A day at the Cascadas Juan Curí

A first glimpse of the Cascadas Juan Curi

One of the suggestions of our friendly Colombian couple had been the 80m high Juan Curí waterfall on the way to Chachalá on the opposite side of the valley from Barichara. Their coffee farm is not far from there, and they told us they liked that side of the valley even better because it was not so dry and thus very lush. It's only a about a twenty minute drive to the start of the trail to the waterfall, and we decided to make it yesterday's destination.

We had checked upon our return from Barichara already if the bus for Chachalá leaves from the terminalito and found that both it and the one we'll take today do. Thus it was just a matter of walking to the terminal, finding out that the bus was in its slot, and getting in. We were the first to do so. For a while it seemed as if we might be the only passengers, but shortly before eleven the seats started to fill, and at eleven the bus left. We picked up enough people before we left town that newcomers had to stand, and then we were on our way, following the same road we had taken a couple of days ago for the rafting trip, but driving about twice the speed: no trailer with rafts made more cautious driving necessary.

After about 15 km the bus suddenly slowed down: a landslide had done damage to the road, obviously quite a while ago, and while construction was going on the road was a long way from being completely restored. Big boulders still lay by the side of the road, and for maybe a hundred or two hundred metres only one lane was usable, a reminder that this, too, can affect travelling in this part of the world. For the most part, however, the roads we have been on were very good, often better than what we're used from home.

A few kilometres later we were let out by the side of the road, together with a few young people headed for the waterfall as well. It was about 11:30, and a big empty tour bus was waiting in the parking lot for its passengers to return from the cascadas. Not many cars kept it company: during the week the waterfalls are supposedly less visited than on the weekends. The restaurant, only covered by a roof, but without walls, wasn't very busy either, and we didn't have to stand in line for our entrance tickets at the kiosk. The narrow trail to the waterfall, laid out with the same kind of big rocks as the Camino Real, takes about twenty minutes, according to the information. Soon after we started we encountered a bigger group of mostly older people, likely the ones from the bus; after that we were alone, except for two girls and a guy who had come on the same bus as us. They stopped frequently to take photos and selfies and were in good spirits, aided by a can of Aguila, one of the local beers. 

 

We made our way up the trail, passing a few grazing cows in a small pasture, but mostly through jungle with its usual sprinkling of flowering plants. The shade was a blessing: the combination of heat, humidity and climbing soon had us mopping our brows. We crossed small creeks tumbling down the hillside a couple of times, and after about fifteen minutes the canopy opened to let us glimpse the waterfall .

Soon after the trail descended, and we arrived at the flat rocky area bordering the bottom of the falls. Here, a handful of people were in the water, which, here, though in a hurry to make its way further down the hill, was very shallow, slipping over the smooth rock bed.

We had a better view of the waterfall itself when we climbed a few steep steps more and turned a corner. A man wearing a helmet was holding a couple of thick ropes, and when we looked up we saw two people rappelling down the lower part of the waterfall, maybe 30 or 40m high, about halfway from the top. They arrived, a bit breathless from the pounding they had received from the force of the water: it wasn't difficult, they said, but exhilarating. The latter I can easily believe, but this is not something on our list of things to do. I hoped to see what it looked like when somebody started the descent and didn't have long to wait. Slowly, carefully, another person made his or her way over the edge and started on the slow way down. 

 

We found a spot that was still in the sun – in this deep canyon the sun disappears early in the afternoon – and just enjoyed the beautiful surroundings before we headed downhill again. 

The rappelers had told us that the upper part of the waterfall is visible from the place where they started rappelling, and we had seen a very small trail branch off up into the forest on our way to the falls. It was still early, so we did this little detour, the climb, steep enough to warrant the use of ropes along the side for support, no longer than maybe fifteen or twenty minutes. We didn't expect anyone to do the same, but to our surprise the three young people came up soon after us. We were well rewarded: the upper part of the waterfall, about the same height as the lower part, was just as beautiful, the surroundings a bit more rugged. The young people again took pictures and insisted we should have our picture taken by them, too, standing on the rock ledge. Yurany, one of the girls, laughingly invited us to pose for a picture with her.

We didn't linger too long: shadows were creeping in here, too, although this part had been still in the sun when we arrived, while the lower was already in the shade. 

We walked down to the road where the bus picked us up again: it comes by every fifteen minutes or so, and we didn't have long to wait. Once it stopped along the way to pick up an older farmer, who, with the help of a young man, heaved a small engine into the aisle of the bus, obviously to take it to be repaired in town. Johann helped him unload it at the terminal, where, he assured us, he didn't need more help: a taxi would pick him and his load up from there. 

 

This neat little group caught my eye on the way down; they looked like torches

It's another sunny morning, still nice and cool here in the courtyard of our Hostal Casona de Don Juan, but promising to turn into a hot day. We will take the bus to another small town, Curití, from where we can hike to a river with a series of pools. These small (18 passenger) busses are very convenient means of getting around.