The Hike, part 2. Ok, Ok. I know I said I wasn{t going to do that again, but I was talked into it. I was promised a guide (aka 17 year old kid who said he had done it before) and was planning on bringing bug spray, which would improve things immensely. Plus, I was mentally prepared this time to endure simultaneously both pain and fear. Luckily, however, that was not necessary. This hike turned out to be wonderful. Yesterday we got up at 6am, sunscreened and bug sprayed-up, ate a hearty breakfast (or at least I did), and were ready to go by 7am. We met Lucho and Erin in the plaza, and made our way to the guide{s house. Unfortunately, when we got there, his mom said he had gotten in at 530am that morning and was drunk. Therefore, that dude would not be leading us up the mountain as planned. However, after some quick thinking, we walk over to another of Lucho{s friend{s houses and knock on the door. Lucho disappears into the house, and after a few minutes a very tired, confused-looking boy pops out, saying he{d be happy to take us. I was a bit doubtful, since he looked half asleep, was wearing short and street shoes without socks, and brought nothing with him, not even water!! But believe it or not, this kid knew what he was talking about. By the time we finally left it was 8, and we were on the top of the mountain looking across all of Charagua by 10!! It was amazing! And the best part was, I could actually walk up the mountain, I didn{t have to drag myself up by my incredibly weak arms! Apparently this trail (yeah, this time we actually went up a trail!!) was made by cows (I{m just guessing that by the ample cow patties in the way), so we only had to use the machete a couple of times. At the top we also saw a condor!!! Seriously!! It was the most amazing thing ever! It was right over our heads, as close as can be!! Just that alone made it worth it!! I{ll try to post some pictures as soon as I get to santa cruz. The only downer was the millions of tiny ticks covering your body the whole climb and decent, but luckily there{s no lyme disease and they come off in the shower pretty easily. Oh yeah, so add condor and tick to the animal list. And oh yeah, you can add turkey, too! There{s this turkey who keeps flying into the yard, then chilling in my garden the whole afternoon. Every now and then the neighbor dude will knock on my door, ask if the turkey is there, then go wrestle it into his arms and take it back home. It{s a crack up! And Oso does absolutely nothing. You{d think he{d want to chase it and eat it, but he just looks at it calmly. It{s weird!
Ok, that{s all for now. The winds are picking up here, so you can{t walk down the street without sand flying in your eyes and everywhere. But in a couple months it{ll die down!!