waterfalls

Cascadas El Chiflon

At El Chiflon, our driver dropped us off at the base of a mountain and we stopped at the site’s various waterfalls while making our way up to the top. The highlight was Cascada Velo de Novia (Bridal Veil Falls), an incredibly powerful 120 meter waterfall that bisects a vivid cliff side.

Lagunas de Montebello

It had been a long day of sitting in a van when we finally reached Lago Tziscao (the first lake pictured below) at Parque Nacional Lagunas de Montebello. Our driver pointed to the other end of the lake and said, “That’s Guatemala over there.” As someone with a serious and persistent case of wanderlust, this woke me up pretty quickly. It may sound strange, but even though I had no plans to cross the border, I was thrilled to be standing there on the verge of one country, thinking about the possibilities in the next one.

From that Lago Tziscao, we visited a few more of the 50 + colorful lakes that make up the Parque Nacional Lagunas de Montebello. At the park, you can camp, hike, and go horseback riding and at certain lakes you can swim or kayak. So if you’re interested in visiting Lagunas de Montebello, I’d recommend setting aside a few days to enjoy the park to the fullest.

This is part two in a three part series of photo essays that highlights the waters of the beautifully saturated state of Chiapas, Mexico: bodies of water, waterfalls, the exponential shades of green vegetation that the water nourishes, and a few animals that feed on what the water provides and produces.

Part 1
Part 3

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“In the spring, at the end of the day you should smell like dirt.”

- Margaret Atwood

As I wrote last weekend, this past week was my Spring Break and I had no travel plans. So I contacted the awesome Lauren Quinn to see if she could take me on the Palomarin Hike she’d mentioned in her Top Three Travel Secrets post.

The day of our hike was super foggy. As we arrived to begin the hike, it wasn’t pouring, so we went ahead with it. Lots of winter rain allowed us to enjoy a few things Californians don’t take for granted– colorful wildflowers, incredibly green vegetation and an abundance of flowing water. Alamere Falls was a nice surprise, it wasn’t like any other waterfall I’d seen before. The water tumbles over the cliff and splashes onto the beach before draining into the ocean.

I used to hate getting dirty, now it’s something I enjoy from time to time. Partly it’s a throwback to my childhood and the other part of it is a sense of being close to the earth. After the hike, I was soaked in mud up to my mid-calf. I washed the jeans and socks I was wearing that day and they are still caked with mud. It was a good day.