We started the day early at 4:30AM with a hike up the mountain to watch the sunrise with an elevation change of 1,000′. It was about a mile and a half up through the forest to the look point. We saw coffee beans growing in the wild all throughout our hike which was something we do not see at home. At the top, we took a lot of photos, and had some snacks before starting our journey back down the mountain. We had two amazing guides with us. One was from the mission, who also took photos for us, and the other was a volunteer firefighter.

After a quick breakfast we went to the women’s center to learn how to make tortillas (and eat them), do laundry by hand in the pilas, carry baskets on our heads, and carry wood on our backs. We were told that some men are known to carry 300 pounds of firewood on their backs for hours through the mountains, and some women are known to carry 75 pounds on top of their heads! We only carried about 25 pounds on our backs and 8-9 pounds on our heads. Balancing our laundry basket on our head was harder than we thought!

We had lunch and did the dishes. In the afternoon, we listened to a presentation about domestic violence from a local woman. She spoke about some of her experiences from the civil war, and her program which helps women in the area who experience domestic violence. We had a few hours before dinner to spare. Some of the group went to a cute coffee shop a few doors down from our hotel, some went to a local book store, and others had some quality time with the parrots at our hotel in the late afternoon: they sat on our shoulders and talked with us. After dinner, we were able to go to the Mission gift shop, which lots of us bought t-shirts and sweatshirts and coffee beans. We finished the day with ice cream and a reflection about living more simply and with attention to nature to finish off our last evening in San Lucas.

Joe and Mike