Jungle Dive!

This is what happened when I jumped off a waterfall in the jungle.

My family and I took a boat across Lake Gatún, the lake that is used to fill up the Panama Canal. We arrived at a place called Jungleland, then kayaked to a small hiking spot inside the thick vegetation of Panama.

After we parked our kayaks, we hiked to a waterfall you could jump off off — and that's exactly what I did with my dad.

I felt butterflies in my stomach and my legs turned to jello as I climbed with my dad to the top of the waterfall. Before I tumbled down the slope to the water below because of my wobbly legs, I grabbed onto a vine and heaved myself up.

When it was my turn to jump, I couldn’t get my legs to stop shaking. Luckily, I was told to slide myself to the base of the waterfall. I stood up at the base and whispered “now or never!” I took a step back and leaped.

I did a pencil dive into the water, and once I touched it, my fear shattered and my head came bobbing up and down as I smiled at my parents.

The second time I did it, I had no fear and jumped off with a “whoo hoo !” as my dad filmed with his GoPro.

The third time I barely scraped my heel on the waterfall, but that didn’t stop me at all. I stayed underwater to wash my heel, and came up proud as ever.

It was so exciting, and it was an unforgettable experience.