Monday, April 2, 2012

Mombacho Revealed!!!


Royalti. Yesterday the Take Flight group and I woke up with excitement because Sunday was the day we were going up the Mombacho volcano to take a hike around the crater and canopy in the trees (zip line)!!!!!!! Before we set on our journey, the owner of the hotel told us about some legends about the jungle. There was a village of indigenous people who lived on the mountain, but there was a cave in that killed many of them. And the legend is if we took pictures in a certain cave in the volcano, images of people who weren’t in our group would appear. There was another where it says if we tried to take fruit or animals out of the jungle, we would get lost and never find out way out!  On our way up the mountain we stopped by a coffee shop where Tr. Kate explained to us that it was actually a coffee plantation nearby so that was probably the best coffee we were going to get in Managua. Naturally all the boys sprung to get some.  During the hike around the crater we saw lots of greenery and even more bugs. A very interesting thing happened on this hike of ours. Tr. Anthony and MyKyah strayed from the group, later we find out that a friendly monkey tackled MyKyah and Tr. Anthony was freaking out while she remained very calm. I guess it had something to do with the monkey socks she was wearing that day...



MyKyah's Monkey


Sabine: The most exciting event of the day was the cloud forest tour.  There was a course of seven zip lines that we had an amazing time riding.  We were between twenty-five and thirteen meters in the air for each line.  Some of the line were horizontal and we rode the line from platform to platform.  Another was more of a swing that we were strapped to and swung across.  That particular one was a surprise because the tour guide pushed us off of the platform as he was speaking so that we were shocked when we were suddenly dangling in mid air.  The grand finale was a thirteen meter repel down the side of the tree.  We trusted our lives to our tour guide named Eric.  Thank you Eric for not letting us die.  We appreciate that.  

Ziplining (or telephone pole repairing) here we come!




Ahmirah: While we were swinging around in the jungle, we saw a huge variety of plants, trees, and insects.  The bugs were so loud we could barely hear each other speak!  We saw epiphytes.  Epiphytes are plants that take root on the branches of trees.  There was a beautiful garden on the ground AND in the air.  When our peers were swinging and sliding in the air to the next platform, we each cheered them on and supported them. We had heavy gear on and wore hard helmets, which Tr. Lacey proved can still be pulled off. While we were getting ready to jump off for each zipline, the instructors just threw us all off expecting us to fend for ourselves. But overall, the zipline was fun and a great experience for everyone.



 
Charles: After the adventures on the mountain we went to a restaurant called Mi Viejo Ranchito. There we all had a Nicaraguan dish called Quesillos with plantains. The Quesillos were basically tortillas with cheese on top of it with some type of sauce on it. Sadly nobody really liked it, but the dessert was amazing. We had tres leche and flan de coco. The tres leche was a slice of cake soaked in milk with some sort of topping, and the flan de coco was like coconut custard.

***P.S. Tr. Rich, even though you are so many miles away it’s crazy how I still miss your crazy and sometimes mean comments. I miss not being able to mess with you inside and outside of class, and even not seeing your face and your bald head. And Royalti and Eamon say “hi” (Eamon says he’s kidding)

Sabine:  How are the Littlest Pet Shops behaving?***


Mystery During our last meeting we were trying to solve each other’s murder mysteries so I, Royalti, thought I’d share one mystery with you.

There was an old lady who started a diet against the recommendation of all her friends and family. She made pet owners in her neighborhood very nervous. No one knows why she ate the first one but she died by the time she ate the last one. What did she eat?



7 comments:

  1. Answer to the mystery:
    There was an old lady who swallowed a horse to catch a cow. She swallowed the cow to catch a goat. She swallowed the goat to catch the dog. She swallowed the dog to catch the cat. She swallowed the cat to catch the bird. She swallowed the bird to catch the spider that wiggled and wiggled and tickeld inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly I don't know why she swallowed the fly perhaps she'll die. (After the horse she died of course.)

    Just a guess.

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  2. WOW! What an amazing adventure that must have been for you all. I am so jealous...mostly about the monkey, again! (Bel, do you think you could sneak one of them in your suitcase to bring home? I'm sure Eli and Kitty would be happy to have a new friend in the house.)

    I also wanted to say thank you to Tr Kate, Tr Lacey and Tr Anthony for taking care of our children and helping give them these great experiences. You are such great role models and brave people to take this on.

    love to all

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  3. Good Morning Loganberry, These pictures are just amazing. I have to say I am also jealous and green with envy. Logan you know how much I love heights so I would've been right in front of you trying to get on that zipline. I am so glad you were able to take part in such an amazing adventure with all of your friends. As much as I don't want this to end for you I can't wait to see you. Love always Mom

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  4. Charles, glad you're representing our city and baseball team. Say "hey" to everyone (except Eamon) for me. Hopefully you'll find a monkey to knock you down pretty soon. Sabine, I hope the Little Pet Shops are ok; I forgot to leave them food or water.

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  5. I second the WOW! Beth. Now I want to try a zip line adventure.... you are all so brave.... I bet it was a blast. The hike looks so beautiful as well....Thank you Tr Kate, Tr Lacey, and Tr Anthony for being such wonderful guides for our loved ones. (Ind I know your having a great time and all but Cheeky and Rufus are really missing you)

    Enjoy the rest of your adventures Everyone....We'll see you real soon!
    Love you Ind ;)

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  6. Hello to all. Royalti, how could I have guessed that you were looking forward to the zip line & moutain hike. I want to thank the staff for doing such a wonderful job taking care of the children. I hope you all enjoyed the learning experience of helping others. That is a good life lesson.

    My co-workers are enjoying the pictures. Royalti enjoy yourself because Roydesha keeps wondering why you are in the pictures and not at home. I guess she misses her big sister like dad misses his....... dare I say your nick name. Love you, see you soon.

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  7. Monkey Magnets MomApril 3, 2012 at 10:06 AM

    Hi Tr. Anthony thank you for saving MyKyah from the most endearing monkey ever! (or was it the other way around...lol) :O) MyKyah, who knew you were such a "monkey magnet". Can't wait to hear all about that particular adventure, and I hope you're able to barter something with a cute little monkey on it to remind you of this experience. You all look absolutely adorable in your "telephone repair" outfits. I would have loved to see the "gardens in the sky" and the "ghosts in the caves"...I hope you took pictures of them. Tr. Lacey & Tr. Kate, thank you for this blog. We in the USA are really getting a kick out of it, and especially thank you (along with Tr. Anthony) for providing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity full of rich, valuable experiences, and for keeping our babies safe, happy, and busy! :O)

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