This was our Christmas dinner this year.
Domino's Pizza . They are everywhere.
Boxing day we walked down to the market centre and bought a leather backpack
that I had been looking at.
The other day he started at $1900. and dropped to $1700.
Today he started at $1600. and I got it for $1400.
I was happy with the price and the quality is top notch.
After that we went to this nice restaurant the leather guy suggested we have breakfast at.
Air conditioned and very nice.
After we left Ruth saw a church she thought we should check out.
The interior was beautiful.
It must take a long time to paint a ceiling with this much detail.
The courtyard and mance looked like a place I would want to live.
Back home we invited Chris and Brenda along with Patrica and her sister Terry for dinner.
I love the smell of onions and garlic cooking.
I put this on about 3 minutes before they arrived .
We've had a nice time getting to know them.
It's nice hanging out with this bunch.
It didn't take long to build a Chicken Kung Pao dinner.
One of my favourites for company.
Oscar our tour guide from the coffee plantation tour hooked us up on this tour.
Ruth found it on the internet and being an avid plant person she thought it would be interesting.
I was not as keen on going but am I ever glad I did.
Likely one of the best tours we've ever gone on.
It was about 60 Mexican minutes up into the mountains.
Once we arrived we were greeted with this assortment of fresh fruits grown on the property .
We also received a breakfast of freshly made quesadilla"s made in front of us.
Fresh coffee as well as a fruit drink sweetened with honey from the property bees.
So Nice. Worth the trip alone.
I love how everyone cooks outside on these wood burning stoves.
After breakfast I thought I should go to the washroom before our hiking tour.
This is the entrance to the men's washroom.
So once I got inside I wasn't 100% sure it this was a sink or a trough for the men to pee in.
Just to be safe I used the toilet.
Imagine the embarrassment if it was really a sink
and someone walked in half way thru your business.
Haha
Or worse and it's the toilet and you gt caught with that tap turned on
while washing your hands and face in it,
Haha
Here is the owner explaining our route we're about to take.
This has been his last 15 year project.
Six hundred acres and he's planted thousands of plants.
He says he's about one third done and if you're an atheist when you arrive ,
you'll be a believer when you leave.
He's doing this for God.
The sign at the entrance.
The majority of the walk thru his jungle was on this beautiful sidewalk.
It was a jungle. Very beautiful.
I lifted a few pictures off of a new friends Facebook.
This was in the valley of the property.
It's interesting how everything is built from materials grown on the property.
These flowers are such vibrant colours.
We walked slow taking everything in.
I could easily come back and do it all over again.
Everything grows so large here.
As those red flowers die they form a soft and beautiful fur before the seeds fall out.
It was soft and like patting a rabbit.
We needed to have the names of these plants written down.
I took pictures of the names but somehow they all got jumbled when I loaded them into the computer.
Definitely nothing we see at home.
The size of the frees was like something seen in Jurassic Park.
Cool little meditation benches everywhere.
There was a swinging bridge built over a river.
It looked quite simple but did the job.
You needed your sea legs to get across .
I'm sure it wasn't up to any Canadian code.
The guy in the background didn't want to cross over.
I noticed that on the way back he picked his way across the river on all the flat stones.
The water is quite shallow right now.
There was a nice rest area once we crossed the bridge.
Complete with complimentary bug spray and lemonade.
He is in the process of building a picnic area with views all around.
It's interesting in how the legs of the tables are tree trunks and sunk into the ground.
Beautiful wood.
I think there must be a mill on the property .
The slabs that are the table tops are beautiful and unbelievably huge.
This piece is at least 4 inches thick.
There is a large peninsula branching out with the river on both sides,
This was the area that had samples of all the fruit trees growing on the property.
That's Ruth and I walking along the old roadway.
It is a gorgeous location in the middle of jungle.
Whatever this fern was made me feel like a dwarf.
It had to be 40 feet tall.
I'd like to pick a bouquet of these for Ruth.
Beautiful.
This tree had 3/4 inch spikes sticking out all the way up. Very sharp.
We were told this is the male .
The female had 10 times more spikes. I should have taken a picture of it as well.
Next part of the tour was to a mountain stream.
Again , Very beautiful.
We had to walk in about 1000 feet to see the waterfalls.
Not huge but very powerful.
We all put our bathing suites on and walked town the river to where the waterfall was.
There is a room behind the falls about the size of the average bathroom.
I managed to get in there with the direction of the owner of the property.
There was a small bench type ledge at the very back.
So cool.
I just now said to Ruth that while I was sitting on that little bench with the property owner
I was thinking to myself that they have earthquakes here.
She said she was having the same thoughts when she was in that space behind the falls.
That is Ruth dragging herself up to the waterfalls using a rope .
The current was so strong that the rope was needed to get up there.
This was the entrance to the channel we took to get to the falls.
I wish my phone/camera was waterproof.
There were so many unbelievable pictures I could have taken but
chances of soaking my phone was too great.
After our swim Ruth and I found a nice quiet spot on the river banks to sit and visit.
Our guide Tomaz joined us and was telling stories.
Nice guy.
We enjoyed having him as our guide today.
On his off season he is a farmer.
He goes back into the mountains and farms his grandfathers property .
They only grow enough for the family to live on year to year.
If they didn't work the property it would be taken back by the government.
This is what all the brothers , sisters and cousins do every year to survive.
We don't realize how soft and easy our lives are.
It's been a another great day.
Such a nice place. We both had a wonderful time today.
After the Falls we went back to the main meeting area and had lunch.
These women made a tasty lunch which was included in the tour.
I'm amazed at how they can feed so many and make it look so easy.
I had chicken and Ruth had fish.
One last picture with Tomaz.
Ruth had a nice picture taken with the owner.
It's a beautiful garden.
It was a wonderful day.
All of this including the ride into the mountains for $1000. each.(Pesos)
