In the Sierra Nevada

It rained in buckets last night and the frogs came out in droves. Tree frogs, glass frogs, and huge jungle frogs as big as my head belching like bulls above the patter of the rain on the tin roof. I had to get a better look and felt like a kid again drenched wet in the rain with my headlamp surrounded by curious Kogi children. The other hikers and guide seem to have nicknamed me the "biologisto" since I keep dorking out so much along the way. Leaf cutter ants, toucans, indigenous farm plots, fig trees, and matapalos. I'm in my element here and I am a teacher after all. Darren and Babuette joke they have their own private guide and it makes me happy to pass on what I know.

Leaving in the morning its not long again before the shy cool of the night is chased away by the sticky wet heat. It is our third day of hiking and we're hoping to reach the ruins this afternoon to cut off an extra day of hiking. The rainy season has arrived and come afternoon the sky is falling as we've made it to the last place to camp. The river can flood and the steps are trecherously slick in the rain but I explored upriver to the first part anyway to pass the tedium of late afternoon . I'm so excited to see what awaits!

I snapped a shot of these Kogi children hiking today. This was the last Kogi settlement along the way. The view they had of the mountains was incredible. In the background you can see a huge fig tree. If you were closer you could see the tear drop shaped nest of oropendula birds too.