Globe Corner Blogs

When I returned to the 7-11, Stosh was just returning from getting the car fixed. He had met a local college student who spoke English. He was eager to help get the car fixed in return for a ride to Cascada Cola de Caballo, a local tourist destination that featuring hiking, waterfalls, and – yes – bungee jumping.

Cola de Caballo is Spanish for “Horse Tail” and describes a waterfall that sits above the forest canopy an hour outside of Monterrey. The place reads like Disneyland: families, resorts, stalls selling knick-knacks and food – all in a way that seemed utterly foreign and strange. The concept of taking a natural landscape and creating this kind of tourist attraction seemed odd to me; In America, we build roller coasters and ferris wheels for this kind of enjoyment. Nature is held in a forced state of pristine beauty, in reserves and national parks. Here, the peacocks were drinking piña coladas the size of my head, and a midget ticket-taker was sitting on a donkey.

Hypnagogia is the liminal state between wake and sleep when reality blurs into dream. The grind of the wheel and the dance between cultures and customs, toll booths and Stosh’s stress over the broken car – it was too much. Throw in midgets and I was ready to throw myself off of a cliff. Literally.

It was a rebirth. The newness of travel was beginning to wear off and the surroundings had begun to sink in. I fell backwards into the abyss and I heard myself scream and then all I could do was laugh and whoop and cry. All those sleep-state memories of wonder and worry were flung out beneath me onto the canopy floor and I awoke out of liminal wonder.

I shrugged off the sleep of disbelief. But Murphy wasn’t quite done with us; on the drive back to the hostel, the car broke down again.

See Part I

Read more: Mexico, Monterrey, Road Trips, Travel


Sarah M. is a writer and artist whose training in yoga and reiki inform her creative process. With a background in anthropology, existentialism, and the esoteric she seeks to understand the meaning of how humans connect (or disconnect) in the present moment. When she’s not seeking adventure abroad, she works with artists to help fulfill their vision - fundraising, overseeing production of public art works, and organizing concerts and festivals.

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