April 27, 2002
Well, I don't know if I could technically consider this a new day since we only slept for 45 minutes. We woke up (make no mistake, it was VERY painful) and we were all still pretty drunk. We threw all our stuff together, got dressed and were ready to roll...well not really. Claudia showed up at our hotel around then. By the time we got everything together and got a cab it was about 6:30. We hopped in the cab and headed for our meeting point...a Wal-Mart parking lot. Well, it was right around that time that it hit me that I hadn't eaten since the McDonald's I had just before the border debacle the day before. When we got to the Wal-mart, the others were there waiting for us already. That didn't seem too annoyed that we were a bit late. Tony, John, and I were all starving so we went into the Wal-Mart to grab some grub. In hindsight, I should have bought a bunch of stuff but I only bought juice and a little sandwich. I had no idea how much longer it would be until I got to eat for real.
So we packed everyone into a few cars and off we went. It took awhile to get there but I don't have a clue how much time passed because I was zonked out. I think it was about 45 minutes. We parked at this hotel just at the base of the mountain to congregate into two trucks and that is when the hell began. The sun had barely come up at that point so it wasn't exactly warm. We were dressed for a hike in 95 degree weather so nobody really had any jackets. Most of us get in the back of this flat bed pick-up truck while a few other pile into another pick-up. You have to take trucks up to Porto Redondo because the road is FAR too rigorous/bumpy for a car to get up. I can not stress the bumpy part enough. I mean, you can barely go 5 mph. So I guess it must be about a 10 mile drive because it took us almost TWO FREAKIN'HOURS to get up there. There is no way you can sleep because the road is tossing you all over the place. You have no choice but to hold on but there aren't that many spots to hold on in the back of this truck. Plus we were all still pretty drunk and going on VERY LITTLE sleep, so the whole thing was like being on this roller coaster that you just couldn't get off...for TWO HOURS. Man, I was getting pretty nauseous by the time we reached the top. I could not have been happier to get off that damn truck. It took me about fifteen minutes just to shake the dizziness. On the bright side, the views on the way up the mountain were spectacular. We took a few pics at the points that we stopped. Also, by about the half way point, the sun was starting to warm things up a bit so that factor was gone. Even so, all I could think at that point was, "This thing better be cool."
So at the top, we got our equipment from the guides, they gave us a little instruction and we were off. I think it was about 9:30 at that point. It was right about then that I think I sobered up. So you'll notice in the pictures that we are all wearing those yellow and blue GE biking jerseys. Those had come from Tony, who had those jerseys made up for a Houston-Austin bike race he had done the previous week. It is cool. It's an annual event called the MS-150. Check out the website for details. Anyway, the jerseys were awesome and they even had a pocket in the back where you could put energy bars, flashlight, etc. That way, you didn't have to carry a little pack with you. Well, somehow, as everyone is gathering stuff and getting ready, one of the guides hands Tony this backpack that has some stuff in it so he was forced to carry it. It was funny because he was so pissed. I mean, the best aspect of wearing those jerseys was totally ruined for him!
So off we headed...it is about an hour and a half trek to get to where the true beginning of where Matacanes begins. It was a really cool hike though, up through the woods. The first 20 minutes or so were tough because it was all uphill. After that it was all good though. It was beautiful out there, and with that freakin' truck ride behind me, I was able to enjoy it. I think Tony liked it too but he was still pissed to have to carry that backpack:)
Ninety minutes later, we finally arrived at the first repel. Just before it there is about a 10 foot little jump that we did. It's funny that we thought it was so high. Of course, we had no idea what was in store for us up ahead. Man, the water was sooooooooo cold. It was okay, since at that point we had worked up quite a sweat during the hike. Be then, the sun was beating down on us pretty good. There was a group in front of us so we had to wait for them. It took us almost an hour before everyone was down the first repel, which was about 70 feet. It was awesome though. You would think that 70 feet would seem like a lot but the truth is, it was over too fast. Just as I was getting the hang of it, I was at the bottom. It still felt cool though and we took a ton of pics. The joke was on us though, because at THAT point, you still have 8 hours to go...and there is no turning around.
We continued on down the river and it was absolutely breathtaking. The canyon twisted in all directions. There were several little jumps to do. Following the river was a bit tough at some points because there really isn't a trail. You have to just find your own way over the rocky terrain. The water was really cold too so you sort of try to avoid getting in if you can at some points. We passed by some small waterfalls that were also really cool. The water seemed to be just coming out of the middle of the mountain...and it was AMAZING how clean it was. We could fill up our water bottles and there wasn't a MOLECULE of dirt in them. Now THAT is what I call natural spring water.
The first quarter of the hike was all outdoors and it was great. I think that it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen (right behind that spot on the beach in Florianapolis). After that we reached one of the first caverns. It was HUGE. You have to repel down to get into it about 100 ft. It was sooooo awesome. From the bottom, you have to go through these caverns. There is a jump right after the second repel that is about 15 feet or so but it is SO dark, you can't even see the water at the bottom. I mean, without a flashlight, you are literally jumping into a black hole!! From there we continued through the beautiful caves. I mean, you are in 10 foot deep water and the stalactites of the cave are only about 4 or 5 feet over head. At the end of that section, which I think is actually called Matacan, you come out into this huge cavern is EXACTLY like the end of the Goonies! I almost started looking for One-eyed Willie's treasure:)
When we got to that point, it had been just over 3 hours I'd say. I was thinking, well, a couple more hours and it will be over. Little did I know, we weren't even halfway. Anyway, we all decided to stop there and take a few pics and take a little break. The guides had brought along granola bars and chocolate...energy food is essential on a trip like that. We'll, that stuff was all in the backpack that Tony had been lugging all that time. So he puts the pack down and the guides are handing out food to everyone. Tony seizes the opportunity. He and I kind of started off again before the others, and I'm like, "Hey, what happened to that stupid pack." He's like, "I don't know, when I put it down for people to get food, I just took off!" Pretty funny.
So onward we continued. Surprisingly, I wasn't feeling too sleepy. I mean, my muscles were starting to get fatigued from all the swimming/jumping/walking, but that was really it. I was also starting to get pretty hungry for some real food. I mean, a granola bar just isn't gonna cut it in a situation like that.
So the next section of the hike was probably the best. There were a TON of awesome jumps and a lot of them were between 10 and 20 feet. We were doing flips and everything. Also during that stretch was the highest jump of the hike, 50 feet. It was pretty scary, but most of us did it. Well, at that point, we had kind of separated into 2 groups so I didn't know if the others had done it until the end. It looked so high from up there. Unfortunately, the pictures from that jump didn't turn out that well.
From there we shoved on. Most of us were pretty sick of being in and out of the water by that point. I think I had been wet and dry no less than 25 times. It really got a bit old, especially because the water was so cold. Also, the heat of the day had already passed by since it was around 5:30 or so.
After that, we arrived at another cave we had to go through. That one was pretty cool too. The stalactites there were huge. It reminded me of Carlsbad caverns. From there, we had one of the best views of the day. There was a long straight cave that was about 200 meters. At the end there was a waterfall but since we were inside the mountain, we were coming from the backside of it. Absolutely beautiful. Very serene.
After that, we were like, okay, this must be pretty much it and the guides were like, nope, there is still about 2 hours. Wow, I didn't know if I was gonna make it. My energy level was very low and my hunger level was very high. From there, Tony and I kicked it into high gear so we could get out of there. We got pretty far ahead of the rest of the pack except for two other guys. One was about 5 minutes ahead and the other was just a bit behind us. Well, we were also out of water at that point. It turns out, that there were a lot of people camping along the river towards the end of the hike so we decided we would just find some people and ask them for a drink. We stopped at this campsite and had a little sip of coke (I would have drank ANYTHING at that point). While we were there, we were also starving but they didn't really have any food. So the guy who was behind us at that point caught up, and it turned out that he was the one who got stuck with the backpack that Tony had dissed!!! The cool part was that there was still food and water in there! We grubbed on granola bars and had water and were ready to trek on.
About a half hour later things really started to get bad as it started to rain. It happened just about 20 minutes after the last time we had to be in the water too so we had JUST gotten dry for the last time. That sucked but luckily we had some good tree cover at that point. A little while later we FINALLY reached the end and were VERY happy to do so. What was great is that people who brought us up the mountain were there waiting there with fajitas!!!! They were these little ones that they made by first melting cheese in the tortilla. I must have eaten 10 of those things!! They were great. I dissed my wet shoes and socks too. After awhile another part of our group showed up but the last group didn't show up until well over an hour later. That was okay though because I was able to catch some z's. I was exhausted. It was already dark by then...probably around 8:30 or 9:00. Then to my horror, I realized that we had to get back to the hotel where the cars were parked at the base of the mountain. That's right...BACK ON THE FREAKIN' TRUCK!! ARRRRRRGGGHHH! One hour on that dang thing after the day I had just had. Very painful. It's a good thing that the hike was soooooo amazing because the truck ride was a huge negative. All in all though, it was DEFINITELY worth it.
By the time we got back to the cars and then drove all the way back to Monterrey, it was about 11:00. We were tired as hell, but as you know, you can't be on the road like that and waste a Saturday night sleeping. We all showered up...ordered up some room service to eat again...and started drinking. Cotti, Yanira, and Oscar came to our hotel to meet us and then we met the rest of the group out at this club called Privatt around 1:30. It was a great time. I really cool club. We were ordering drinks by the bottle...a phenomenon that hasn't seemed to catch on in the US. We danced the night away, taking tons of pictures and recounting the tales from the awesome day we had.
After Privatt, we were hungry once again. Man, as I type this, it sure seems like we ate a lot! Anyway, we headed for this all night burrito place for some grub. It was cool, but Tony was out of gas. He slept the entire time. We got some funny pictures of it though.
Finally, around 6:00 a.m., we got back to our hotel and were ready for some serious sleep. I think I set a record for the shortest amount of time it took to fall asleep.

April 28, 2002
The next day we woke up around noon. John wanted to pick up some stuff for Kayla so we headed out to the market that was near our hotel. We walked around a bunch and looked at stuff. We grabbed a quick bite to at this empanadas place. That was cool. Then Tony took us over to the barrio antiguo (basically the older part of the city) and we walked around and had a beer. It was pretty cool to see a bit of the city. Unfortunately, John and I had to drive all the way back to Houston. We left there around 4. On the way back, we stopped at John's parents in Beeville to see his brother's new baby. That was cool. We got back to Houston, safe and sound around 2:00 a.m.
So that's it folks. Another quality and successful road trip, in the books. Besides the hassle at the border, everything went pretty smooth. I had a blast on the hike and I loved meeting all the people down in Monterrey. Now I know why Tony loves it so much. Thanks a lot to all those down in Monterrey that showed us around...as always, a thanks to Tony without whom, the whole thing would not have been possible. Also, a shout out to John for being a road warrior with me. See you on the next one.

AC