Catching Quetzals

We started today nice and early, 5:00 am. Our host family was so kind and sent Rox and I off to the hike with freshly made guava juice, a type of corn bread, and little breakfast tacos to take for lunch. They even made us coffee and gave us some little breads. We started our hike around 5:30 and it was actually really nice to feel like cool morning air while going up that really steep hill. The hike was actually on a farmers land, he lead us on the hike. When we got to a little clearing in the middle of the woods Jonathan and our guide Evita told us to keep an eye out for the male Quetzal bird and described the way it flies through the air like a serpent gliding on the water. He told us that the Mayans and Aztecs were inspired the by Quetzal, they were sacred to them. He also told us that the male and female birds eat together and if we can see them when they have just eaten the little avocado it takes 20 minuets for them to digest it, and to throw up the seed before they move from were they have perched. Rox actually saw one of the birds throw up the seed of the avocado through the binoculars. The Quetzals were really amazing to see. After we saw the birds we ate our yummy lunch, thank you Hazel (our host mom)! Then we finished the hike off at the top of the property which was actually an empty lake. It was full when the farmer was younger but it started drying out after an earthquake. The last part of the hike was the hardest but it was really satisfying to get to the top. When we were coming down the hike we stopped and milked cows! That was an interesting experience, but I'm glad I did it, it was fun. When we got back we had cafecito time at the soccer field with the families and the young dreamers. After we played volleyball and soccer with everyone that wanted to it was mostly young dreamers and the younger kinds, Jonathan joined too. This day we said our farewells to the community. Im really glad that we got to meet them and interact with them how we did. It was a really amazing experience.