LSRHS: Media Arts

Every trip has its snags and we hit one when we arrived back at the main island port of Fajardo.  Two of the trip leaders went to get our rented vans while the rest of us waited at the ferry terminal.  The wait was longer than expected because one of the vans was infested with ants and we had to wait for a better van.  The kids made good use of their time with several of the boys playing impromptu music.  It turned out that we had to spend a good part of the day in Fajardo, but it was fine–we had lunch and found the local beach and met some people who had lived on the U.S. mainland.  Finally an adequate van was delivered and we started off on the next leg of the journey.  Our destination was Patillas, located in the south central highlands.  The drive was a bit harrowing with winding narrow mountain roads and a truck driver that got too close while we were negotiating a curve.  That was scary with a 500 foot drop to our right, but fortunately our drivers stayed calm and so did the passengers!

The homestead of Tropic Ventures, Las Casas de la Selva

sits on the mountains above Patillas and covers 1000 acres.  The encampment has been there since 1983 and the residents and volunteers there have many on-going projects involved with the creation of wood products in the rain forest that can be used as sustainable crops.  In addition, the settlement uses composting of waste and septic to provide nutrient to the otherwise poor soil so that crops can be established.  When we arrived, we were given a tour of the facility and had a look at our  living quarters.  The boys slept in tents in an unfinished bunkhouse which actually had an egg-laying hen in it!  The girls slept in a finished bunkhouse.  That night we had a great meal of oven roasted chicken, vegetables, and potatoes. 

After dinner and clean up we played some music and just relaxed to get used to our new surroundings.  Everyone was pretty tired from the long day’s journey and we had to be up early the next day for our first day of service work and exploration.

Next Post:  Our First Day in the Rainforest