Since no one else wanted to go anywhere (they were too busy working on their presentations), Martin, Rebecca and I went for a hike behind the telescope. Mike, who was a summer student last year and was back doing some work for a couple of weeks, went with us. Our initial goal was to find a back entrance to the caves. There is an extensive cave system that runs through this area of Puerto Rico, and the big entrance nearby is a major tourist attraction. We haven't been, because we've heard that the lines are long.
We walked around the side of the dish, and down a path on the other side. It's a bit of a hike down through the forest, and then we walked through a cow pasture (with some very sickly cows) to a red dirt road. Martin had heard that the first path we came to on the road would lead to the caves, so we started along that. Before too long the trail had become overgrown and we were climbing along the side of a hill, holding on to branches to keep from falling. We noticed that Rebecca was no longer right behind us, so we shouted for her, but got no response. We went back to the dirt road, where we found her. She had stepped on an ant hill, and had to make a hasty retreat to get rid of the ants crawling all over her legs.
Rebecca and I then decided to take the easier path down to the river, while Martin and Mike took a different path in search of the caves. We kept going down the dirt road and took a short path that led us to the river. It was beautiful, but as soon as we got there it started raining, so we retreated. We walked back in an enthusiastic thunderstorm, which was quite lovely, and welcome since we were hot and sweaty. I only regret that we did not have more time to sit at the river and contemplate nature. My hat, which had brown spots on it since getting splashed with salt water several weeks earlier, was thoroughly cleansed and emerged looking much better once it dried. Except for the feather, which required a night in an air-conditioned room a couple of weeks later to be restored to its original condition.
By the time we got back to the dish it had stopped raining, so we took some pictures: the side of the dish, the edge of the dish, and the platform through the grating.
