It Takes a Village... 7/2/15

Hola people! It is a sunny day on the island and Dante has been promising us a trip to the other side of the island so that we could visit the locals. The promise was that we would have quite the hike and boy were we in for it. The duration of the hike didn't take much time in the grand scheme of things but boy was the steepness another story. It seemed like we were either going straight up or straight down. Kona came along for the trip and she had more energy than the whole rest of us combined. She was running around and picking up the biggest sticks that she could fit in her mouth and then plummeting down the hill when we finally obliged and threw it. A couple of times it seemed like she was just acting as a running battering ram. The steaminess/humidity of the forest part and the pure exertion we were putting in had everyone thankful for the nice breeze at the top. After we reached the top we took a short break and head straight down (literally) to the village. At one point I heard a  scuffle and all of a sudden an Olivia was sliding at an alarming speed down the hill towards me!Thankfully she managed to skid to a stop and we didn't have a domino effect. We all got spaced out as we picked sure footing on the way down the hill. I have been conflicted as to whether these large things are huge hills or small mountains. If anyone knows anything about the terrain of Cayos Cochinos please email me or something.

We got down to the village and just let me show you some of her pictures:

Everyone was so nice. I had my film camera with me so these are all of Olivia's pictures (resident mother hen and photographer of the shenanigans). There was a really kind woman that we met who had just had her 5th baby on the island. When she had to take the baby to the mainland to have it's shots her 10 year old daughter stayed behind and took care of the other 3 kids, cooking and cleaning, and making sure everything was smooth and steady when her mom got back with the new baby. We saw lots of people who met us with big smiles and handshakes for some.

Dante gave us a short tour of the houses and showed us some stunning views. Thomas had brought a lot of candy with him and we had hiked it over the hill with the intention to give it to all of the school children. When we got to the kids we met shy faces from young kindergartners up to 12 year olds. They all in unison said, "Buenas dias" and then "gracias". We all walked around handing them candy and talking in broken spanglish to them. Soon we could see that they were forming a market for this candy. One of the kids tried to have everyone else put all their candy in the middle of the table and then divide it up evenly but many of the kids were not having it. One little boy would surreptitiously slide every piece of candy he got under the table and into his backpack before anyone noticed. We were told that many of them would take them home to their other siblings and the small amounts of Limpiras and American nickles would be given to their parents.

We also got to learn about the noni fruit which apparently tastes horrible but works wonders and has lots and lots of antioxidants.

  

We hung out for about an hour and then Dante headed off to talked someone into taking us over in the nicest and largest yellow boat that has been dubbed "the school bus". This boat went and picked up all of the kids from the surrounding islands and dropped them off in the evening. When he returned he also had a bag full of fresh and still alive lobsters (we have yet to see these lobsters appear on the table so we are thinking there was just enough for the staff)! We hopped on the boat with Kona and were off. It was really great to be able to see the other side of the island more and hear Dante talk about what was on each island. When we pulled up to the TBR dock a man with a giant camera was waiting for us. This guy's name was Chip and he would be joining us until Sunday to take pictures of us for NCF for promotional materials for the Summer Courses.

When we returned we had a good long break before we went out and basically just practiced taking pictures. We were assigned the task of finding 3 of each of the following: coral, sponges, and echinoderms. For many it was rough having one of your hands taken up with equipment as you finned along, but soon everyone had the hang of it and we came in. Our first "quiz" is to identify what we took pictures of with the common and the scientific name. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find some of the corals and sponges in the books because there are so many and a lot of them look super similar. After we finished everybody just kicked back and relaxed for the night. I stayed up later with Austin, Adam, and Olivia to try and see the spotted eagle rays.

I'm pooped!! Later!