Rain, Waterfall and Relaxation

Our last full day at this fantastic place.  It is so hard to be able to show

you just how "big" this place is... the lodge, the grounds, the rainforest. 

But this picture, taken from the front door of the lodge... near the lily pad pond, of Bruce walking up the sidewalk might give you a glimpse.

This little guy joined us for breakfast.  He reminded us of Barney! 

During breakfast it started raining.. so we did some computer
work and reading before we decided to take off on our hike.
We ignored the sign next to the lodge on a trail that said we
had to have a guide....We took off by ourselves
 hoping to find the small waterfall.

I wanted to go without a group or a guide to pace my lungs
a little better than yesterday.  By the time we took off
the rain had stopped but everything in the forest was wet,
 shiny and very pretty! 

All of the trails are amazingly laid out and easy to walk

It was about at this point that we heard things above us.

Sure enough there were monkeys jumping all over. 

Didn't get their pictures going down....but later...

Even nicely laid out stairs!  Not that there weren't
some rough spots to walk but most of it was just great.

Looking across at the other side from where we were.

And of course there was beautiful flora and fauna along the way.

Apparently this is also an orchid trail, too
but it was the wrong season for most of them to be in bloom.

Tried to get a picture with us in it but it dropped off
fairly quickly behind us.

We'd been hearing the rushing water for along time.. in fact, from our

room even.. but the sound kept getting louder. 

Then we saw our first peek of the water. 

We rounded the next corner of the trail to find the following sights.  

Some with B's phone and others with my camera. 

Is this the Garden of Eden? This reminds me of a picture in my childhood Bible story book of the story of Adam and Eve..  Something about the color and softness. Adam and Eve were hiding!!

The camera gives a little more vivid color.

One more time..  ha! 

 Certainly not a big waterfall but the lushness of it all was very rich!

Looking up hill.

The rushing water, the rock and the solitary fern growing out of the rock.  

There's a poem here somewhere, don't you think?  After enjoying the scenery we decided we'd better get back before the next tour met up with us...and wondered why or how we could be there without a guide. 

This picture requires some study.  If you look closely about an inch below the really green leaf, you can see about a million little ants scurrying along through the middle of the picture. It's the little brown line.

These are fire ants... and they live to run up your pant legs and bite you!  On the way down the trail we had encountered them and had tucked our pant legs into our socks to keep them from getting up inside...But before we did that... we had stepped in some on the way down and met with their fury!  They are not nice... not dangerous.. but painful.

So on the way back... we were careful to watch for them. 

And here in the middle of the picture they are 

moving so fast they are a blur!

You can see them marching down the hill in this picture...

and then just beyond this site...  Some other friends showed up..

Pretty sure these are 2 monkeys... I don't think they grow quite this long.
Truly can't tell what kind of monkey this is.  If anyone knows, let me know.

Just sitting around. Can you see him... his tail hanging down? 
 We watched these guys for a long time.
Very hard to get their pics since they were moving most of the time--
jumping from tree to tree with HUGE leaps! 

 This is an old tree trunk that is totally covered with
fresh new growing ferns. 

Typical paths that ran back and forth... 
up and down the mountain trail.

We made it back to where we started without a guide and 

with little to no breathing problems... We went a lot slower 

and it wasn't quite as steep as yesterday.  Thank goodness.

Back to the open tea fields....

 on to our little deck "porch" to relax when we hear
something rustling in the trees!

This little blue monkey was watching the others.

 And then he turned to watch us...
I wanted to squeeze his fluffy cheeks!

Cute little profile!  

They only stayed for a couple minutes.... Long enough for a photo shoot 

and then they took off so the next cabin could see them.  I wonder it they 

train them to do that??

For our last night at the lodge they sat us ahead of a roaring fire
and served up a great dinner.

Even made it look like a tree from the forest!

Don't worry it is just sparkling water... But this toast is for 

Nelda... Happy Birthday--Nov. 18th and Isaac on the 15th!

If you're ever looking for a place to go for a great vacation..
Nyungwe Forest Lodge would fit the bill!
They take great care of you here... sort of like a nature driven
 "DisneyWorld".  Hope you can come sometime!

love,

margie