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9 January 2003: Topo de Los Collantes exploration on foot 12 km. Today I get to explore this beautiful national park. I awoke at 6 AM and experienced the dawn. The sun rise can not be seen here because we are in the mountains. After a nice breakfast at 11 AM I hiked 2.5 km through a lush rain forest to Topo de los Collantes waterfall. The other tourists there were Germans, French and Norwegians. The hike was about a 600 m drop over 2 km. At the bottom of the waterfall was a real cold natural pool to swim in. I jumped in for 30 seconds and then put on my wool hat and thick wool socks. I admired the waterfall and ate lunch. On the way back we saw a colony of ants carrying these huge leaves 10 times the size of them. I then proceeded to the other hike here which was a 4 km walk to Cueva de Batata (Batata Cave) with a little river running through it. Since I started at 3:30 PM I quickly looked at the entrance but decided not to wade through the cave. I was alone and wanted to be safe. I made it back by 5:30 PM to within 100 meters of my hotel. There were 3 roads to take and I took the two incorrect ones and got lost for 3/4 of an hour. I then asked somebody, rather frantically how to get to the hotel in Spanish. Donde esta La Hotel Helechos? They told me just go 100 meters down that road and there it was! I met Ray and he said the ride for him up the mountain today was really tough. He said he was glad he did not know howtough it was going to be. Well, I am glad I gave the other 3 a challenge. Last time I took this road I walked 3 km and this time I only walked 1.5 km. So I thought it was a lot easier. I also was carrying twice as many panniers (4) as 3 years ago when I did it. I guess I got a little fitter. I am looking forward to dinner and the last day riding tomorrow to Santa Clara via Manicaragua, mostly ( but certainly not all) downhill. I told Ray and the others it was all downhill. Last night I put new front brakepads on in preparation for the journey down. The old ones did not brake properly. At one point I had to turn my foot sideways and slide it along the road to help me stop. The old ones worked on the flat but could not stop one on a 20 percent grade going down. Luckily my rear pads were strong enough that with the help of my foot I eventually stopped. I did not want this to happen again. I tested my bike on a 15 percent grade after changing the front brakepads and everything was fine. I stopped perfectly with no squealing or me screaming in fright.
