GOLDENAGE BUDGET TRAVELLERS EL CAPOMO WATERFALL

EL CAPOMO WATERFALL

GOLDENAGE BUDGET TRAVELLERS                  Article and photos   by John and Doreen Berg

A quiet Sunday morning, when we are not involved with Spanish

 lessons, Zumba or hiking, is an excellent opportunity for us to explore the Nayarit countryside.  Our destination was to locate a trail and to hike to El Capomo waterfalls. 

El Capomo is about a 45 minute drive north on Highway 200 from Los Ayala.  The small tidy pueblo features a new church (2015) and a picturesque square with numerous benches and flower beds.  The waterfall is located in the mountains a few kilometers outside of El Capomo.

Since I’d forgotten the directions to the trailhead and hadn’t completely read the trail directions, which as our day unfolded this “little” oversight on my part became a major problem!  Some group members might even suggest a disaster!

With local directions and much hand waving and pointing we were soon on the correct narrow rough road and all was not lost as coming upon a fork in the road I was fortunate to recall reading “go left”,  which proved to be the correct decision.  After experiencing

driving through three or four shallow river crossings we stopped before the last crossing as it looked a bit too rough and we were near our destination.  A farmer suggested we open a farm gate leading into a banana orchard and back our Nissan Xterra into the orchard, thus keeping the road open for other traffic. 

From our vehicle it was a short walk to the trailhead and our friend pointed out the path to ensure we were on the right trail.  Of interest was a fifty foot dam that supplied water to the many orchards, bean and tobacco crops surrounding El Capomo.

We followed the noticeable horse trail which crisscrossed the creek several times.  After the last crossing we trudged up a long steep hill before it finally levelled out.  At this point and with no falls in sight we were almost defeated and mumbling about turning back when three caballeros approached us.   They informed us we had missed the trail turnoff which was located at the base of the long steep slope!  They volunteered to follow us on their horses back down the steep grade to insure we took the right turnoff to reach the waterfalls, which we appreciated since we may have missed the path once again as it was not clearly visible. In other words, we did not need to climb the exhausting hill in the hot sun! 

We paid the price for not reading the trail directions!  Checking next day on the computer, the directions clearly stated “continue up the riverbed and do not hike up the steep grade on the trail”.  We certainly regretted the oversight as we burned a lot of needless energy hiking in the hot sun.

Once we reached the waterfalls’ base we clambered up the rock face to discover a beautiful crystal clear pool.  The cold water refreshed our overheated, sweat soaked bodies and decreased our

core body temperatures renewing our energy levels for the return hike to our vehicle.

Once back to Highway 200, we decided to continue on to Las Varas for a huge delicious lunch at Angelita’s Restaurant.

A tired, but content foursome concluded that visiting El Capomo waterfalls was a tiring but enjoyable experience!   Next time the excursion will be an easy hike!