10 July 2016
Every morning, Mario heads out before the rest of us – he
says he’s a fast walker & wants to make sure he gets there by 6am (we
usually get there at 6:30am) – which is fine with me because the hour-long hike
up the mountains is hard enough, I’m not trying to rush it. But he claims said
hike is only 1km & it takes him 25 minutes to get up there! Tatiana & I
told him there’s no way in hell it’s only a kilometer (just over half a mile)
& how on earth can it only take him 25 minutes to climb up & down 2
sheer cliffs in the mud?! But he swears that’s all it takes him. So Tatiana got
up early & tried to keep pace with him (which she wasn’t able to do), while
I stayed behind & waited for Luke.
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| Photographing a black solitaire |
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| Tawny-bellied hermit |
I was definitely nervous about leading him to the site,
as I’m not very good (or used to) navigating by landmarks. Plus, things like
big rock, bigger rock, fallen log, other fallen log, big tree, dead tree…they
all kind of look the same & it’s easy for me to get lost (which is why I’ve
been relying on Tatiana to lead the way each day – even though each time, I’m
making mental notes on the path & different landmarks). So I was really
nervous about leading Luke but feeling good that so far, I was doing well. I
passed this log & that boulder & this incline, until I realized I was
in a section of forest that didn’t look familiar (as odd as that sounds, since
it’s just a clutter of green & trees all around you). But fortunately I
didn’t lead us too far off the right path. We had about a 10 minute detour
& then I found the right trail (way to confuse the new guy!). Unbeknownst
to Mario, however, I had used my iPod’s pedometer to clock the distance to the
camp site. So minus the getting lost part, the hike took us 45 minutes (I guess
being nervous made me move a lot faster, which may account for why I got lost)
& turned out to be just over THREE kilometers form the station, not 1km.
Mario conceded the distance but emphasized that it wasn’t a competition…even
though he had to clarify that he reached the site in only 23 minutes today. ;P
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| Male Collared Inca hummingbird |
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| Male Collared Inca hummingbird |
I’ve finally run out of books to read (sorry, Melissa but
I won’t be returning the books I borrowed – they did not survive the conditions
– I can get you new ones!), so I’m just living off of podcasts right now. Which
is kind of good & bad. I love listening to the stories but have to admit
that the monotonous NPR voice does tend to put me to sleep. Hopefully what I
have will last the next 3 days, as I can’t download any new ones until I get
back to Cali. (Casi casi!!)
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| Russet-crowned warbler |
My knee is doing better. Still really bruised and stiff
both at the start & at the end of the day, but I am able to hike without a
walking stick (which is nice, as I find those things really cumbersome when
they get stuck in the mud or in the vines above my head). Though I still have
to be careful, as a misstep & the slightest twist in my knee sends shards
of pain through my leg…so still not 100%, but way better.
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| Sepia-brown wren |
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| Sepia-brown wren |
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my improvised
cooking here isn’t too bad. Mario asked me to make the lentil-veggie burgers
again. He seems to like them a lot; says that they’re the closest thing he has
to meat around here. So that’s good, I guess :) What I have really enjoyed
eating, though, are Tatiana’s arepas con queso (yup, Nick, we have squeaky
cheese that does not get refrigerated). They’re little fried patties of masa (essentially
corn flour) heaven that I normally only get to eat once a year when I visit New
Jersey & force Javier to make them for me (Thanks, Javy!). But sadly, we
have finally run out of cheese & butter, so no more arepas. :(
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| Angry Bird |
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