Getting into the Mangrove forest at Cienaga Mallorquin was easier than we thought. We only had to hang from the trees and push our flexibility to the max as we made our way to somewhat dry land. Luckily Jose had brought his machete to clear the path out. He was our local boatman, fisherman, or actually do-it-all man!
This time we cored from inside the mangrove forest. It was a real team effort that required attention to detail and pure muscle power.
We raised two cores of 1.5 meters and set up the tea bag experiment. This will allow us to get information about how fast the leaves, twigs and roots decompose inside the mangrove forests. Juma, the director of Colegio San Jose, has already volunteered to go back in 3 months to pick the tea bags up again.
It was again a successful day and we decided to capture it with a silly group picture
Temperatures and humidity kept on going up. So we decided to go to the beach on the other side of the lagoon to get a cold drink. In the spirit of sharing, we had brought chocolade hagelslag (chocolate chips) so everyone could taste this Dutch delicatessen.
Juma had joined again for a second opportunity to get his clothes wet and muddy. And he sort of managed this time :)
Fruit of the day: Uchuva (aka Golden berry or Physalis)
This small but tasty fruit can sometimes be found in European supermarkets. However, €2 get you only a few. For the same amount of money one can get a tastier and larger bunch here in Colombia.