Orchids, waterfalls and more snakes!

Things have been busy here in Chepo.  We had a visit from Peace Corps friends, then the annual Orchid Festival in Las Minas, and finally a week-long visit from 24 Peace Corps volunteers who did training here in our town.  We are just now getting enough time to get back to the blog.  This time we have our own snake story to tell (we survived!).

A couple of weeks ago we had a visit from Ashley and Simone, two women who completed their two years of being PC volunteers, and are doing an extra year here in Panama.  Ashley did her first two years in Paraguay, Simone in Panama.  Their first day in Chepo included a hike up to the Alto del Higo, our nearby mountain.  Unfortunately the rain arrived at the top before we did, so we got the view of the inside of a cloud.

Ashley and Simone on the hill behind our house, before the rain came.

The next day, however, was unusually clear as we set out to go to our favorite waterfall a couple of hours away.  We could see the Pacific as we left Chepo, heading for the town of El Corotú.  

 Islas Cebaco and Gobernadora

In El Corotú we added three cousins to our group.  They had been asking us when we would return to the waterfall so that they could go with us.  It was Sunday morning and they were all dressed to go to catechism at the Catholic Church, but their mother gave them permission to play hooky and go with us.

We headed down the steep hill towards the falls.  At the last house before the waterfall we saw these pigs asleep in the yard.  We also picked up a fourth cousin.

At last we arrived at the waterfall.  There was one pool directly below the falls, and another further down.  We all had a great time swimming and jumping off rocks.

Soraida, Ashley, Simone, Yariela, Norisbel, Mileidis, and Heather

On the way back up the hill the pigs were still asleep, but with a different dog this time.

Simone and Ashley departed, and we were left to arrange housing for the 24 PC volunteers and two leaders.  That took quite a while as a few families changed their minds and we had to look for more places to put people.  Eventually all was set, 19 families for 26 people, and we headed to the shore for one night to relax before the group came.

There were lots of pelicans at the shore.  I guess a school of fish was nearby. We were able to catch a few diving into the water.  They really hit the water hard!

At bottom left a pelican hits the water

Then it was back to Chepo to make the final preparations for the group visit, including a few more housing changes. The annual orchid festival was that weekend, so we hit that for a few hours.  The orchids were as spectacular as they were last year.

Tipico hats were also on sale

On Sunday, everyone arrived.  The bus was an hour and a half late, as a storm had downed several trees on the road to Chepo.  Everyone waited patiently for their guests, and soon we had everyone in their houses.  The people of Chepo gave them a very warm welcome, and made every effort to make them feel at home.  One family had a two bedroom house, and all four of them slept in one room to accommodate their guest.  Both the guests and host families told us over and over what a good time they were having with each other.  There were no complaints!!  We were relieved.

On Monday morning it was off to the Bailey house for some stove making.  We started with theory, and then made bricks and wooden molds in the morning.  In the afternoon we assembled stoves in two nearby houses.

Other activities included planting coffee in the school grounds and making terraces at the house of our neighbor Polin.

At the school we found this amazing praying mantis.  It looked exactly like dead leaves, but it really is alive.

We also saw our neighbor with an unusual way to bring his horse back after it got away!

Wednesday afternoon was the time allotted for the hike up to the Alto del Higo.  A fine rain started as we set off to climb, and it turned into a downpour as we reached the top.  It was a good character-building experience as we picked our way down the trail, which had become a river of liquid mud.  The four local kids who had joined us hopped down the trail as if this were normal for them, which of course it was.  Even they slipped and fell over at times.

Heather led the way down, and Steve brought up the rear.  As he was nearing the end, he found two or three people waiting to warn him that there was an equis (fer-de-lance, very poisonous) snake by the side of the trail.  It was difficult to see at first, but there it was, coiled up by the side of the trail, only a foot or so from where people had walked by.  It's head was facing away from the trail, but it could have struck in any direction.  Luckily they are not aggressive snakes.  They generally will not strike unless you step on them (or try to kill them with a machete!).  Steve and his group gave the snake a wide berth, and everyone passed safely.  Heather was pretty surprised to find out that she had walked right past it without knowing!

This is the snake eight people walked by without seeing!

Of course we had to tell everyone in town about our snake story, which generated more snake stories in return.  The best one was about a person who killed an equis with a machete.  He knew that he couldn't chop it in half without the danger of the half snake biting him, so he cut it right behind the head, which flew up into the air.  When he got home, his wife asked him what was on the back of his hat brim.  They found that the snake head, in its final gasp, had sunk its teeth right through the hat brim and was still attached.  It's a good thing he was wearing a hat!

(Note to self: Wear a hat when chopping off the heads of poisonous snakes with a machete!)

The group left on Saturday morning.  It had been a lot of work, but the activities all went smoothly and we were glad to have hosted the group here. We had fun!  We have already heard of many families who have invited people back to visit.  I think several of them will come back to see their new friends in Chepo.

We will slip off into the sunset for another week or two.  If you look closely you can see the Pacific Ocean below the clouds.

Steve and Heather