We decided to search for Davis Falls near Alta Vista Belize. Its a quick ride from Placencia to the Hummingbird Hwy. After making the turn toward Belmopan, its just a few miles to mile marker 14 1/2. Thats the easy part. A large sign marked the turn, announcing Davis Falls 8 miles.

As we turned onto the path that would prove to be the most accessible, I knew it was going to be a fun 8 miles. The path was lined with rocks, presumably brought in to stabilize the path from washing out. We weaved back through grass, orchards, and jungle. There was a little mud, along the way, just enough to splash on the fender wells. We continued on, noticing the fruit hanging low, ready to pick. The citrus aroma filled the air, especially as I made a point to run over the over ripe oranges that littered the road. As each orange squished out, we were getting deeper into the jungle.

Branches hung across the narrow path in places. As the muddy paths turned into deep rutted mud bogs, we were constantly rolling the windows up and down, to keep the mud from slinging inside. Occasionally, it was too late a large smelly clump of mud would splat on someone. I cant say I intentionally forgot to roll up the window a time or two, but I cant say I didn’t either…Then we came to what appeared to be the end of the trail.

Staring right in front of us, was a rushing river. It must have been a couple hundred feet across, probably more. I could see there was rocks in the bottom, so decided why not. We were determined to get to the falls, although it was getting late in the day. Dropping off the edge of the bank the first time was a little nerve racking. How deep was it? Heavy rains lately definitely contributed to the depth. At times, we pushed through 3 feet of water or more. The large rocks formed rapids, adding to the suspense. We just kept steady moving and drove out the other side. Whew! We made it. No problem. Some friends were behind us driving a 4×4 Infinity. At one point, the river washed washed over his hood as he forged across the rapids.

We drove on and had a blast crossing the river some 7 more times, each time with its own challenges. Mix in more mud and ruts, and you have what I call a good time. We actually saw 3 more signs pointing us towards the falls, although they seemed randomly placed. At intersections of paths, you were on your own to decide which way to go. Sometimes we were successful, other times, we had to turn around and find our way back through the mud bogs. We finally stopped for lunch and discussed where we thought the falls were.

The paths were getting increasingly difficult, and while I was ready to take on whatever was ahead, our friends were concerned with tearing up their daily driver vehicle. By this time, we were covered in mud, and completely lost. We made the decision to turn around as we already had been driving nearly 2 hours without finding the falls. The fun part was following the path back, choosing different lines to make it through without getting stuck or hitting a tree as we slid around corners or skidded past stops due to the greasy mud we were driving in. At the last river crossing, we made a stop to go for a swim. We may not have made it to the falls this time, but we had nearly as much fun just trying to get back to them. The river was surprisingly tolerable water temperature. We cooled off and swam for a half hour or so, before leaving to go back to the Hummingbird.

We will be back! The next time, we will find the elusive Davis falls. I cant wait to tackle to trip. If you want to tag along and have a 4×4 vehicle, let me know. As we drove into the sunset headed home, I had to remind myself of the quote that I have been living by since we began travelling Central America, “Its the journey, not the destination”. Today was one of those days that reiterated that to me. Sun, fun, friends, food, off roading what more could you ask for!

This was our first Christmas away from all our families. It was tough, but not as bad as we envisioned since we had plenty of friends around. We had a large gathering at Albert & Anita’s house on Christmas day and spent the day eating, playing games & visiting.

We spent the weekend at Mountain Pine Ridge. I had heard that it had been raining heavily for the past couple of days, so I was excited to see the muddy roads leading up to our friends cabin, where we were going to stay.

We left the paved road heading for the reserve. To my dismay, the roads were dry. Almost dusty. I wanted to test my Land Rover potential climbing to 3000 feet with the ruts and mud, and torrential rain we met the last time we visited the mountains. However the skies were blue, and the roads pretty well maintained. Still lots of obstacles and pot holes to avoid, made for some excitement. And we were able to find some mud holes along the way. Enough to splash mud and spray the windshield.

Part way up, we stopped at Hidden Valley Inn for a tour of the resort. A quaint “little” resort sitting on 7200 acres, featuring countless waterfalls, one at 150 feet tall. The hiking trails spanned over 90 miles throughout the property, all with natural beauty. The main house was actually a personal residence in the 70s. It had a wood burning fireplace, for the cool mountain nights, a restaurant, gift store, and unique bar area, feeling more like an elegant parlor in an old Plantation home. The pool was inviting, surrounded by landscaping, a hot tub, and natural screened in observatory. We were invited to view one of the 12 suites on the property. It was ornately decorated, a bathroom with claw foot tub, private outdoor waterfall shower, and a screened in common area with hammocks, between the two large bedrooms. Maybe we will be back.

 

We pulled into the cabin, 50 acres of mountains and valleys. The view was picturesque. The pine trees for which the reserve is named,scattered across the ridges inviting us for some trail riding.
We set up our tents, each picking the location that we wanted for views.

A campfire felt really good in the chilly air of the mountains. We sat and visited until well after dark before settling in for some good sleep in the cool breezes.

The next day we got up and made a Belizean breakfast of scrambled eggs, beans, cooked on the fire, and one of my favorites, fryjack. Fry Jacks are essentially puffed bread. Light and soft, I could eat a dozen! Some people stuff them with cream cheese or other ingredients, but they ate great by themselves or dipped in the beans.

We decided to go site seeing, and ended up at Rio On Pools. This is a natural wonder nestled right in the mountains, amongst the river, scattered with waterfalls and rapids. The sun was perfect for getting a tan/burn, and the water was “crisp”. Angela and I waded in up over our knees, enjoying the cool sensations. Adam, Ashley, and the kids waded in before full on swimming. At one point Cayen asked to “slide ” down the rapids. Adam joined him splashing and pushing themselves for greater speeds. Laughter was the word of the day. All enjoyed the few hours we spent relaxing. The sun was perfect as the temps got up into the upper 80s.

        

On the way back, Adam rode with me so we could hit some of the two track trails. We had fun traversing the ruts, mud holes, rocks and wildlife. We checked out trail after we trail, riding them until they ended, mostly off the side of a cliff.

 

Scott & Adam took off with the two girls to teach them how to off road! They loved it!!

Back at camp, we got another fire started and began cooking dinner. Ashley had brought some strawberry pie filling, cream cheese, and bread. We made pies over the fire, along with marshmallows. Again the night ended with great conversation, getting a glimpse inside Ashley’s head was an experience!

Another perfect nights sleep, being serenaded by the cool breezes and occasional rain shower.

Breakfast was eggs Ala Mexicana. A mix of scrambled eggs, green peppers and garlic. Nothing beats a good meal whole camping!

We packed up the rover and we’re about to head out, when our friend returned from Spanish Lookout with a western dairies pizza. It wasn’t quite lunch time, but it’s always a good time for pizza!