Stroll to the Guv's Finca

Stroll to the Guv's Finca

Mike and I walked over to La Qhia and had breakfast then he went of to see Gloris, his 27 year old Panamania girlfriend. I trekked up the hill to Alto Piedre, less than five clicks but all uphill and not gentle inclines. On my way up I encountered Arturo riding a huge 800cc CanAm ATV. He told me he would be back shortly and suggested I drop by his cabin. I passed his cabin and turned around to return. The sun was out and it was a particularly warm day for Santa Fe. I exhausted my water and approached a Bugle Indian woman in her yard and asked her for more water and she graciously obliged me. About one quarter of the way back I met with Arturo on his way back up to his place. I hopped on the back of the ATV and we went back up.

The cabin is a test effort. Arturo has reforested six hectare, planted with fruited trees and trees designed to lure birds. The cabin has a kitchen/living area and a bedroom with a bath. Constructed of pressure treated pine it has more appeal than a block building but lacks a true earthy feel. The kitchen is equipped with a four burner stove with an oven, a microwave, a coffee maker and a full sized refrigerator. Arturo took me on a tour of the grounds, down a slope to an area with spectacular mountain views amidst the wonderful vegetation and showed me where he wanted to construct more cabins that he would be renting out for $50 a night. That is a hell of a deal. We continued down the hill and I saw the lake that he had built by running PVC down the slope from the spring. The lake had three thousand fresh water shrimp that grow to the size of lobsters, fresh water oysters the size of tea cup plates and koi.
We walked back up to the cabin and Arturo gave me a ride back to Santa Fe where he was going to take lunch. Not a lot of exercise there.

I popped over to my favorite lunch spot and had a massive meal of tender stewed beef , rice beans, cole slaw for $2.50. As I sat down, Mike came over and sat with me while I ate. We then headed over to the finca at which Mike lives. The finca is two and a half hectare, bordered on two sides by rivers and on the other sides by paved roads, it is both beautiful and easily accessible. Sections have been planted with seedlings to populate other lots. The house is a simple block structure with a couple of bedrooms, each with a bath, a small living area and a kitchen he never uses. Mike cooks simple meals outside.

We headed back to town past a group of tourists walking down the road. Mike offered a ride, one of the guys declined. The girls jumped at the opportunity and they all boarded the bed including the dog. After five hours of trekking, they were flushed from the heat. The final trek, on the road, with no shade was not missed, the ride was very welcome.

We dropped back in to Tierra Libre to play Abalone, a wonderful game, I'm sure you can find it online. The instructions are poorly written. Typical inscrutable translation from some Chinese language. We debated what the instructions meant and revised the game continually until we agreed on an interpretation of the instructions.

I called Carlos' wife who informed me that Carlos left my stuff in the office when he abandoned. Sure he did. Son of a bitch, goods are gone. Wrote an email to Carlos.

Read a book on magic. Marnix and Seneth watched a movie projected on wall, too loud, went to my room, too loud. They finally shut off movie. The walls don't go to the ceiling, the people came into the room next door and were really loud, their dog barked, the roosters went nuts. I did not have a good night's sleep. I was advised that Tierra Libre would be full on Sunday night and that I would need to seek alternate accommodation for one night. La Qhia had a room in the dorm. Mike invited me to stay at his house and I did.