Tranquilidad Foundation's Mission Team Blog

Monday July 4

by Jamie Powell

Hey everybody! So today was the Fourth of July as I'd hope everyone was aware, however we weren't in America. Also I'd hope that was pretty clear so we didn't really do very many traditional Fourth of July things. The people here obviously really don't care too much about America's holiday so we didn't focus on today being the fourth at all. Despite not doing "Fourth of July things" today, we still had a ton of fun. Today we went on our excursion ,to the Pulhapanzak waterfall. At Pulhapanzak, we went zip lining and took a tour behind the waterfall. To get to Pulhapanzak is about a two and a half hour drive from Quimistan so we needed to leave Quimistan relatively early. Once we arrived, everyone got all harnessed up to go zip lining across the waterfall. There were multiple platforms to get from the starting point to the ending point, the whole zip line had an amazing view, but the last three had a magnificent view of the waterfall. This waterfall is about 140 feet tall and you can see the force of the water when you look down at it. It is very hard to describe the waterfall with words, it is one of those things you just have to see in real life to really, truly understand the beauty. Pretty much everyone who did the zip line finished and declared that that was one of the most amazing things they had done claiming that nothing could top that experience. Little did they know that there was something just as spectacular to come. The team was headed to go behind the waterfall which I think we all expected to be something like a man-made tunnel behind the waterfall that was simply going to be a scenic walk-we sure were wrong. We followed the guide down towards the base of the waterfall but didn't anticipate the amount of mist that was going to hit us. There was this nice little path down and then the path gradually turned into big rocks that we had to navigate our way through and on top of that the mist from the waterfall started getting pretty intense-or so we thought-and that was when I think I realized I really had no idea what was coming. As we neared the waterfall, we got to this little pool of water that we jumped into to get even closer to the waterfall. So after we passed the pool we were right at the base of the waterfall and there was a lot more mist and we still didn't realize that that was only the beginning. The guide took us behind the waterfall which they really should have called "through and then behind the waterfall". Once we got behind/under the waterfall, it was one of the craziest things I, and a lot of others, had ever experienced. There were a few places that we passed through that were calm places blocked by rocks, but most of the time I felt like a weather reporter in a hurricane. The wind down there was even worse than Lubbock wind (hard to believe I know) and then it was combined with water which made opening your eyes and walking or really doing anything other than standing there with your eyes closed pretty hard, so the guide who didn't seemed very fazed by any of this, impressed us all. When we finally got the the part that was really behind the waterfall, the water wind wasn't any better, but if you could look up. you could see the water rushing over the cliff and it was breathtaking, literally. Then we turned around and went back through but this time we were prepared which was good. When we made it back to the pool of water, we got to jump off of some taller rocks which was my favorite part. After reading about our little adventure you might be thinking something along the lines of "Oh my goodness! why would anyone think that was a good idea?" or "Who in their right mind would do that?" Well, it was actually one of the most "one of a kind" and exhilarating experiences any of us have ever had and I never once felt scared or anxious, I was too busy having fun trying to beat the water and looking in awe at God's creation. Today was one of those days that you can try but can never fully explain your experience no matter how hard you try and I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity to see God and his power in such a unique way. So although we didn't have the usual Fourth of July, we had a day that we will all surely remember!