Lake Caryu Outpost, Kaokoa National Park.
Everyone silently observed the majestic creature that appeared in front of them.
Theo and the others had bewildered expressions as they saw the Sea Lion with their own eyes. They had seen pictures of the animal before, but no picture could make justice to the majesty that the Sea Lion provoked.
The enormous blue lion slowly walked from the forest toward the lake, his steps were so light that they couldn't hear any sound from his movements.
The lion slowly arrived at the lake shore, and sniffed around, before he entered the lake as if it was the most normal thing.
Theo and the others observed the Sea Lion as the animal slowly entered the lake and disappeared from their view, and it was only then that they started talking excitedly about what they just saw.
"Oh, my god!"
"Is that a Sea Lion?"
"Obviously, it is!"
"I saw pictures of it in textbooks and on the internet, but seeing with my own eyes I can say with certainty that the Sea Lion is the most majestic animal I have ever seen."
"Now I understand why everyone's so crazy with the Sea Lion!"
"Did any of you manage to take pictures of it?"
"I did!"
"Let me see!"
Just like that, they couldn't help but comment and discuss what they just saw with enthusiasm.
It was only after a while that they heard Lara's voice, "You guys are extremely lucky!"
The other guides nodded in agreement when they heard Lara's words.
"Why?" June asked curiously.
The others were equally curious to know why they were lucky.
"The Sea Lion is an incredibly elusive and rare animal. This means that the chances of meeting one of them in nature are incredibly small even in their natural habitat. Here in the Kaokoa National Park, one of his natural habitats, the number of sights of the Sea Lion per year is no more than 5. This means that in the whole year, humans are only able to see the Sea Lion no more than 5 times!"
"Do you guys know how many tourists visit the park during the year? Thousands and thousands! And we can only see the Sea Lion 5 times!"
"Myself included, I was only able to see the Sea Lion on two other occasions," Lara explained.
Theo and the others were shocked when they heard Lara's explanation, they had no idea that the Sea Lion was so elusive!
Now with this explanation, they indeed felt extremely lucky!
There has only been a couple of hours before they had entered the park and they had managed to see the elusive Sea Lion!
"I didn't know we were so lucky."
"You guys should thank me."
"Why?"
"Because I'm the lucky one!"
"Huh? I think you're the shameless one instead!"
Everyone laughed happily as they commemorated seeing the Sea Lion.
"Why the Sea Lion is so elusive, Lara?" Ayia asked curiously.
"That's because Sea Lions prefer to live underwater, they hunt their food underwater, and they only come to land on rare occasions." Lara explained, "For example, this Sea Lion that we had just seen, he entered the Lake today, and, likely, he will not come out any time soon. Probably he will follow the river into the sea and hunt for food at the sea."
Only now they understood why it was called Sea Lion, it was because it spent most of its time underwater.
"Now, we'll probably not see anything interesting anymore, how about we continue our expedition?" Lara suggested.
"Yes!"
"It has barely been a couple of hours, and this trip has already proved to be the best!"
"I can't wait to explore the forest even more!"
Just like that, a few minutes later, the fleet of offroad vehicles left the outpost one by one.
They traveled through a trail that was parallel to one of the streams that feed the lake.
They were traveling upstream, and their destination was the waterfalls that formed along this stream.
The guides skillfully drove the jeeps through the uneven dirt roads for 20 minutes.
"We're arriving at our first waterfall. It is the smallest waterfall on the tour, with a height of 10 meters. But although it is the smallest, the calm waters provide a perfect place for jumping and swimming in the water." The guides in every car informed them.
When they heard that, they couldn't wait to see the waterfall.
"But what about animals?" One of them asked.
"You guys don't have to worry, the animals usually gather around the lake. And even if an animal approaches, the guides will be able to warn you all."
Just like that, soon after, the jeeps stopped, and when everyone left the jeeps, they were able to hear the sound of water falling from a height.
Everyone had the same thought when they heard that, 'Waterfall!'
As the trail was right next to the stream, they didn't have to walk for long before they arrived at the waterfall with the guides taking care of the group's safety.
Their eyes shone when they saw the waterfall.
Differently from the black lake waters, the stream's water was crystalline clean, which made them much more comfortable to swim in it.
Just like the guides informed them, the waterfall wasn't that big, but the pond that formed beneath the waterfall was calm and perfect for them to jump in it!
But before they could jump into the water, the guides did a recon around the place to see if there was any animal hidden around.
After the guides scared the animals that were near the stream away, they employed some tactics to keep the animals away for a while. This way the group would be able to swim around without any safety issues.
A few minutes later, Lara gave them the green light for them to jump into the water.
And without wasting much time, Theo and the others put on their swimsuits and jumped into the water.
Nanth and a few hotel employees that came with the group would take care of their stuff and take care of any requests they may have. While Lara and the other guides would guard the perimeter around the stream. All of that is for Theo and others to have fun at the waterfall.
And they didn't waste the opportunity.
The group of friends all jumped onto the pond and swam towards the waterfall with excitement.
They wanted to feel the water falling on them!
As this waterfall was small, they didn't face many problems as they climbed onto the rocks to feel the water falling on them.
They all had smiles on their faces as they stood beneath the waterfall.
They wondered if their showers back at their houses could be this good.
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