We had a little holiday within our holiday when Tony, a former student of mine, came to visit. He left Düsseldorf a year ago and has since been all over, visiting countries such as Canada, India, New Zealand, Samoa, Guam to name but a few, and now Central America. We were delighted that our paths would cross, and decided to have a BBQ at Pasaj Cap in his honour. We picked him up at his hostel in the village, and after a quick coke and a catch up, we came home to start our feast. Diego the gardener had everything ready and we had bought steak and jumbo shrimps from Pierre earlier in preparation. The boys, being German, were delighted to have the chance to do a bit of 'grillen', and we eat and drank our fill, while Anu enjoyed her avocado sandwiches!
Around midnight we said goodnight, and Tony headed off into the dark to find his way back to the village. There were a few wrong turns and a climb over a gate, but he got there in the end!
The next day we met for breakfast before heading to Pana on the lancha, where we got a tuk tuk out to the nature reserve. The boys wanted to do the zip line and at the entrance the girl at the desk explained that there were two options, the cables x-tremos and the Ultra X-Tremos. Guess which one they went for! The one with flights of 800 metres!
As they were putting the equipment on, I asked the main guide, Waldo, if Anu and I could accompany them up the mountain to the start of their adventure. After our chat, I ended up being the unofficial translator for the group, which was Tony and Daniel, and three people from Nebraska. Once they were set up with harnesses, helmets and gloves, we set off on a 25 minute hike uphill, past waterfalls, monkeys and over 7 hanging bridges. We were all out of breath and exhausted by the time we reached the starting point. They set off, and I, with Anu attached, headed off exploring, taking a different path down. At one point, I heard screams of excitement and looked up to see Daniel flying by far above the trees.
It was raining lightly by the time we got back to the reception area, and I ordered a watermelon licuado, a type of smoothie, while I waited. Anu had a bit of a crawl around, we watched the hummingbirds fly in and out and before long, the group were making their way across a type of rope bridge back to base. Without a doubt, this experience was a highlight for them both. And I was more than a little jealous that I was on baby duty for this particular adventure. Although the reserve itself, with the views, the hike and all the animals, was great. By now it was 3, so we took a tuk tuk back, bought supplies and headed home for another BBQ. And had another fantastic evening.
The next day we hung out in the village until it was time for Tony to catch the shuttle bus to Antigua.
All in all, a very enjoyable few days!