Blazing the Trail

This past weekend we decided to do some further work on a trail in our mountain preserve which connects one group of petroglyphs with another.  The petroglyphs are remnants of the pre-Columbian tribes.  They smeared some sort of mud mixture on boulders and made their drawings. More than 500 years later the drawings still survive.   One large petroglyph is in the deep jungle with no trail to it.  Our mission was to create and mark a connecting trail.  Steve had done some exploration in August, so we knew more or less where to put the trail.

Steve blazed the trail with his machete and Heather tied markers on the branches.

The next day we decided take another trip to the Alto del Higo, the highest spot in our province of Herrera.  They recently erected a new 100 ft high antenna, and we wanted to see the views from there.

On the way uphill, we passed an old fence tied together with vines.  It's still holding up well!

It's a long way down there!

From the top you can see our house (red arrow on the right)

You also get a good view of the Pacific.  Isla Cébaco is on the left.  At the far right you can see part of Lion Island and next to it, the much smaller Three Sisters.

On the way down we passed a HUGE anthill.  Luckily the leaf cutter ants that inhabit it aren't attracted to humans.

After we got home, the fish mobile drove by.  We bought red snapper for $2 a pound and some big shrimp.  The transport drove by and the driver stopped for some fish too.

That's a big fish!  We bought smaller ones.

Recently many of the local townspeople finished a course in sewing.  They learned how to make patterns and sew clothing for children.  Those who completed the course received brand new sewing machines.

Last week we walked to a nearby village with our teacher friend Ormelis.  Here are a couple of pictures from the trip.

Heather wanted to take one of these home!

This parrot was captured from the wild

Another day we went to a student's house in a small village to celebrate her birthday.  We took along teacher Ormelis and a student Luis, who boards at Chepo and is from the city.  He was posing for a picture with a pig.  The pig made a sudden motion, and Luis took off like a rocket!

The city boy meets his match in the campo.

That's it for this week!  Please send us an email with how you are doing.  We love hearing from you all.