The dark amplifies.

We planned to cook much more than we actually did in Merida but it was so easy and cheap to go out that we ended up doing it. Because we are outside of town here, it is a bit more of a project to grab a quick bite. So we dined in last night. Chris made pasta and we had bread and wine with it and during the meal we realized some essential items we failed to pick up--napkins to start the list.

After dinner, Chris snazzied up the blog with some select pics from the day and also a video. I have no idea how long that took because I went to bed and listened to the night noises for a while before falling asleep. They aren't terribly different from the daytime noises but the dark amplifies them. The trickling water we hear all day running into Lake Atitlan from above sounds like rain in the night and the cries the birds make to one another sound more desperate in the dark.

We spent the morning today at a nature reserve just across the road that was spectacular. In addition to a butterfly garden, there is also a trail up and around a waterfall. We took the long trail and my calves are remembering each step now but it was worth it to see monkeys being monkeys. We went several places in the Yucatan that promised monkeys and we never saw a single one, so we were skeptical when we saw the sign indicating a monkey habitat along the trail. But there they were. Chris and I were captivated and stayed put much longer than the Guatemalan school children who were there. It was hard to take our eyes off of them, and the reason I finally moved on was because I thought I might get a better look at them farther up the trail. Such was not the case, but we did take in some incredible views of the waterfall, passing over hammock bridges to get as near as we could.

As I mentioned, we took the long trail which was steep for my short legs and slippery in places. We had to pass through a creek at one point, which is harder on a mountain than it is in the flat of Illinois, but we got across with only one fall.

We spent quite a lot of time watching people on zip lines in the nature reserve and trying to decide if it was something we would do on another day... and I'm still deciding: stay tuned for more on that adventure.

This afternoon we went into town for a visit to the real market. I approached with trepidation--the market in Merida is to date the most disgusting place I have ever been in my life--but this was a thousand times cleaner and we stocked up on fruits and vegetables which were in great abundance. We were hoping for fish and after some industrious hand-gesture Spanish on Chris's part learned we must get to the market much earlier in the day for that, which means pasta again this evening and a trip back to the market in the morning.