Breakfast enhanced with quinoa pancakes with maple syrup. Lonely at 7am, masses of people must have set off already!

Camaderie enforced by primitive isolation? Mohammed encouraging me across the rope bridges, Julie and Richard allowing me to eat dinner at their table. A great feeling. One had to sign a waiver here with the canopy walk relevant. Really high up. Leave keys as easily lost on each adventure. Conscious on rope bridges might lose torch or water bottle.

Guides use pointers with green dots to highlight but can’t always see the green dot let alone the animal in question. One feels stupid to say no when they say everyone’s seen X of course.

Dim paths at night even with analogue torches on the paths. Snakes in cabin freaked out one couple who moved into main house - noisy there with bar but sound travels at night too. Crunching as one walked here.

The first outing today was another canoe ride on a lake close to the hotel. We saw bats resting on a tree, and turtles resting on a fallen log with colourful butterflies licking their orifices for the salt. Turtles are magicians apparently, they can curse you the solution is to leave the turtle upside down or to eat it (The turtles all dived into the water at this point when the guide said this). Hummingbirds and the visually arresting stinky bird visible. Tapir tracks and droppings not so interesting. The canoe was rather rocky. We had another view of the skeletal steamboat.

Apart a pause (and another shower in the room for me) we walked to see the remains of an old village (only concrete foundations remaining from the 1960s). We sat in a hide by a clay lick and saw nothing. The guide let us taste the sap from the dragon blood tree (very red and acrid) which is harvested and sold as medicine. There’s also rubber trees here. We passed the leaf-cutter ant nest clearing we had seen on the first night, coral snakes and poison frogs were asleep inside (evil spirit here will make you lost). We did see a tarantula nest but the tarantula didn’t pop out despite the guide having a poke. Laughing falcon bad omen throw salt into the fire if you’re a local. It started to rain as we walked back, in a forest the rain isn’t so dominant but I weakened and bought a poncho to show willing. This like other purchases of mine may not have been the happiest inspiration. It’s ready heavy and I think wearing it would be like being one’s own personal mobile sauna.

Lunch great and I had a sweet crème caramel to finish it off with. Last expedition with our expert guide was to a ‘botanical garden’. He carried a machete to give this tour an Indiana Jones flavour. The highlights were hallucinogenic plants used by native shamans, cocaine as used by the Incas, plants the locals hail as panaceas, and harvesting brazil nuts. I hadn’t realised (or had forgotten if I did know) that brazil nuts come in cocoanut like fruit, they have to be split open then dried in the sun before we see them. Termites if they can will turn the brazil nuts to mush.

Hacienda Concepcion is a great place, a unique experience. I should have brought a small rucksack besides extra shirts. Life for me is full of shoulds.

Internet access is only in the main house. Power isn’t always on. But these restrictions serve to convince you are somewhere special.