Finding the river

When Aaron goes on a day long bike ride, our family is left without their chief navigator and communications director. I stepped in as a substitute with a goal of “finding the river.” The kids put their absolute faith in me and armed with a wikiloc map and sunscreen we ventured out. A band of pueblo dogs soon followed us (guardian angels?) and picked snarly fights with dogs along the way. Jericó is perched on a mountain side, so the path to the river was down a steep path (and the town was back up up up). Wrong turns down the hill are discouraged. We met a loquacious man named Carlos who miraculously understood my request for directions in Spanish and gave us a long winded story about how to get there – “something something ‘down, down, down’ something something ‘swimming’ something something ‘rocks big as cars’ something something ‘?dangerous?’ or ‘sunscreen?’ ” Not sure.

We passed coffee plantations and banana trees reaching over the edge, pastures with cows, Saint Laura shrines and switchbacks. Just a quick scramble down the bank, and… we found it!!! Rio Pierdras!