Blog archives for the day Saturday, January 7th, 2017

Starting this post off with a birthday shoutout to Anna, who turned 20 today on our trip!

With an early morning rise at 5:30 am, we all bundled up in warm wool blankets as we made our way over to the main lodge for some freshly brewed coffee as the sun started to kiss the morning mountain tops. Just as our second cups of joe started to kick in, the group headed out to hike up the trails around Mirador de Quetzals. With the intent to do a little bird watching the “tour” guides carried along pretty high tech binoculars and telescopes. The route of the trail focused around the hope to see a Quetzal Bird- a beautiful red, green and blue colored bird with an extremely long tail, whom is local to this area. Sure enough, between stopping at the waterfall and working our way back to the main lodge, we spotted one.

At an elevation of almost 9000 ft and after a 2 hour long hike/bird watch, the group slowly huffed their way back to the lodge for a home cooked breakfast and a third cup of coffee. It’s seems that at every meal we start the same conversation after the first bite: “Wow this is so good,” or “I am so surprised by how good the food is.” Thus far beans and rice, plus a little variation in additional sides, at every meal has continued to surpass our expectations. With an hour of free time between breakfast and exploring the bog we sat down on the porch to do a little journaling; this lasted about five minutes before being distracted by the humming birds. In front of us were around 20 humming birds allowing us to get close enough for them to perch on our hands as they drank nectar from the feeders. It was such a cool feeling to have the blue and green metallic bird flutter so close to us; as if human interaction was second nature to them.

After the break we hiked up to and across the road into a close by bog to explore the wildlife in this environment. The “fashionable” knee high hiking boots were a major necessity as we frolicked through the water and mud. While we did not see any critters, there where many tracks found along the muddy paths; specifically we found many tapir and dog tracks. We continued to explore the bog’s environment up until lunch. After lunch we packed up and started our journey to Armonia Ambiental. While the rickety drive up the mountain was remotely terrifying, as it was just barely enough room for one car, we arrived at the very last house on the road. The view was breathtaking. We found ourselves in the mists of the clouds surrounded by the beautiful vegetative mountain side. At 6:00 pm the sky began to darken and the clouds settled in around us in the open widows of the dining room. By this time we were settled into our cabins, fully satisfied with the delicious, fresh-picked and home cooked meal, and sat down to meet with Dona Noire.

Dona Noire is the women in charge of the running the “hotel” at Armonia Abiental. They started this “hotel” around the same time as the family switched their farming practices to being solely organic. Prior to the transformation Dona Noire’s family farm sold three products; now they grow and produce 111 products. All of which do not use harmful pesticides or chemicals; rather, the family uses a homemade pesticide concocted of garlic and hot chili peppers. The motivation to switch their farming lifestyle was to be able to live a happier, healthier life. Dona Noire shows extreme passion for her career and true happiness when it comes to her family. Additionally, we meet her husband Orlando, two sons Nelson and Dario, and daughter Deily, all of whom help out on the farm and have been a major support in Dona Noire’s passion for starting her business.

We ended the night playing card games and star gazing before settling into bed.

By Meghan

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