River Crossing

 Similar to yesterday's start, we stopped at a village to watch the morning routines of the people.  Trucks carrying workers share the road with horse drawn wagons, motorcycles, bicycles, and people on foot.  We walked by a school where preparations were being made for the celebration of Jose Marti's birthday the following day.  White busts of Marti were scattered all over this region and served as lawn art.  After briefly watching the children we continued on our walk alongside the river.

To reach the far shore of the river, we broke into two groups to sit in a covered wagon being pulled by a very reluctant horse into the stream.  Our guides resorted to pushing the cart so we could finish our river crossing.  On the other side we wondered down a path taken by locals on their daily routine.  We watched a couple of women doing their laundry in the very clear water of the river.  We also passed by a school where children were engage in soccer practice drills.  

Continuing on we stopped and 'talked' to a group of men, one of which we would visit on our way back down the river.  We took a small path back to his house where his family welcomed us in for coffee and photos.  Their kitchen was a fire outside the structure where they could cook their meals.  While very basic, their obvious pride in their home meant it was kept clean and swept.  One son seemed to have developmental issues but happily took one of our group's camera and made portraits of many of us.  He really had and eye.

While not quite as adventurous as crossing in the river by horse, our return trip held its share of challenges for our group.  The first was a pair of logs, not exactly of the same size, that were laid over a dried gully.  While I managed a slow crossing, many of our group opted for a trip into the gully and out the other side.  A few minutes later we had a suspension bridge to cross.  While easier than the logs, boards were missing along the way which made the trek a little difficult.  We all made it in the end and boarded the van for our return to our house.  

After having a little time to prepare, we had our first critique of the trip.  We each submitted 10-12 images for our group to see. Ira offered suggestions to improve our work while we each got to see how we all saw the same situation a little differently.

As mentioned before, our first course for dinner tonight was the small fish that were caught on our river excursion.  They were actually quite tasty although I can't say I would purposefully seek them out.  

Tomorrow: 24