Finca continued...

So, at the old house of my dad there was a coconut tree, but they were little coconuts, the nut was about the same size as a hazelnut but with like 10 times more shell... Adam, my dad and I threw rocks to knock them down. And my dad, who is a pro nut cracker with a couple of rocks smashed them for the whole family. I forgot to write this in the previous post but... Before we left we were told we were going to be eating Cuy for lunch... Ok, so guess what Cuy is... no idea..... de nada ok... guinea pig! The guinea pig is an animal from the Andes, it is a traditional food here. So before we left to go shopping I helped my grandmother catch the gguinea pigs in there pens. They made tons of guinea pig noise and it was a little sad... but whatever, when in rome do as the romans do... So I had a bag full of five guinea pigs when we were done, my grandmother had to catch them becuase she didn't want us to eat pregnant guinea pigs... When we got back an employee of the farm was singing the fur off the dead guinea pigs. I asked how they were killed... but I've decided not to include this detail ;). So anyways Adam and I watched as they were cleaned and gutted, the skin is left on on. They are prepared in the oven, esentially poke a bunch of holes in the skin and add herbs as desired. During the process my dad told me that we were going to go to a spring which is where some of the water of the farm comes from. So we headed back up the hill. We climbed up to the canal and walked along it for awile... There were huundreds of spiders and webs across the trail. I probably finished the adventure with about ten different webs stuck in my hair and a couple of squished spiders. We crossed our boundery of our property and entered a cleft with the creek in it. We kinda lost the trail but continued on. The first obstical that we arrived at was a ravine. So, we jumped down and scrambled up the other side... it was filled with plants on the bottem and I thought that it was deeper than it was. It was really funny when my dad was like... Ales, you can walk there, you don't need to try and jump the whole thing. Later we headed alongside the river, after fighting the brambles we came to a 5 meter drop onto flat ground alongside of the river. We climbed down a little and jumped. Adam ended up leading and I must say that he proved to be a super guide. Next when our side of the creek ended we jumped across, but it was a difficult movement. The ground was sloped, so we climbed up, used a tree as suppoert and jumped across... It wasn't to hard for Adam and I but my dad definatly had some second thoughts... but he jumped and all was well. He really did well, considering that Adam probably picked some routes becuase they looked more fun... We jumped from side to side and progressed up the river. At one point I leaned on a tree only to find that it broke like a twig. It was obviously dead but I didn't expect a trunk the size of my leg to snap at th slightest touch. I almost fell into the water but narrowly avoided it... We definatly looked for ways to leave the ravine but all that there was on the sides were impenatrable brambles. As we continued on my dad pointed out the trail that we had somehow lost. Soon after we found a huge fallen tree in the way of our progress. Adam went first, as he crossed the creek he put his foot on a tree that was alive but had been squished by the humungous fallen tree. It broke under his foot but he made the jump to the other side. I was next Adam gave me a hand and I crossed without problems. My dad was third and as I helped him he put his foot on the same tree as Adam and it just snapped in half, but I pulled him to saftey. My dad continued up the creek while I followed Adam as he climbed up the slope a little ways. Adam looked at me with a odd kinda look and told me that he had an idea. The dead branches of this tree made a lattice of branches about 2 meters above the creek. He carefully ventured out and crossed to the other side. I was a little scared to follow, but i just had to do it, becuase it was so freaking cool! So I followed without incident. We got to the spring, which was almost completely dry, there was a concrete spring box and there was sufficient water in it. I'm not really sure what our purpose of being there was becuase we just kinda left and returned to our adventure. The return was uneventful except for a tree with massive white bellshaped flowers... and this tree is what scolopamine (the name probably isn't right) is made out of. It is a drug that is put on papers and passed out in the city. If you take the paper the drug will be on your hands, and later when you invariably inhale it you fall asleep. THe people will follow you and rob you. But anyways, we got back to find the Cuy was ready to eat! We sat down for lunch and were asked... tops or bottoms... the cuy is cut in half and served! Adam and I asked for bottoms becuase my dad told me it is better. First was soup, and after, the main attraction! Guinea pig! Adam and I dug in complete finger food, ripping apart the cuy to find the meet that is on it. Adam and I described the flavor as a cross between chicken and fish. But my mom said it was more like turkey. I really think it just tastes like cuy. So if you ever get the chance... dig in! After lunch it was time to harvest fruit to bring back to the house! First were the Avocados which are really fun to get. It was like a game for Adam and I... we had to look and find them hiding in the treetops, and then Adam or my dad would climb the trees and use a pole with a hook on it to pull the Avocados down. The trees were on a slope and the Avocados liked to run away... So my job was to chase the dang things as they rolled down the hill. There was only one problem... the barbed wire fence that was conviniently placed in the middle of my trail. I ended up silding inder it countless times as I chased the elusive avocado. The only damage that was done was that I ripped my favorite shirt one time as I was returning after securing my catch. We finished with a ton of avocados,right now in my house it is like eat! if you don't eat them they will go bad! After the avocados were the limes... but this was much less uneventful, just walking around and grabbing them from the trees. My mom and sister gathered manderines, oranges and another which is a mix between a lime and a manderine... it has the taste of the skin of an orange... but whatever. We got back in the car after saying goodbye to the family. The drive was uneventful except for a perfect view of Cayambe, another volcano. We returned Adam to his family and his mom was suprised at the empanadas, bread and fruit that she returned with...A good adventure!