I left Livingston on the 18th. Jonathan and Richard were the only people left from our group, and they came to see me off, which was very nice.
I was tempted to stay longer in Livingston, but I stil wanted to see this waterfall I´d heard so much about, and, for the first time on this trip, I was operating on a bit of a tight schedule - I had to be on Roatan, which is on the Carribean coast of Honduras, to meet my family on the 22nd.
So I headed back to Rio Dulce town. This time I checked into a different hotel. Rio Dulce is the sort of yacht capital of northern Central America, and Bruno´s, where I stayed, is their hangout. It was pretty quiet, since it as still the rainy season, but there were a few people hunkered down, waiting out the cold front that had overtaken this part of the Carribean.
All the yachties were as you´d imagine them - retired American men (and a few women) who would spend all day in the bar/restaurant on the dock, watching DirecTV. However, they were amiable guys and were actually fairly interesting to talk to for an afternoon.
The next day I went to the waterfall. I took a falling-apart bus and got there late morning. At first I took the wrong trail, and wound up walking into someone´s cornfield. I went back and found the right path (only then did I see the big sign and arrow - whoops).
The waterfall was truly amazing. When you come upon it, it just seems like any other waterfall - powerful streams of water cascading into a beautifully clear swimming hole, ringed by boulders and caves. Sounds pretty good, but this waterfall did one better than the cliche, by being fed by a hot spring above the cascade. What this means is that the pool, which is fed by a normal stream, is cool, but the water coming down in the cascades is about 110 F (43ish C). Quite an amazing sensation, especially in a country where it´s difficult to find a good hot shower. I actually brought shampoo and conditioner, and got my hair truly clean for the first time in about a month!