La Cueva del Esplendour

Day 13 - 13 Nov 2012

One of the main attractions in Jardin is the La Cueva del Esplendour which is a waterfall within a cave. There are two ways of getting to La Cueva from Jardin. One can choose to do the more challenging option of hiking up there from the town or the easier, but more expensive option of horseback riding. Since I have always dreamed of riding a horse, I opted to pay a little more money for the latter option. :)

Irma has kindly helped me to arrange a local guide who will bring me to La Cueva. Jaime, my guide for the day was already waiting for me 10 minutes before the scheduled departure at the lobby.

My very cool guide - Jamie

Once again, Jaime couldn't really speak English. After a brief introduction where we tried to understand what each other is talking about, we boarded a shared jeep which is also known as taxi in these small towns. We rode uphill for about 20 minutes before Jaime signalled to me to alight from the jeep. There, in front of me, were two horses waiting for us.

My horse

After spending a couple of minutes saddling the horses, Jaime gestured to me to get onto the horse for the ride to La Cueva. That's when I realised that Jaime will not be leading the horse but I'm supposed to ride it by myself! Oh-oh. I started to feel nervous. I have never riden a horse before in my entire life and thoughts of the horse running berserk went through my mind. While trying to keep my nervousness under control, I decided to spend some time to bond with my horse by stroking him and talking to him in a soothing tone. I think Jaime sensed my discomfort. Even though we started the accent at a snail's pace, he was really patient and stayed behind me all the while with no complaints.

Not long after, we came to a steep, narrow muddy path. Jaime gestured that I should head up that way. My jaws almost dropped upon hearing that. The first thought that crossed my mind was how am I, an amateur in horse riding, would be able to guide the horse along that way. Still, Jaime mentioned something in Spanish and gestured with his hands that I should relax and let loose the reins. Though I was sceptical with what I perceived him to "say", I decided to follow suit. Turns out that Jaime was right. It was only much later that I realised that I'm riding a trail horse. This horse must have done the same route multiple times, and without much prompting from me except a steer in the right direction, it made its way up the narrow path. There were also a couple of times that I almost freaked out when my horse got too close to the edge of the moutain where there is a treacherous drop below. After 30 minutes of riding, it dawned on me that horses have their own survival instincts. Like human beings, they tend to look for the easiest path to make their way up and inevitably, there will be times when these paths are close to the edge of the mountains. However, horses based on their instincts, will know when they are putting their lives at risk by getting too near to the mountain edge. Hence, with that deduction, I finally begin to relax and enjoy the rest of my ride.

The scenery at the top of the mountain was spectacular. Lush green mountain ranges extend beyond the horizon and flowers of different colours are blooming on the trees. During the ride, we did not see other people. There was a constant cool breeze and all was quiet around me except for the sound of birds' chripping in the distance and horses' hooves striking the trail. Occasionally, we would come across a farm and dogs would run towards us barking, with cows grazing in the distance. Most incredibly, there was once during the ride that I have to steer my horse to cross a small river and what an expereince that was! I can't help but feel as if I'm back in those medieval days albeit my dressing doesn't seem to quite fit the description. :) Throughout the ride, I could feel a sense of peace and tranquility coming over me like I've never felt before. To me, this experience is simply magical...

After 1.5hrs of riding, we finally got off from the horses and I followed Jaime on foot downhill. That's when we came to the most challenging part of this trip. Hidden among the trees was a steep mud track that was tilt circa 70 degrees. Jaime who brought along a rope specially for this, tied it to a tree before he guided me down slowly while I hang to the rope for dear life. There, hidden below among the trees was La Cueva.

Yes - it was truly a splendid sight. I have seen many waterfalls in different countries but I have never seen a waterfall inside a cave. While I enjoyed La Cueva, I feel that this trip was how one of my friends, Shirley, who recently mentioned it to me just before I left for South America that sometimes, "It is not the destination, but the journey that matters." This description aptly fits the bill of what I've gone through today.