It all began as a beach holiday. Having heard that the ocean-front town of Cuyutlán, Colima had “the nicest black sand you could ever hope to see,” we drove there one night only to discover that – in the month of October, mind you – the temperature was 34 C, the humidity 82 percent and the water was full of manta rays.
“Let’s get out of this sauna,” said my friend Josh. “Do you know some cooler place where we can go for a swim?”
What immediately came to mind was a picturesque waterfall in Colima called El Salto de Peña Colorada, which has a pool of refreshingly cool water at its base – a truly idyllic place for a swim.
El Salto is located inland, 40 kilometers northeast of Manzanillo.
The winding road from the coast to Peña Colorada is nicely paved but between these two points you are unlikely to find a gas station or a store of any kind, even in these days of ubiquitous Oxxos.
“This is indeed a lonely road,” I told my fellow passengers, “and something funny happened to us as we drove along here 30 years ago ...”
I was a cave explorer in those days and we were on our way to El Salto, not only to splash in its delightful waters, but also to continue our exploration of a fascinating cave located just minutes from the fall.
About an hour from our destination it began to drizzle. “Looks like we won’t have a campfire tonight.” I told my wife, Susy. “Let me see how much alcohol we have for the cook stove.”
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