we are?!
View from the back
Squish!Amazingly, we were back in PG that evening. It was a wonderful getaway that was even better since we really had to work to get there. It was like a choose your own adventure book...you never know exactly where you're going to end up, or how you're going to get there!
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