Day 2: : Three Days in One

Well.  Most of us awoke to the sound of howler monkeys...howling. It was quite the experience to hear them hollering across the rainforest. Before breakfast, about a third of us took to the lush gardens, taking pictures every step. Breakfast was scrumtralescent. We are far from starving. And the best part? It's all healthy. It is a big leap forward from airplane goldfish crackers and an immense improvement from school...food(?).

All of us, cameras at the ready, set out on a rainforest hike right after breakfast, John Doleman on point.  Only a few people slipped into the creek, completely destroying collectively 4,000 dollars in cameras equipment. After that, the very respectable Pablo gave us a lecture on real Cacao, what chocolate is made from. He gave us some raw crushed cacao nibs, some real hot chocolate.  Afterwards we toured the farm learning about the inner workings of the plantation.  They operate very ecologically, and everything is organic.  Pablo also outlined the major impact the leaf cutter ants have on the plantation, costing them 10% of their profits.

After lunch of ceviche and rice we took a tour of the village, purchasing ice cream and standing in awe of a really huge tree with nests hanging from the branches.  When we came back we were introduced to Dr Pinto, divided into groups, and began a short experiment growing rainforest microbes.

After dinner and a birthday cake (tres leches) for Graham, we shuttled off to bed.  Between it all there was a lot of picture taking.  Oh, and the photography mishap at the river was a joke.  We will continue to be known as the group with all the cameras!