Mountain trekking
Very good (or very bad) experiences with nature are never forgotten, even after many years. I still remember when I first saw Pozo Azul. It was the first time I had crossed several rivers up to my neck, lifting my rucksack above my head and trying to keep my legs steady so I wouldn't be swept away by the force of the water. It was my first time walking several kilometres across mountains to reach the pool, and on the way back I almost didn't make it because I was so dehydrated and exhausted. In the end, I felt so happy to have achieved such a feat and I promised myself I would return. I always wanted to go back, and 15 years later I did.
I have a cousin who recently started a tourism company, but I already knew all the routes she had taken, so I had never travelled with her until I saw the advertisement for the blue well and asked her a somewhat strange question: which blue well is the trip to? In my country, Venezuela, there are several turquoise blue water wells with waterfalls of unparalleled beauty. These wells are all called "blue well," but they differ in shape and location.
The adventure I am going to tell you about today is a trek to Pozo Azul, located in the state of Cojedes in Venezuela. We left at 3.30 am from my cousin's house. I hadn't visited her for years, but that night she welcomed me to go on the trip. The daughter of a friend of mine also lives in the same neighbourhood, and they had both decided to sign up for the adventure. I am very happy that they accepted my invitation.
The bus took a rather long route, which is why we left so early in the morning. We picked up people in our town, the capital of Aragua State, and also in Carabobo State, to reach Cojedes State, where the blue well is located. All this took three hours, because we arrived at 7:30 am and the fun began 😁.
We got off the bus and started taking photos of the sign for the La Pica tourist stop. The people in charge of welcoming us have a small restaurant and made us breakfast to order: minced beef or shredded beef empanadas with lemon juice. Everything was very good, and I ate so quickly that I forgot to take photos. The whole group bought a combo that included two empanadas and a drink for £3, which is an excellent price.
After breakfast, we started walking, each with our own backpack. I was carrying a litre and a half of water because I didn't want the same thing to happen to me as last time. The idea was to ration half the water for the way there and the other half for the way back. I also brought sunscreen, sunglasses, a cap, my mobile phone, and I put in a cloth for a friend who asked me for a favour, as she was carrying fruit and sweets for both of us. 😅 I had to earn those snacks. This is another friend I met on a previous trip who also joined us. I hadn't seen her in years. We rode the bus together and talked the whole way. She gave me a beautiful swimsuit that I really needed. I hope to wear it soon.
The morning was cool and the group was very lively, but we were just getting started. I loved that most of the people were around my age, neither too young nor too old. My cousin gave me a lightweight walking stick, but I preferred to give it to one of my friends because I know she has knee problems. She used it and it helped her a lot, because at the beginning of the route everything looks flat, a pleasant forest with tall trees and farm animals everywhere, but after half an hour, you feel like you're going downhill, and you start to encounter rocks and holes that you have to dodge.
Although everyone starts at the same speed and pace, after a while you can see the distances between each other. The best thing when trekking is to go at your own pace, but without straying too far from the group in case something happens to you. After an hour, we started to sweat, even though the morning was still cool, there was plenty of shade, and we were going downhill towards the first river crossing. I mentioned twice that I had done the route years ago and that the rivers I crossed came up to my neck, but then again, I'm not very big, I'm only five feet tall.
The people on the excursion were very organised. They had radios and communicated with each other. One person went at the front and my cousin was between the middle and the back. We reached the first river crossing, and I was taken aback because it was a river that barely wet our shoes 😁. That wasn't what I remembered, so I thought that further on I would find the adrenaline rush of the high river. We walked and listened to the trees moving in the breeze and the birds singing. I enjoyed these walks with all my senses. I spoke little and concentrated on the sounds and looked at the sky and the path with an almost Zen-like concentration. I don't understand people who do these tours with headphones; they miss out on the true connection with nature and the present moment.
After passing the first river crossing, which was a small stream or tributary, I thought that the next one would be the high river, but it was not. We arrived and found another small river, and I understood that when I did this route, it was probably winter and the rivers were swollen. Thank goodness I only mentioned the high rivers to a few people, because they would surely have made fun of me.
I felt the adrenaline rush as I climbed over some rocks and obstacles along the way. For safety reasons, I didn't want to take photos so that I could focus on what I was doing and not fall. After the most difficult part, we found our reward: a beautiful pool of crystal-clear water that looks blue or turquoise green when the sun's rays reflect off it, hence its name.
As expected, the water is very cold, and to get into the last pool, you have to walk over a log lying between the rocks of the mountain. The pool is deep, and if you can't swim, you definitely need a life jacket to stay submerged without drowning. I can swim in a pool, heh heh heh, but not in the sea or pools like this one. They scare me, so they lent me a life jacket at various times.
We spent several hours in this pool. We arrived at around 11 a.m. and stayed until 1 p.m. Once you get there, you don't want to get out of the water, and it's a bit of a pain to go back. The water in the well looked clean, but the truth is that when we arrived, we were struck by a bad impression of the surrounding area. There were large bags of rubbish, soft drink bottles, sweet wrappers and other rubbish left by inconsiderate people in places where there are no sanitation services. This saddened me and the group in general. I didn't feel like photographing this part, even though it would have served as a backup.
This was my adventure back to this magical well. I reflected a lot as I walked towards it. I thought about time and how quickly it passes. Fifteen years went by in the blink of an eye. Thank God I was able to return, and the experience was different, less risky and more peaceful in my perception. I bid you farewell, thanking you for your support and time in reading this, and I invite you to enjoy nature in a healthy way, respecting every piece of land you tread on. Do not leave rubbish behind; leave only love. The path to Pozo Azul
