We got up at 7:00 and had a good breakfast at the hotel. Many of the students were still sick. Chris wisely opted to skip the morning activities. The bus headed eastward for about 30 km on a good dirt road improved by INPA to the INPA property. The area is in the dry deciduous forest. Since it is the dry season, most of the trees have no leaves. It was very hot (35°). We stopped at the logging camp which was presently inactive. William showed us a large indigenous pot that they recently discovered near there.

We took a short walk to the top of the adjacent serriana. It had numerous bermilliads growing on it as well as cacti. We got a long view and could see several other serrianas in the distance. The rocks were a medium- to coarse-grained granitic gneiss. Strom found some folds along a small fault.

With the heat and sickness bothering most of the students, we cancelled our planned walk in the woods and went back to the camp before heading back to Concepción. At the camp, Todd found a cacelian--a small, snake-like lizard that has tiny legs. I had never seen one before.

I had a milanesa de carne at the same restaurant at which we had eaten the night before. As soon as we were done with lunch, we piled on the bus and began our 5-6 hour bus ride to Santa Cruz . I sat with Anne at the back of the bus. She was not feeling well at all and dozed in and out of sleep. The seats are narrow and the rows are too close together for anyone to be comfortable. The blare of cheap Latin American techno music and tapes that had played over many times drove most people half crazy. Fortunately for me, I learned how to tune that out to the level of white noise years ago.

Everyone's butt was sore and legs were cramped by the time we reached the Hotel Copacabana around 9:00. A group of us walked down to the Irish pub for a good dinner. Charlie and I spoke at length for the first time.

Afterward, I went to an internet café and sent an email to Joan. I am really starting to miss her. I returned to the hotel at 12:30 and went to bed. Mike was already in bed and Strom returned soon after.