Shaky Legs

This day started like all the rest on the trip: shower, breakfast, and gearing up for another day of challenges. We experienced a slight change in location, as we took a 30-minute bus ride to Mala Skala, which is another rock formation close to where we were staying. My group’s first event was rock climbing and rappelling. This was my first attempting to climb a real rock, and my first time since 4^th grade at climbing anything. A lot has changed since then, and I made it up the first face methodically, but absolutely fine. I figured out I have issues when it comes to knowing where to go once I’m on the rock. Indecision regarding the path wrecks any rhythm to my climbing. It also wrecked my chance on the second face, which was a bit more difficult. About half way through I was stuck and didn’t know where to go, so my attempt was called. Nevertheless, I made progress and even have proof as you can see below:

Rappelling, on the other hand, went a lot more smoothly after just the little bit of prior experience I had now accumulated. I found it much easier to trust the thought that I was well supported and safe, and that I could in fact simply let myself fall off the face of the cliff. The rappel was really fun and allowed for some great views. The rock also started to curve in a bit towards the end, so for the last 1/3 of my descent I was in mock Navy Seal mode, as I was more ziplining down a rope rather than rappelling.

We then walked to lunch in the nearby town where we had another typical Czech meal: soup, meat (fried), and potatoes. Post lunch my group headed in a new direction towards some caves. At the caves another scavenger hunt of sorts was set up that involved us climbing up and down rocks, ladders, walking on nets, and of course exploring a few caves, most of which required us to be lying in the prone position just to be able to move. It was so much fun. This was what I always dreamed of doing when I was little. It was like my own Goonies movie.

That event brought to an end my “adventure” aspect of the trip, as the next morning we will be leaving for Prague, where I’ll be spending 2 days/1 night.