Some pictures and thoughts from my time away. (The most recent post appears first--to read chronologically, you'll have to start at the end and work your way back.)

Sunset

It gets dark here just after 6:00 PM. And I mean really dark. Really, really dark. We are below the equator and it is winter here. The weather has been pleasant (low 80s at midday, high 50s at night) and dry. Our hotel does not have air conditioning, but we haven’t needed it—our fan keeps us comfortable. We are here during the dry season, which means we have not seen any mosquitoes. The air quality is not good.  Cooking fires are a major culprit, and there is a lot of burning in the farming areas. The smoke mixes with vehicle exhaust and just hangs in the air. Even on the clearest days, the air has had a slight smoky smell.