A somewhat typical day. . .

Admittedly, we have gotten lazy, or complacent (sounds better) after six years here in the jungle.

However, there is always something going on and it always keeps us on our toes.

Take April 1, for example. Wish we could pass it of on April Fool's Day, but not to be.

Some background: On March 31, the local aqueduct sent out a notice that there would be no water in the town from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day for routine maintenance. Not a problem, everyone was given notice and we have water tanks that will sustain us for up to 36 hours.

Later that night, some folks came down and said they had low pressure and couldn't understand how to get a hot shower. (As a side note, we explain to guests how to do the showers and there is an explanation in each information book in all of the tree houses). Nothing was working, it was 9 p.m. and Efren went up to check it out. Still no joy, just not much water (folks hogged from the tanks). We figured that as we are at the end of the line for the aqueduct, it just took longer for the water to get to us (which is the norm).

Guests placated (somewhat) and we said that we would get out and hit the hardware store as soon as it opened on April 1 to get a new shower head, and would be up there around 7:30 a.m.

APRIL 1

5:15 a.m.: Someone calls for a tree house for Holy Week. We're completely full until May, at this point.

6 a.m.: Go up to the tree house that has no hot-water shower, and they are still asleep.

6:45 a.m.: Go back up to the tree house, guests are wondering where we've been and said they had been waiting. Never mind that three of the four were still under blankets in the tree house when we went in.

7:10 a.m.: Water pressure has not returned. Miguel calls the aqueduct and find out that a pipe has burst, and no water until they can find the break and repair it.

7:20 a.m.: Tell the guests in the affected tree house (that one is up higher, so it takes longer for water to get up there) and they are wondering what took us so long.

7:25 a.m.: Other guests come down from the rancho after breakfast for directions to their zipline tour.

7:30 a.m.: Other guests come to the office to check out as they are leaving early.

7:35 a.m.: Miguel comes back from the hardware store with some screws for the shower nozzle that the aforementioned unhappy guests had broken off.

7:45 a.m.: Another set of guests come down and ask where they can buy sunscreen. We send them off to the supermarket/pharmacy just up the road.

8 a.m.: Full house of guests at the rancho.

8:15 a.m.: Find out for sure that no water until the early afternoon (at this point, we pass on telling the aforementioned guests as they should be coming to the rancho for breakfast soon).

8:30 a.m.: The farmer that delivers eggs is at the front gate for a delivery.

8:45 a.m.: The guests who bought the sunscreen bought the wrong type and need translation help to excange it for something else.

9 a.m.: Two more tree houses check out, give them directions.

9:15 a.m.: Another tree house comes down to the office for directions to their tour.

9:45 a.m.: Aforementioned guests finally check out. Demand a refund for no water, tell them that the whole town is out and we'll see what we can do.

10 a.m.: Go up and take out the sheets from the tree houses that have checked out and find that the aforementioned guests, in addition to breaking off the shower nozzle, left shells and food scattered throughout the tree house. Looked like they had rutted around in there for weeks.

11 a.m.: Last of the four tree houses check out. They somehow backed their car into a tree and we had to pull on the tree to get them free.

Noon: Enjoyed relative quiet, aside from about six to seven phone calls asking for availability for Holy Week.

12:15 p.m.: First of the four incoming tree houses check in; naturally, it is for the last tree house that had checked out at 11 a.m., so their tree house isn't ready.

From there, it slowed down a bit, save for 20-some e-mails and more phone calls. By 7:30 p.m., everyone had checked in and the last of the pizza orders had been placed.

So, we have a ton of excuses for being infrequent on the blog, but none of them really good. Actually, it does keep us on our toes and we still love what we do.