Into the Jungle We Go!

This past Saturday, we had the wonderful opportunity to visit and hike in Moka to see the cascades and waterfalls! Growing up on Guam, I’ve had my fair share of hikes on the weekends but I have to say, I have nothing to compare this experience to. It was almost like venturing into a whole other world, a Narnia if you will. The rolling landscapes paired with the lush canopies was almost too good to be true. The hike itself was a slippery slope and pretty challenging but who doesn’t love a good challenge, especially when you’re sharing the struggles with your friends! On the way, a few of us had fallen back as we were going slower. Under most circumstances, I would say that was bad but because we were going much slower and trekking more quietly, we were able to hear the quiet voices of a monkey in a nearby tree. We didn’t get to see it but just hearing it alone, pretty much made my day. Once we actually made it to the waterfalls, the overwhelming feeling of accomplishment was just so rewarding. I personally didn’t want to leave. It felt nice to be surrounded by nothing but the roaring sounds of the rushing water and the vivid green sceneries because overall, it added to the ethereal feel of the location and the experience.

Just as we were about the leave to return, the fog started to settle in over the waterfalls and the scene of the cascades. We decided to wait after coming all this way to witness it. After some time of crossing fingers and praying that we wouldn’t be trapped here for another hour (stomachs were grumbling people!), the fog finally retreated to reveal the breathtaking cascades in the distance. At first, you could only make out one but as the view cleared, we began to see another and another until all was clear and we could make out four different cascades. What a sight! Processing took some time and I gladly took that chance to soak the experience up. Eventually though, we had to leave and so we took our last glances and powered back through the trail until we successfully made it back to our starting point.

Going back, we started strong. What took us nearly an hour and a half coming to the waterfalls, took us only about thirty minutes to get near our starting point. Now that sounds pretty impressive. We literally must’ve blazed a trail, right? Wrong! We ended up taking almost another half hour trying to get up the slippery slope that we had easily slid down earlier. It was one of the greatest hiking challenges I have ever faced in my entire life. I grabbed onto anything poking out from the ferns; this was a bad idea, especially since I wasn’t wearing gloves and also because these ferns had evolved into ferocious spiky beasts as a defense mechanism. I nearly face-planted a good ten times and then some, by the time I was halfway up the slope. The only great redeeming moment about this last stretch of the hike was the fact that I was able to very briefly see two millipedes: a Giant African Millipede AND another millipede that I wasn't absolutely sure of. JUSH. I only really saw the Giant African Millipede but from the looks of what I saw for a split-second and from what my friend Ryder (he took the pictures!) saw, it seems like it belongs in the Pyrgodesmidae family of flat-backed millipedes. They are considered obligate myrmecophiles of several different species of army ants, which they have on Moka, but I can’t be too sure cause ya know, #entomologistintraining 😝 After that moment though, I was absolutely done and my heart was full. We conquered the last uphill battle and more or less, ran back to the house for our bocadillos (sandwiches) and coconuts. That’s that folks!

Short Note: super sorry for a lack of posts lately! The internet has been failing on me and apparently, so has my immune system, as I am typing this while sniffling my life away and wishing I was Voldemort! There will be more posts as this whole weekend is supposed to be filled with more events so stay tuned! Cheers to that my friends and I bid you all a good day/night (: