20:30 Last night the rain was continuously pattering against the corrugated steel roofing, a quality and secure form compared to tropical roofing I have experienced before, and every so often the rain came down hard enough to wake me 2 or 3 times during the night. I also had some very odd dreams which seems to be a common thing people experience in the tropics.
This rain continued until around
10:00am, at which point I thought back to DL saying “I don’t think it will
rain, so you shouldn’t need many warm clothes” and also forward to the fact the
local plants as well as farmers were really dependant on it. On an English scale I would say the rain
wasn’t that bad, though it became randomly very misty in form (with a lot of
added wind) which I guess promotes the name “Cloud Forest” and yet at the same
time this was all rather pleasant.
I walked in the rain to Casa L, calling
“Upe!” (equivalent to knock-knock, a call to the house/property) to which no
one responded. Shortly DL appeared with
arms full of plants, and then we enjoyed some real coffee (from the
garden/personal stock of ML) as well as some Key Lime Pie, which is obviously
very American but was my first and I really like the stuff. This is especially true I think as it was
made with fresh limes from the garden, and we enjoyed it out on the back porch
or balcony area watching birds in the rain.
ML and I spoke for a short while before
we initiated a plant-o-rama where DL taught me a lot of useful information on
distinguishing plant families such as Ferns, Aeroids, Palms etc. as well as
some general botany. We started as if I
knew nothing and was the first discoverer of these “green things” and then I
ended up with detailed copious notes. I
found an interesting nymph of a green Katydid, and then we had some incredible
fresh lemon curd i.e. lemons from the garden also.
A local guy came over to look at my laptop, where in doing so taught me a little about taking them apart and minor repair information which I’m sure will come in handy sometime. He later decided he would take it away after we had an amazing Pakistani influenced beef curry dinner, followed by ice cream with rum and a bit more of that incredible lemon curd.
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| Juvenile Katydid (D.Philpot) |
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| Plant-O-Rama Practice (D.Philpot) |
A local guy came over to look at my laptop, where in doing so taught me a little about taking them apart and minor repair information which I’m sure will come in handy sometime. He later decided he would take it away after we had an amazing Pakistani influenced beef curry dinner, followed by ice cream with rum and a bit more of that incredible lemon curd.
Right before I headed off home to my
host family DL prepped me on the Cloud Forest area and the Monte Verde Cloud
Forest Reserve itself, and we soon said our goodbyes and I tackled the winds on
the walk back where I was greeted by my host families crazy dogs Chile, Oso and
the cat Martilla. On the way I saw this public sign that I quite liked - we need MUCH MORE of this in England
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| Practical Preservation (D.Philpot) |