Cascada Santa Emile a stunner to stare at

A short walk from the rural highway, I enter an ecolodge that pierces a half-moon of jungle framed rock faces.  I explore trails along coffee, banana and cacao plantations.  I descend a steep pathway from the clifftops, along tiers of viewing points, stopping at each. A footpath with mossy steps – all slick – leads to an enormous swim hole.  Thundering 55-foot cascade Santa Emile waterfall is a stunner to stare at.  Round the swim hole’s branch-littered shore, a mud path leads to a cave tucked into the cliff’s rim.    I want to delve into the cave but slipping in the mud is all but certain.  The overcast weather is making surfaces slick but also keeping the swim hole empty and allotting me the place mostly to myself. 

Cloud forests lend themselves to slow travel.   Their heavy, lush foliage provides shelter for birds; 200 species in this backdrop.  I make my way back to the austere ecolodge.  I set up watch for birds, margay deer and monkeys where thousands of species of animals and plants thrive.  Lucky me, I have all day.