Three days ago we packed the last of our food and gear into our bulging canoes, and said goodbye our new friends in Monte Bello. We climbed into our canoes, and carefully steadied ourselves. We talked excitedly and paddled to the end of the block, to pick up Luceo and his 12 year old son, Luceo Jr., who would join us for the first two days of our journey.

The Luceo's led us out of town, and we soon entered a narrow, twisting, fast-moving channel that shot through the dense rainforest. We hooted and hollered nervously as we sped down the channel. The channel ended as quickly as it had begun, and we washed out onto a small lake.

After several more hours, we reached the Pacaya River, and almost instantly began seeing and hearing all sorts of interesting plants and animals. Howler Monkeys bellowed in the distance. Macaws soared over head. Pink River Dolphins startled us as they rose to the surface to check out their newest visitors.

Patrick and I decided to return the dolphin's curious greeting by jumping in. As soon as we entered the water several dolphins leapt from the water. They all became really excited. We floated down the river for several minutes surrounded by these amazing animals.

There is only one thing that could lower my spirits: illegal logging. We found evidence of illegal logging yesterday. It is frustrating to learn that people are harming such a precious place by cutting down huge trees. I hope we can help find a way to stop this from happening.

Every bend in the river reveals something new, and we can hardly wait to continue our journey down-river.

Keep Exploring!

Dave

For Monday's Daily Dilemma about how and when we should cook our dinner, many of you sent great responses. Lots of students said that we should cook under the mosquito nets. We also had some interesting suggestions about building a fire in the bottom of our wooden canoe to cook our food while we are traveling. Hmmm. . . I'm not sure that would work very well. I think that we are going to try stop earlier and cook our dinner before the mosquitoes come out in full-force. Great work, Student Explorers!