The rainy morning and a broken promise for transportation delayed our departure into the tangle of mountains. Instead of a truck waiting to meet and greet us in the damp street, we were redirected back into the Hotel Residencial to await some wheels while we busied ourselves playing with chemicals. Really, it was the tinker-toy version of organic chemistry. The conclusion- tiny little plants grow in tiny little increments from tiny little fertilizer reservoirs.
Mountains are greedy it seems, all the nutrients under lock and key in rocks yet to be crumbled.
The easy solution, botanical cannibalism, goes ignored in these lofty climbs. It's evidence of resourceful growth in this landscape. I'm sure, unobserved as we scour the ground and compete against each other for ice cream and violets. But poor group planning leaves a few hungry bellies as lunch is skipped for at least two others and myself to get ready for the delayed field work ahead. I lost hope for moving as fast as the slowest person, another broken promise.