THE MAGIC MUSHROOM EXPERIENCE

If we surfed a lake yesterday, I am not sure what we are surfing this morning. There are even less waves. Big boards for baby waves is what the instructors tell us, so everyone is back to the big foam boards, including the instructors. The waves might be tiny, but it is a beautiful, sunny day. It turns into a fun, just-messing-around surf morning. There are no waves to fight when paddling back out, and the instructors are pushing us into them because they aren’t easy to paddle into. Just when I am wondering where Henry, one of the surf instructors, is a snorkel pops up next to me. It’s Henry! He switched sports for the day and pushes me into a wave. At one point, there are many of us on one wave, and while typically not advisable, it is a lot of fun on this small-wave day. As Luciano watches several paddle into one of the few waves and stand up, he says, "Those are our students! We are there teachers!" Teaching is a pretty great job.

We head back to Swell for a quick breakfast before the big adventure of the day: Canyoning or, as I prefer to call it, The Magic Mushroom Experience. This is a repelling down waterfalls excursion with Bree, Megan, Parker, Mom, and I. The main point of debate in preparing for this excursion is what shoes to wear. Many of us have Chacos, but we are told those will not do. We need sturdy, closed-toed shoes, like old sneakers. Well, many of us don’t have old sneakers with us, just our everyday sneakers, nor do we particularly want to get them wet. Mom is the only smart one with Keens. The night before, Bree even had a dream, rather a nightmare, about the sneakers filling with water and drowning. Like I said, the shoe choice becomes a primary point of conversation and debate. Eventually we all give into the fact that we really only have one option: To wear the sneakers we have. Except Mom, of course, who has Keens. It is not until we are in the bus on the way to the canyon that we realize half of us went socks and half of us went no socks.

We have about a 45 minute drive up to where we get our wetsuits and harnesses, and then we have another brief drive. From there, we walk, following our guides Helmut and Alberto. We start by walking down the rough road, going by locals’ houses and farms and observing the chickens, pigs, and a decent amount of trash. This would be quite the daily walk living here, although there is an elderly woman walking up the hill with a stick and making it look like nothing. Soon we start heading down into the canyon, through greenery, crossing rivers, and going back up the other side due to a fallen tree. Eventually, we get to a small pool of water. Helmut advises us to get in–preparation for getting in the water just below. For some reason, I can’t seem to get in because my sneakers will get wet. Silly, I know. I am about to repel a waterfall in them. Helmut decides it’s taking too long and gives me a little push. Everyone is in now, and Helmut takes a picture: “For my insurance.”

We walk and swim down the river a bit until we are at the top of the first waterfall. This is the Magic Mushroom, named because the rock that the waterfall pours over looks like a mushroom top (no drugs involved in this experience). I didn’t realize our first drop was going to be the Magic Mushroom. We get a short repelling demo from Helmut, and Megan wisely asks what happens if we let go. Helmut lets us know that Alberto will be at the end of the rope to emergency break us if needed. Also, he tells us the rope is thick and wet, so we would not fall very quickly. We get the short run down of the repel: Repel to Alberto, there is a small ledge, and then jump into the water below. Then, we are off! Megan is first, followed by Mom and I. I have to go first because I really want to see Mom do this. The repel isn’t too tricky, and it is a beautiful view. I get to Alberto, disconnect from the rope, and turn around. Jump that?? Alberto only speaks Spanish and gives me a nod. That’s a big jump…20 feet to be exact. I jump in and quickly float back to the top with the help of my wet suit. I swim to where Megan is standing, and we both look up to see Mom repelling and wonder how she is going to jump. She has jumped before, but with the fear of heights and all, I know it’s not something she loves to do and takes significant mind over matter. She gets to Alberto and looks below. For a minute, I think she might actually do it, and then Alberto connects her back to the rope to drop her down. And when I say drop, I literally mean drop. In just a few bounces on the rope, she is in the water. I wish I had a video. It looks extremely uncomfortable as she scrapes very close to the rocks, and I definitely think jumping in is the easier option. Even a little push might be preferable. That said, we are all so impressed that she did it. Not that there is any backing out now.

Once everyone is in the water, we watch Alberto use the ropes to climb back up the waterfall. Helmut snaps a picture of us, and then all of a sudden, we hear a deep, “Ahhhhhhhhh” behind us. Everyone quickly turns only for our jaws to drop open. Alberto is running off the waterfall and then jumps into the water below, not connected to anything. We all stare with our mouths open and in disbelief for several seconds. It was something Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would do or something you would see in a superhero movie just before they turn around and shoot their ropes to the top of the building to catch themselves. Again, I wish I had a video. I later ask Alberto how many times he has done that. 20 times.

The next waterfall is much steeper, but we are told there is no jump at the bottom. I start lowering myself down the waterfall after Megan when I hear a big splash. That sounds like a jump to me. Near the bottom, Helmut lets me know, “you are about to run out of rope,” and sure enough, just above the water, I am out of rope and need to jump in. As I swim across the pool of water, it dawns on me. There was no one on the end of that rope as backup. Both of Mom’s arms are a bit messed up right now, and all along I have been telling her that it will be fine: “You only really need your right arm, and if that one starts hurting, there will be someone as backup who can lower you down.” Yikes. I guess I was wrong on that one. Fortunately, she makes it to the bottom. Less fortunately, she doesn’t realize she is about out of rope and she doesn’t hear Helmut tell her until she is already falling backward into the water. No worries, it is a small, safe drop. The rope could be a bit longer though. Alberto, again, grabs the ropes and runs down the waterfall.

We walk and swim through some more river to our last waterfall. “This one is a run and jump,” Helmut warns us. I slowly respond, “A run and jump…? How big is the jump…?” “You will see when we get there.” Not the response I was looking for. Once there, I realize it really isn’t that big, but it is a run and jump. Megan and Bree go first, and then Mom stands at the top, readying herself. We offer to let Parker go first so Mom can see it done once more. He is very tall and manages to do it in about two steps. “Um…maybe not quite like that,” I say to Mom. Before I know it, she looks at me and then takes off running. Holy smokes. My mom just ran off a waterfall. I am right right behind her, and as I swim over to the group, I hear Bree, who works in safety for mining, say, “A lot could have gone wrong there.” A few minutes later, Helmut emerges from around the rocks to the side, walking. Mom gasps, “There was another option??”

Before long, I hear another big splash. I turn around wondering what that was. Megan had just jumped from the cliff above. Another jump?? This one is optional. I look up at it though and decide I have to do it. I begin the climb up, using the rocks on the edge to pull myself up. This one is the biggest yet. 24 feet and a jump out to get over some of the greenery at the top. Before I can think about it for too long, I jump. That one is enough time in the air for my stomach to do a flip flop. Parker and Bree are behind me. Mom opted out of this one. We are all so impressed by her on the last three though. It is said many times, “I can’t believe your mom did that.”

The trek out is no small task. We wade and swim through some more of the river, and then we quite literally start climbing up the canyon wall. It is steep, and we hoist ourselves up using our arms and legs for about 20 minutes. It is no small feat, and I most definitely will be sore tomorrow. Once we (finally) reach the top, it is a gorgeous view. The hilltops are lush and green. It reminds me of Kauai a bit.

We pile back into the van and make the trek back to where the equipment is stored. Here, we are treated to a traditional, home-cooked Dominican lunch—rice, beans, eggplant, and chicken. We get to chatting with Helmut and discover that he knew Rolf Schulz—El Mundo King—and went to parties at his castle before he passed away. It was fun to hear some first-hand experiences: To enter the party, you would bring a gift, usually rum, and there would always be a large fire going.

All exhausted, we make our way back to Swell, several of us nodding off on the drive. We arrive back at Swell around 2:45pm, and thinking we have yoga at 4:00, everyone does a quick refresh and meets back downstairs. Once we realize yoga is rescheduled due to our canyoning day, I had back upstairs for a little nap before dinner. As a doze off, I say, “Mom, I can’t believe you ran off of a waterfall today.”

Tonight is a group dinner at Swell, with everyone including the surf instructors. Prior to dinner, we have a "Surf Theory" lesson, where we learn about surf boards, waves, and surf etiquette. For dinner, we have more delicious home-cooked, traditional food: Rice and beans—honestly hard to get tired of that. Dinner is followed by some chatting, laughs, and dancing. Mom convinces Henry, one of the surf instructors who loves dancing, to dance with her. Putting those salsa lessons to practice! It is off to bed before too late. It was a full day, and we are, of course, surfing tomorrow morning.