the kids of porto hondo

for a minute we didn't think anyone was going to show up. that's been the way it has gone the last two months and after waiting around in the rain for 20 minutes and coming up with blank stares from the people we asked on the street we were about to cut our losses and catch the next bus out of there. but after a quick call to nelson, the guy we sat down with the other day, everything seemed to be put back on track and wouldn't you know it but a tidy string of children were at that moment making their way to the environmental centre with gladys, the woman we were supposed to meet, leading the way.

gladys is nice, small and quiet but with a certain air of confidence. she never seemed unnerved by the kids and their constant chatting or jumping around. there were about 15 kids but they floated in and out of the room at will, or drifted to the back of the room to play with a few educational displays that had been set up. one of these had a series of questions with buttons and corresponding answers with similar buttons. if you held down the correct match the display made a horrible buzzing noise. the children stabbed randomly at the answers, often selecting a fish as the answer to a question that asked what activities existed in the mangroves (when a picture of a tour boat was one of the options). another display was a mock up of the area done to match the local topography. very impressive - with lights that displayed where places were when you pressed a certain button (they sure love their buttons!). the centre itself is new, a project that came to light because of funds from local groups and a canadian organization whose name escapes me. it's very slick for porto hondo and is meant to serve the establishment of a eco-tourism emphasis for the community that serves the preservation of the mangroves. we've made plans for coming back next week which should be fun.

about that meeting with the director of ecotec a couple days back... interesting if somewhat anti-climatic. we went in expecting fireworks or at least some sort of opposition but instead we got lots of apologies and happy faces about the potential for the future. amy will be working with us, of course, but she'll also be working there - and they will talk to andy and straighten out any misunderstandings there have been. in theory we're to have a meeting shortly about all the problems and such but she was supposed to phone andy that evening and he said he had not received any call so who really knows.