Day 3

Hola, this is David, Thomas and Mae! We woke up this morning to a beautiful cloudy view of the volcanos. Breakfast was at 8 and we had rice and beans with eggs and toast, the jam was EXCEPTIONALLY exotic (we think it was pineapple.) Following breakfast Dr. Pinto led us on an ant hunt with machetes, alcohol, fire and sharp tools. We excavated four fungus gardens, two which had queens. While excavating the ant colonies Dr. Pinto promised that there will be blood. Fun fact: the ants can anchor to skin or fabric to the point of tearing. Lunch was filled with baked plantains, rice and shrimp, and mashed beans. For dessert we had goat milk wafers sandwiches with Mexican Carmel in the inside. The group was split into two. Half went to the the hot springs and the other half went to meet a pair of eccentric permaculturalists. The hot spring's group got into a 9 man land rover that crossed over rivers such as the Rio Negro. Once we got to the base camp, which was an elevation of 2400 ft, we hiked through the dense forest that was protected by the government. We went swimming with Pablo and ms.norton in the hot springs. It was raining  which cooled us down in the "pool." The other group endured the torrential rain pour and forged thigh high water levels to reach the camp, the location of the permaculturalists. While there, they learned about the sustainability of their lifestyle. Most of their building structures were constructed out of local materials that were environmentally friendly. After returning for dinner we worked in the lab settling the ant colonies and counting the colonies of bacteria on our Petri dishes. After a long day of strenuous activity it is time for bed.
~David, Thomas, and Mae