Ahoy-hoy!
Yesterday was our last full day in the cloud forest. We were given the whole day to work on each of our projects. My project involved filming a massive tree in great detail. It is a very fine tree, and I hope that you might all say hello to it one day. Before heading out to film, I enjoyed breakfast burritos with my cabin mates (none of the credit for cooking goes to me, though I did 
wash the plates). After spending quite a while wading through the dense vegetation surrounding my beloved tree, I headed over to lunch. We ate chicken and rice (quite a rare meal in this country), along with plantains, lentils, and yucca, all prepared by Señora Ramira. Following lunch, I continued to document my tree-friend, while others hiked to waterfalls and dove into the freezing cold pools of water. For dinner Señora Ramira served us chicken in rice (an important distinction). Following dinner, some of us played card games, while others (myself included) worked together to complete a crossword puzzle (as of today we are nearly finished with it). The power had gone out in the cabin we ate in so, when it got dark, we only had headlamps for light. While I was not one of them, many students stayed at the cabin for quite a while to play a heated game of Mafia. Later that night, Sabrina and I sat outside on our cabin’s porch in hopes of spotting an Ocelot, or perhaps a Kinkajou eating the banana chunks we had left out. Unfortunately, nothing came while we were awake.
This morning we left the cloud forest. I said goodbye to my beloved tree, and finally located my lost socks. I walked with others down to the same tractor-wagon, and we descended back into the town of Cerro Punta. In the morning we visited the home of Señora Ramira, which featured an impressive garden of raspberries, orchids, and countless cacti. There were also some pollos gruesos, two parakeets, and a parrot 
(Casey says it was a Conure, and I truly don’t know what to believe) that could talk, whistle, and even dance. We also visited her husband’s farm and asked him about his experience as a farmer and the agricultural business in Cerro Punta. We ate lunch at our hotel’s restaurant, and then had time to explore the town. There is one road (of the three or four in the whole town) that holds many small stands that sell clothes and food, and I looked into several of them. I also helped Sabrina purchase some twine, 
which proved to be quite an involved process. In the afternoon, many of us packed into a car to visit an area where many quetzals are sighted. We were lucky enough to spot one.
Tonight, we ate at a restaurant owned by Señora Ramira’s daughter. Everyone at my table ordered fried chicken, french fries (we are very adventurous) and blackberry juice. Later, some of us played foosball, ping pong, checkers, and chess in the hotel’s recreation room. As I write this blog post, there are two heated games of checkers taking place.
May you all be in good health and mind,
-Tommy