We’re all doing fine, but we are busy. We had two hikes today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. We split the group in two each time. Abel, an animated and very knowledgeable, guide whom we’ve worked with 8 years was with one group, and Dr. Peter Lahanas was with the other. In the afternoon, we also had a field exercise in making observations, asking questions and developing ideas into studies.
Tomorrow, a majority of the group will go on a long 3 and ½ or 4 hour hike on the “Millennial Trail,” and we will likely get to an altitude of about 8,000 feet. (The upper two cabins we’re staying in are at about 7200 feet.) Those who don’t go on the hike will follow a substantial initiative of their own choosing. We will share all our experiences later in the day. Were staying in three separate cabins, one is a sort of base camp where we have lunch and dinner and the other two are a 15 minute walk up further into the cloud forest. Collectively, we saw 5 Quetzals today, four females and one male. It’s a spectacular bird that this area is famous for and it’s often hard to find. It’s also the namesake of the lodge that owns the cabins in which we are staying.
Sorry, no photos today or yesterday. We just don’t have the bandwidth to upload them. We’ll be staying in the cabins through Tuesday night. We will be doing some activities with the local farm community during the day on Tuesday and Wednesday. As the farms are around the small town of Guadalupe, I’ll try to find some time to get to a location where I can upload some photos. Students have been so involved with their surroundings, whether it be in the forest or the cabins, that I’ve been hard pressed to get new student blog entry. I expect, you’ll get one tomorrow.
Steve