Boiling Lake Hike

Today Tyler and myself had the luxury to hike at the Boiling Lake.  This hike is considered very difficult by Jungle Bay degree of difficulty, and is roughly about 14 miles in length.  With this being my very first hike I was very nervous but figured I would test my boundaries.  We arrived at 9am and the weather couldn't have been anymore nicer.  It was sunny and around 90 degrees farenheit.  As we began, we encountered about 60 foot vines hanging from a tree which I couldn't help but swing from.  The hike started off pretty flat, but as we progressed there were many inclines and declines.  The path included many small steps which made it difficult for footing.  We crossed a few rives and the rocks we had to walk on were quite slippery because they were covered in algae.  As we trekked along, the heat just got greater and greater because you were hiking upwards closer to the sun with no trees to cover it.  We came across iron deposits and sulfur deposits (which appeared red and white in color respectively).  The sulfur mud left from the stream we were allowed to put on our face and arms (which we looked like warriors ready for battle).  The sulfur mud is believed to help cleanse the skin.  We finally reached our final destination of boiling lake, and after we had reached that point I felt a great sense of accomplishment.  Making to that top of the mountain, it gave you a sense that if you put your mind to it you can do anything in life.  Now it was difficult because I had to put the struggles to get to this point behind me because we had to hike back.  Good thing our tour guide "Oakley" had given me a walking stick to use because it took a lot of pressure of my knees which started to ache.  All in all the hike took us about 6 hours and 20 minutes to complete which with this being my first hike I felt was a great accomplishment.  The ride home however was quite interesting.  I lost my lunch a few times due to car sickness (which after a 14 mile hike I was already feeling like crap).  Note to self: take Dramamine when riding in the van here at Jungle Bay because there are quite a lot of SHARP turns and winding roads which doesn't sit well with the stomach).  Once we drove back to Jungle Bay, we stopped at a roadside food shop and once I saw a bag of Cheetos and a bottle of Coca-Cola I was in my glory.  I had to get my American fix of snack and this made all the aches and pains go away!

-Anthony