#yes it's doable. it's fun and scary and you will feel so cool

[flecks-of-stardust]

slightly different route:

the legendary one cycle sprint to ascension! route suggested by @sevenrs which i decided to try. the route is honestly pretty similar to what i was doing before, with a few minor tweaks that ended up making it faster than my original route.

as you can see from the score screen though, it's not actually 'one' cycle; i starved twice to bring my karma up so i could go to pebbles. but the game doesn't know any better :) tbh this was pretty fun, particularly because i'm more familiar with the route now. if you're okay with navigating drainage system and filtration system in the dark, you can give it a whirl!

[merbear25]

your back! ^v^/ can you do china, France and Italy x reader romantic headcanons Who's loves horror. Like they talk about horror all the time and show horror movie couples and be like "this is so us!"

Yes, I am! We're back in business haha. Thank you for sending this in! As a horror fan myself, it was fun to imagine these. I hope you like what I've written for you 💜💜

CW: SFW, gn!reader, fluff, slight humor, headcanons, characterization based on the episode Hetalia of the Dead

With a s/o who loves horror (China, France, Italy)

China 

As much as he thought he had a stomach for horror, you quickly put him in his place.

He wasn’t one to openly admit when he was scared, let alone terrified, so watching your favorite scary movies with him presented quite the challenge.

You could tell from the get go that he was struggling, though. He’d tremble and jump a few times, yet denied the film was affecting him. (You never asked by the way. He just felt like he needed to defend himself.)

Cuddling up closer to him when you sensed it may be too much to handle gave him such relief.

He couldn’t help but groan whenever you said “this is so us!” because half the time the couple ended up dying.

Even though you thrived in horror based activities, you understood his limits. Taking him to a haunted house was out of the question; he felt way too vulnerable. Something like a haunted hayride was doable for him, though.

Sure, he clung to you as if his life depended on it, but there was just an ounce more of security with this activity. After everything was said and done, the both of you couldn’t have come out of that more different: his heart was pounding and he felt drained while you were coursing with adrenaline.

With all of this considered, there were aspects of his culture that held their right when it came to monsters. Sharing these legends with you was much more his cup of tea, and he adored how you hung on each word.

France

Although he wasn’t as big of a fan as you, he wasn’t opposed to it. There were aspects that he could enjoy. He was much more partial to the plots being scary than any overuse of jumpscares.

He didn’t really get scared while watching these films with you. It was far more likely that the gore would turn his stomach. If you were completely numb to this and ate during these parts, that’d be more horrifying than anything playing on the screen.

Your comment of “that’s so us!” was rather funny to him, especially given the dumb or silly mistakes the couples always made.

Seeing as you were a die hard fan, he would offer to go on a guided tour of the catacombs. Exploring such a place needed to be done wisely, so don’t expect him to allow you to scamper off because you saw a “cool” skull.

Venturing with the group was nice for him. It was a unique part of his history, and being able to share it with someone who was more than willing to soak up the information was refreshing.

He wouldn’t be able to resist whispering little stories of others feeling cold spots or even a phantom hand on their shoulders. He told you these knowing how they’d pique your twisted little interest, smiling at you when your eyes lit up.

Walking down the streets at night was ideal for sharing legends with you. With the mood set as the moon hung high in the sky, he delivered each tale with conviction, only adding to their chilling ends.

Among all of the genres of film and literature, horror was not ranked highly for him. That being said, he grew more fond of it knowing how much it meant to you.

Italy

Despite his care-free and innocent demeanor, his country wasn’t exactly shy when it came to the horror scene.

He could stomach a lot of the gore to your surprise, even making a few comments on how good or bad the effects were.

Eating while watching such films was completely fine with him, and more often than not, he’d prepared something to compliment the film specifically. Of course, pasta, especially spaghetti, was the most commonly eaten while you watched horror because the sauce resembled the blood perfectly and the pasta was squishy like entrails.

As you messily slurped up your food, your comments of “this is so us!” was excitedly agreed on. When the couple (or one of them) inevitably died, he pointed out another that you two could relate to.

There were no issues for him when it came to sitting and watching something on a screen. However, going out to haunted houses was off the table, which you came to realize in practice. This poor man didn’t expect it to be so terrifying, and there was no way he’d be able to put on an act of bravery. When you eventually made it out, he was shaking like a leaf, leaving you to cuddle and tend to him for the rest of the week.

You being as big of a horror fan as you were, it was the perfect opportunity for him to show you the darker and more mysterious side of the country.

There were plenty of museums highlighting torture, castles which were said to be haunted, and even catacombs.

You were spoiled for choice, but that was fine! He would enjoy exploring each bit with you because he knew that it was a deep rooted interest.

[engekihaikyuu]

Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu – The Tokyo Battle

Entertainment Station Interview Translation with Nagata Takato and Kondou Shouri

Full interview translation and more photos under the Read More! Please do not repost my translations or scans.

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Nagata-san and Kondou-san, it’s been about year since we’ve seen you appear in this series since “Start of the Giant.”

Takato: One year huh... Ever since we first appeared back in December of 2016 with “Karasuno, Revival!” we’ve done an Engeki Haikyuu every six months afterward, and at that pace I sort of worried if I might get a little tired of it, but I’ve been able to add to my experience with other plays in the past year, and now I really want to bring “The Tokyo Battle” to life.  

Shouri: Karasuno High won’t be appearing in “The Tokyo Battle,” but together with everyone in Fukurodani and Nohebi, we’re going to get everyone even more excited about the amazing production that is Engeki Haikyuu!

When you’re doing photoshoots for the play visuals, do you get back the feeling of Kuroo instantly once you put on the hair and the makeup and the uniform?

Shouri: In one sense, but even more because we move around a lot during those shoots, and when I start to feel sore after we’re done, then I feel like, “Ah, this is Haikyuu!” (laughs)

Takato: Once rehearsals start, you basically live with a little bit of muscle soreness all the time.  Every single time we do this, the day after the first day of rehearsals, I’m sore all over and it’s hard to even walk.

Shouri: I move around a lot in other shows too, and I go to the gym regularly, but even so Engeki Haikyuu rehearsals are seriously tough! The stage is slanted, and just from that alone you end up using muscles you don’t normally use just to brace yourself on certain parts of the stage.  

Takato: That’s how we train our “Haikyuu muscles.” (laughs)

Speaking of those “Haikyuu muscles,” which specific muscles would those be?

Shouri: Mostly your lower half.  Your thighs and calves get especially rock-hard.  The road back to rehearsals is a lot of, “Yeah yeah, that! That pain,” but that is part of the Engeki Haikyuu experience, and I’m going to enjoy it all over.  

This time we’ll see Fukurodani Academy and Nohebi Academy as they compete for a spot for the Spring High national tournament.  What are your impressions of your opponents?  

Takato: When it comes to Fukurodani’s Bokuto Koutarou and Akaashi Keiji, this will actually be our third time appearing together with them, but this will be Nohebi Academy’s first appearance... so I wonder?  But you can tell just by looking at the school names that our secondary theme is “Battle of the Animals,” and the thing to look for will be to see how the fight will go when it’s cats versus owls or when it’s cats versus snakes.  

As a fan, I’m very much looking forward to see how Engeki will portray the various highlight scenes from the manga.  Do you personally have any parts where you think, “It’d be great if we could have that scene from the manga,” or “I’d love to make this my highlight scene?”  

Shouri: For me, it’s the combination plays between Kuroo Tetsurou and Kozume Kenma.  When I read the manga, I immediately thought, “That was amazing!” for certain parts and I definitely want to recreate some of those on-stage.  

Takato: In the manga, this is the part where we get a lot of great expressions from Kenma.  For example, after Haiba Lev joins in, the usually poker-faced Kenma starts to make a lot of snide comments. (laughs)  But that side of Kenma is cute too, and I always want to play him while keeping that in mind.  And then of course, Nekoma will be the main school this time, so we’ll be situated right in the center of everything, so our level of responsibility has changed. We’re going to lead the company with confidence and make a magnificent play.  

Shouri: For Nekoma, I’m looking forward to seeing the first-years develop.  I’m looking forward to Ishikura Noah’s Haiba Lev and Kimura Fuuta’s Shibayama Yuuki, and the new female cast members!

Since this will be an episode without Karasuno who have been the main characters thus far, and adding in the new cast members as well, this production as a whole is going to have a different atmosphere and color and style, isn’t it?

Takato: If we don’t change to something new and good, then everything we’ve built up so far will go to waste.  I think it’s going to be extremely difficult, but we’re continuing the will of the Engeki Haikyuu that we’ve built up together with Suga Kenta and everyone else in the first generation of Karasuno who led the way, and from now on, we have to be the ones to lead the way... I firmly believe that.

Shouri: Let’s help each other!  We’ll help each other, support each other, boost each other... because that’s our specialty on Nekoma.  

Takato: Yeah.  I can say with confidence that we won’t lose to any other school when it comes to our teamwork.  We’ll display that great teamwork of ours front and center, and hope to create a new Engeki Haikyuu with everyone in the cast. 

And now I’d like to look back on previous tours.  I’d like to ask you about your memories of the Karasuno cast who graduated at the end of last year.

Takato:  We spent about two years with them starting with “Karasuno, Revival!” and in a certain sense, we have an inseparable relationship.  Even if we’re a different school, we’ve been Karasuno members ourselves in some ways...

Shouri:  It does feel like even the Karasuno cast think of us as part of them.  “Karasuno and then some.”  During the Miyagi portion of the “Start of the Giant” tour, me and Takato, Kenta-kun, Kosaka Ryoutarou, and Arita Kenji were talking, and then suddenly everyone from Karasuno had gathered together, and someone said something along the lines of, “This will be the last Engeki Haikyuu with these guys, and that’s sad,” and I just involuntarily started crying.  

Takato: We had a closing party of sorts in the middle of the tour, and when I hugged Kenta-kun, I just wailed.  

Shouri: At first I thought, “Come on, we haven’t even finished all our shows yet,” but then suddenly it was me and Takato and Kenta-kun all hugging and wailing together. (strained laugh)  Seeing us like that, everyone laughed and said, “You guys, we’re not even done yet, why are you crying?!” but we were really sad about Karasuno’s graduation.  

Takato: But it doesn’t mean that our relationship ends just because they graduated, and I definitely want to act together with them in some other production.  Probably they’ll come hang out during rehearsals of “The Tokyo Battle”?

Shouri: Kenta-kun said, “I’m going to keep watching over Engeki Haikyuu from the audience, and I’m going to stay over in the dressing rooms too!” (laughs)

Takato: In exchange for us just turning over a dressing room for Kenta-kun’s use, he can treat us to bentos!

Shouri: Let’s LINE him and say, “Treat us to some bentos ♡”.  (laughs)

As rehearsals formally begin for “The Tokyo Battle,” is there anything you’re especially looking forward to?

Shouri: There’s a lot I’m looking forward to, but the most important thing is that we stay careful and focused so that we don’t get injured!  I really think we have to be careful about injuries, and in the worst case that someone does get injured, that the damage will be minimal.  So I’ve been thinking that I need to do some training on my own starting now.  

Obviously this is true of cast injuries, but when I heard that even the director Worry Kinoshita-san isn’t free from injury, I was surprised. (laughs)

Takato: Ah, that makes it seem like it’s our fault but it’s not! (laughs)  Worry-san will watch us at rehearsals and then on his own just go, “No, not like that! That part’s more... -jerks his ankle- Owww!” and then he twisted his ankle, but we didn’t do anything.  

Shouri: Worry-san gets the most excited when he’s with our group.  When the music gets going, he’ll dance his “Worry☆Dance,” and then when he gets too excited from that, he ends up hurting himself. (strained laugh)

Engeki Haikyuu obviously has dancing, lifts, and acrobatics, and I’m always surprised with the various ways in which you use your bodies to express everything.

Takato: It’s the appeal of Engeki Haikyuu: it surpasses the general concept of a stage play and greedily takes in and incorporates all sorts of challenging things.  We attack our limits and then the breadth of what we can show gets steadily more expansive. It’s fun for us, and I think it’s really cool.  

Be honest, have you ever once had a moment where you said, “This is impossible!”

Takato: Even if I think it’s impossible, when I try it out I can be surprisingly capable.  In “Start of the Giant,” there’s a part where Shouri and I do a one-handed backflip followed immediately by a dolphin and then from there we do a scorpion to get up... Trying to explain it is... It’s easier to understand if you just watch the DVD (strained laugh), but even that seemingly impossible sequence of techniques is doable once you try it.  In “Summer of Evolution,” when Shouri and I were using pro-wrestling moves like Luchadors, I got that down in one blow.  

That was when you wrapped your legs around his neck and then flipped around, right?

Takato: Yes, exactly.  That’s a contact move, so it’s really important to have a lot of trust in each other.

Shouri: If we don’t match our timing, he’d go flying so it’s a pretty scary technique, but we just went, “Something like this?” and tried it, and we did it.  

Takato: At Engeki Haikyuu, we have brainstorming sessions and there people suggest things going, “I want to try this kind of thing,” and then we decide what we’ll use.  During “Start of the Giant,” I wanted to throw in hints to a line from the manga about “a controlled fist-fight” and suggested, “For the Nekoma and Fukurodani match scenes, what if we have us appear on-stage in those hooded robes like boxers wear and make it look like a boxing match?” and people went, “That’s great!” and we went with that.  

Shouri: And this time I think we’ll be using a lot of moves that mimic animals according to our school names, so please look forward to how that’ll look.  

“The Tokyo Battle” opens on April 5th starting in Osaka, then moving to Miyagi, then Tokyo for a one-month long tour. Please give us a message to everyone who’s looking forward to seeing this play.

Takato: We are carrying on the torch for Engeki Haikyuu, and from here on I think a brand new Engeki Haikyuu will begin.  We will meet the expectations of everyone who’s loved Engeki Haikyuu until now, and to people who haven’t yet seen Engeki Haikyuu, we’ll show them the Engeki Haikyuu charm.  To that end, everyone on the cast will give their all together, so please come see us!  

Shouri: This is a production that children and adults, men and women can enjoy without question, so if you’re on the fence going, “Should I go see it? Hmm, what should I do?” I want you to take this chance and definitely come see us.  We’ll definitely make you have a good time, and put on a production that’ll work up your spirits!  We’ll be waiting for you at the theater!!  

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Translated by @nimbus-cloud Please do not repost my translations

If you appreciate the work I do for this blog and want to support my translation efforts, please consider donating a ko-fi!  (x)

The original interview can be read online here: (x)

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Bonus: Kenta quote-RTing their interview

Kenta (x) The crybaby duo.

[zmediaoutlet]

11:11 6: The Undiscovered Country

Now doing the questions from @nomercles​, but again shan’t come up with new questions because I just did this and already bugged a bunch of you.

1. What is a non-traditional pet you’d like to have?  No dogs or cats or birds or bunnies, unless it’s a Vorpal bunny and a vulture.

Oh lord, a Vorpal bunny would be so scary. I wouldn’t mind a pygmy goat to trot around and headbutt me in the shin and keep my grass trimmed away. It would meh at me, which would be delightful. An elephant would also be good, tho I would feel bad about keeping it separate from its ele-friends, so then I would need a whole herd of elephants, and my yard’s not that big.

2. Favorite music video?

Ooh, hard one. I don’t usually like official videos because I’m not really into the hashtag aesthetic--I just like watching the actual musicians play, you know? So, I guess I will say this one, which I think sorta counts as both:

3. What is your favorite food to make?

Hm. Salsa, probably. Some days I could subsist on good yellow corn chips and a delightfully smoky salsa.

4. How efficiently do you pack for a trip?

Uh, incredibly. It takes me maybe half an hour, and that’s if I’m dawdling. How many days are going you going to be gone? Okay, n+1 underwear, n/3 bras, n+1 shirts, etc. Is it cold? Okay, skew toward sweaters. Is it warm? Okay, skew toward breezy layers. I don’t understand how it becomes such an endeavor.

5. Contacts, glasses, surgery; how’s your eyes, and do you want to change your ocular circumstances?

I wear contacts every day--right now I’m at -4.0/-3.5, if that means anything to you. Sometimes I wear my glasses, but since I don’t want to fuck with prescription sunglasses and I always need sunglasses, contacts all the way. I’ve thought about getting reparative surgery, but I’m too much of a coward. Lasers! Ack! I don’t know. There’s something too Bond Villain about it.

6. Coachella or Burning Man or something else entirely?

Ack, I’ve never been to a properly huge festival. It seems like those are more about the festival than about the music, and more power to those people, but this is also why I don’t go to cons--I like the thing, I don’t so much enjoy the spazzing about the thing. I don’t like woogirls squealing in my ear. There’s an itty-bitty music festival in Phoenix every year that I go to, though, where the proceeds all go to charity and the artists are fun and varied, and that’s a good time. I’m also going to the Chicago Blues Festival this summer (!!!) which I assume is really big, and I’m a little apprehensive, but I hope it’ll be fun. :) 7. Favorite kind of Ben & Jerry’s?  Convince me to try it.

The only kind that comes to mind is the Coffee Toffee one. If I am going to have ice cream, it’s going to be coffee flavored, and the toffee pieces are huge and vaguely salty and delightful to mine out of the ice cream strata. (If I am going to be a hipster about something, tho, it’s ice cream--so many fun local ice cream places in Tucson, why would I buy corporate flavors. Blackberry gelato from Frost, made in the next zip code over? Um, yes.)

8. Would you do a dating show, and if so, what would it look like?

Uh, I think the answer is no, I wouldn’t do a dating show. They’re too--I don’t know. Boring? Shallow? ...Actually, you know what? Fuck it. Yes, I would. A completely blindfolded date between two people sitting at a table, and they’ve been matched up because they share at least 5 traits--and then they’re required to talk about anything but those things so they learn each other more as people. Screw hiking and dancing and movies, talk about your strong opinions on umpires vs. computerized strike zones. If you can be interesting and interested through that, you’re starting out on the right foot.

9. What is a strange thing you collect?

I think my only weirdness might be this: I don’t collect anything. I don’t have that--thing in my brain. I’m not minimalistically avoiding stuff, it’s just that I like a lot of different stuff.

10. If you could afford it, what is the one big-ticket item you would walk right out the door and buy right now? Ha! Um. Retirement? Berkshire Hathaway stock? Pretty much I’m content with all the regular stuff I have, and the stuff that I want I can afford, I just don’t want to spend the money on it just yet--like, I want to get my yard landscaped, but I don’t feel like dropping the $2k or whatever it’ll be. But to be able to comfortably never work again? Yeah. That would be a treat.

11. If you redecorated your house, top to bottom, what would it look like?

It would look... roughly similar to how it looks now, it’s just that everything would be a little nicer. :)  But I like my rough hand-made saltillo tile, and I like my low cool rooms; we’d just have a bit of a rejigger with lots of dark hardwood and jeweltoned rich fabric and a nicer kitchen full of stainless steel and tile (I have got to get rid of those awful laminate countertops, oh god), and I’d pay this local guy that my boss loves to make me a giant mesquite-wood dining table, sturdy and lovely. Mm. All doable and accessible, it’s just going to take me a little bit of time. Home ownership: a very expensive hobby.

[followtheukulele]

Bonito, MS - Brazil

Dear Friends,

I'm a little bit behind schedule with the posts, I'm still adapting to travel and write at the same time. As for now I'm basically just enjoying the trips without writing a single word =p

We are just back from Mexico and even though this was the first "official ukulele trip", the first sabbatical destination was actually a city called Bonito, a small paradise in the central west region in Brazil.

I wanted to share a couple of pictures and thoughts about it as it is a very interesting destination and was an awesome experience. I went there with a friend that was also on his sabbatical and, as a good consultant he is, he was craving for adrenaline and adventure, the kind of stuff I wouldn't do it by myself as will become clear below. The highlight of the trip was the Anhuma Abyss, a 72 meters rappel with a snorkeling/scuba diving at the bottom and snorkeling" at the amazing "Rio da Prata".

Where: Bonito, MS, Brazil

When: February 2017

Duration: Six Days

Day 1: Logistics

From Sao Paulo, one of the ways to go to Bonito - a tiny distant city located in the center of Brazil - is to fly to Campo Grande, the capital of Mato Grosso do Sul state. Campo Grande is a big city with ~800k Habitants and is exactly as we expected from a city that located in the "heart" of Latin America. It has very modern and beautiful areas with very humble/poor ones just around the corner. The heat is overwhelming, the food amazing (lots of meat) and the people nice and friendly. As we were not sure how good or bad the road to Bonito was, we stayed there for the night and had a blast eating a bazillion kilograms of meat in a restaurant called Vermelho Grill. Needless to say, we also had gigantic caipirinhas that made us suddenly "fit" for a quick look into the nightlife of our central west friends. After watching a very good live band show, filled with Brazilian songs from all different styles and a couple of Stellas, we went to sleep and prepare for the road.

Day 2: Arrangements and Training

The road to Bonito is surprisingly good despite many Speed Traps along it´s ~300Km, which are never quite a problem for myself, as I drive so slow that even my Grandmother complained about it once. The whole trip took about 4 hours, under a melting sun and an infinite soy farming landscape, with just a quick stop for lunch.The sun was so intense I recommend driving there really early in the morning, I had to cover my arm with an extra t-shirt, just so you understand how hot it was.

Getting there the scene was exactly what we expected, the whole city is basically the main avenue and the "attractions" were on private properties around the city, usually concentrated in a radius of ~40km of dirt roads. We got there around 2pm and used the afternoon to settle at our hostel (Che Lagarto - which we really enjoyed) and to buy the attractions we wanted to visit at an agency (it has to be necessarily booked through an agency and apparently the prices are all fixed, so there's no meaning in trying to negotiate or visiting more than one agency for bargain). For lunch, we had "Pastel de Jacaré" which is a very traditional Brazilian fried plate, kind of a Fogazza/Empanada, but filled with a local flavor - let's call it this way - that we had never eaten before: Alligator. It tasted just as chicken, nothing special or disgusting, the highlight actually was the other ones we tried, with jerked beef, cheese and banana (yes, banana, it really goes along with the fried cheese). After that, we went for the Rappel training/test needed to see if we were physically able to go down and afterward climb the Abyss. It was an indoor practice of about 8 meters, and even though I was worried about the athletic side of the accountant - which is usually as bad as the stereotype suggests - it was fun and seemed pretty doable at the time. The day ended with a nice fish called "Piraputanga" for dinner with a much needed cold beer.

Day 3: Rio da Prata The first activity we booked was the classic floating at the river "Rio da Prata", which is a paradise for snorkeling, the water is as clear as in an aquarium and you don't have to swim at all if you don't want to, as the flow will take you all the way down the river. It´s located on a private property that has all the touristic infrastructure you could ask for: there are plenty of bathroom, showers, gift stores, hammocks, a "home made" food restaurant and friendly staff. I'm not going to bother to describe much about the flotation, as the pictures speak for themselves, but just to give a quick briefing you start by receiving your previously cleaned equipment - snorkel, mask, and neoprene suit - and you cannot use any sunblock or lotions at all to preserve the river. After that they put you in an adapted truck to take you almost into the river, from there you walk for about 10 minutes in a very clean, open and easy trail within the local "jungle". That's it, almost effortlessly you appear by the riverside and start the snorkeling at this paradise, full of fearless fish that swim right at you in shoals. After that we went for a quick horseback riding, which was pretty calm and relaxing, the property is beautiful and we bathed in sunblock before going in order not to compromise the next days with sunburns (it was probably around 30 celsius or more...)

Day 4: The Abyss

For the challenging day, you wake up really early and go directly to the property where the Abyss is located. Getting there you are received by the staff preparing and equipping some people before briefing them to go down. I remember getting there and seeing this girl with probably the same look on her face as I had in mine: that why-on-earth did I pay all that money to do this (it's really expensive around 350usd)...

After waiting for about 40 minutes or so, it was our time, so they geared us up and placed our backs to this small opening in the rock, tourists go always in two, side by side. I was so scared of having just that tiny rope holding me up from a 72 meters fall, that I was holding the break so firmly that the descent was at the amazing speed of like 10cm per hour. After the first minutes, I had relaxed enough to let it go faster, but not enough to look down, as my friend wanted me to do (after passing the narrow entrance, the Abyss completely opens up in all it´s magnificent void). Finally, after half way down he finally convinced me, I looked down, and man, what a mistake that was. The rest of the way I was either looking firmly straight ahead or with closed eyes, I'm not ashamed to admit it as it´s hard to grasp how big and impressive that thing is. Anyway, at the bottom, you reach a wood platform made to hold whoever is there, as the abyss is filled with water. Very clean water, by the way, which is hard to believe when you see it from outside, but once you go snorkeling or scuba diving in it, it´s amazingly transparent and not surprisingly cold. The bottom of the lake holds these rare structures called "cones" which are huge and are almost 20 meters high (the lake is pretty deep, some parts of it reach impressive 80 meters of depth).

Cool, so the status was - going down: check; swimming around: check; little boat expedition with the guide explaining stuff: check; now it was time to go up and there's something curious about it. Not sure if it´s the feeling of getting out or the fact that you have to do quite an exercise to go up, but the result is that it's not as frightening to do it as it is to come down. In theory, all your strength should be concentrated in your legs and is not that hard... unless you forget everything you've learned from the training and do the movement all wrong, holding your body weight in your arms. Well, guess which one the accountant here did? I had to stop for a minute several times along the way and at the top my arms were killing me. Anyways, we went up pretty fast for tourists and beat all the other guys that were with us. I don't say that with proud as I couldn't care less about the competition, just wanted to get it done fast, but my friend is really competitive and wanted to go up in 15 minutes. We did in about 20-25 minutes, the average was 40min for tourists that day, some even needed help from the staff to finish the climbing. What is impressive is that the staff can go up in more or less 5 minutes, pretty humiliating to see them go up as if they were taking a walk in the mall.

This was one of the unforgettable moments of my life, scary but pretty cool and I totally recommend to whoever is plans to visit Bonito. As for the price, I don't feel that it delivers all that it costs, but if you´re already there, you have this one time chance to do it, so don't be cheap and do it (if you´re fit for it and do not have a fear of heights).

Day 5: Seven Waterfalls

A pretty chilled day visiting a property that has 7 waterfalls, in which most of them you can swim and relax, although there´s a zip-line in one of them and you can jump to the water from 7 meters high. All in all, it was pretty cool and of the lakes had these Thailand alike fish that stick to your feet and eat the dead cells from it. Pretty weird feeling as it doesn't hurt, it just tickles a little bit. After that we went to another place that had these famous "Boia-Cross" thing, where they put you in a buoy of some kind and you go all the way down the river, passing by some minor bumps, which are pretty cool. It´s a family thing, no adrenalin, really easy and it feels good to do it during another 30 degrees day.

Day 6: Gruta Azul and the road again

Time to go home, but before that, we stopped at the "Gruta Azul" which is a cave with a blue lake at the bottom. It´s pretty fast to get there, you just have to go down some steps (around 70 if I recall correctly) and, unfortunately, you cannot dive in it. So it´s a very quick stop, but totally worth it, it´s cheap, painless and the place is really beautiful. Just make sure you take your insect repellent with you.

To sum it up, Bonito is an awesome destination for whoever enjoys nature and a simple life. But don't confuse that with a cheap travel, which is not, all the activities are paid and in the end, you'll have a surprise in your bank statement. Even so, I totally recommend it and think that 5 full days there should be enough to do most of the cool activities and seeing it all. I have an album on Facebook with more pictures, in case you are curious about it,

Hope you guys have liked it and plan to visit Bonito someday as well,

...see you in the next post: Mexico! 

Hasta la vista, guys.