Monkeying around

Ken (Andy’s dad) and Alec (my brother) spent a week and a half with us in Bolivia.  The interaction between a 16-year-old and a 60-year-old provided us with some much-needed comic relief (“Hey Kenneth, you wanna know what your sleep farts sound like?”), and as a group we had a lot of fun working and playing.  We spent the first weekend of their visit at a resort near Santa Cruz, where we braved “The Canopy,” an adventure course made up of zip lines and cable bridges.  We spent the next week in Moro Moro, and then stopped to play for a day in Samaipata on our way back down to the city.  Here’s a sampling of the good times (many thanks to Ken for all the pictures):

“The Canopy”

  Ken and Andy suited up for the adventure course.

 Alec and Cassie…doing something.  I´m not so sure what they would do for our safety if we fell out of a tree, but the hats sure looked great.

 Andy daring one of two cable bridges.

 Ken crashing through the tree tops on one of the zip lines.

We were worn after their visit.  We played late Monopoly, Guillotine, and poker late into the night, race an intense go-kart course, and found all kinds of excuses to get tired, sweaty and dirty:

 Racquet ball.

 

 The obstacle course at “The Canopy,” complete with walls to climb over and ropes to climb up and swing on, balance beams, muddy tunnels to crawl through, stairs to climb.  Intense!

 Outdoor ping pong.

 Soccer (mostly getting schooled by little kids).

 Chin-up competitions.

When we weren’t wearing ourselves out, we spent of lot of time playing with animals…

 Andy and the cutest monkey I’ve ever seen.

 Alec and Simón, a playful spider monkey who likes piggy-back rides.

 Cassie and an adult howler monkey.  It’s only a little disconcerting the first time one of these guys wraps his tail around your neck for leverage.

 The turtle that lives on the MCC grounds in Santa Cruz.

…we did some shopping…

 The El Torno Sunday market.

 An American clothing market on a rainy day in Santa Cruz.

…we cooked and ate…

 Alec, after downing two plates of chicken milanesa.

 Ken grinding flour for pizza dough.

 Andy with his birthday cake, courtesy of the office staff in Santa Cruz.

..and we also managed to get some work done!

 Andy and Alec loading gravel for a latrine project.

 Securing the load.

Inspecting a recently finished latrine and preparing for a workshop.