La Lomota

The big hill. Not to be confused with "la lomita," the little hill, or "la loma," the normal-sized hill. No sir, this was "La Lomota." And it had to be conquered. As with all of our adventures, we started off not really sure what we were getting ourselves into. All we knew was that there was a big hill and that we were going to climb it. We took a 20 minute bus ride outside of town to get to the starting point.
Except when we got there and started taking the road upward, we weren't really sure if we were at the starting point or merely on the road that would lead us to the start of the starting point.
All would be revealed in due time. 

For now, all we knew was that we were climbing uphill, and it was steep. But it was also beautiful, with lots to keep our minds and eyes busy along the way. 

Above, I'm standing with a coffee plant, ad below are cocoa beans laid out to dry in the sun.  We also came across plenty of matas (trees) de mangos, avocado, and chinola. 
It's hard not to wander what it would be like to live up in this relatively isolated rocky jungle. Tranquilo o aburrido? One thing's for sure, it would be una vida aparte. 

We hiked uphill for a good 5 miles before finally coming across an area that leveled out with a nice little colmado nearby. We bought water and gatorade and recuperated our strength while deciding what to do next. Turns out, we had made it to the top of a hill, but not the right one. The actual lomota remained further down the path.  We'd come in from the wrong direction.  

Too tired to trek further, we decided to rent some motoconchos for the rest of the journey, which took us on a windy, uphill-downhill road past La Lomota and on into the town of Navarrete. 
Regardless of whether or not we ended up in the right place, we still ended up with a lovely hike and nice workout. Once again proving that its not the destination, its the journey.