The Rio Quindigua runs through here

The great Rio Quindigua toned down her winter roar the last couple of weeks, allowing us back on her banks and into her waters for the first time in months. We are taking advantage of the calm and beauty while we have a chance!

There were weeks during February, March,  April, even May that the river seemed so angry that she would never welcome us again. Amidst a season of torrential tropical rains, she would repeatedly get herself all worked up, raise her voice, and churn unabashedly and violently, not unlike an upset toddler. She refused to leave her neighbors out of it, pulling chunks of mountains along, creating new tributaries, and tearing down any number of natural and man made structures. Huge boulders were no match for her ire. Nor were old growth trees, roads or bridges.

Such is life in the tropics.

The rainy season: when the rivers throw temper tantrums, quite literally, and locals are inured to electricity outages, roads being washed out, bridges being ripped off their pilings (the Rio Qundigua alone lost seven bridges last year), and rivers re-routing themselves. It is hard to imagine how any human or governmental body could predict or plan for such a powerful seasonal force. 

Thank goodness the wet season has mostly come to an end, and the great Rio Quindigua has calmed  herself down, at least for the time being. I wouldn't call the place dry, exactly -- countless rivers are still rushing by on their way to somewhere important, waterfalls are flowing ostentatiously, and it is raining so hard on our tin roof at this very moment that I can hardly hear myself think. But it is definitely dry-ER.

In this drier time, locals can take stock of the seasonal damage, decide where to use which heavy machinery, and carve new roads and/or repair old ones. Important structures can be moved (yet again), and temporary bamboo bridges allow passage where car bridges may eventually be reconstructed. 

And us? We are able, once again, to take a few lovely dips in our favorite big river before we bid farewell. And so, this Monday morning, under a bright equatorial sun, we were right there in Rio Quindigua's now-more placid waters, bathing in her mighty rush, and even playing UNO on her banks. Lucky us.

The Rio Quindigua in May 2023, really mad and muddy
                                          
Jonah in the same place on the river, this morning (note bridge above), sitting on a rock.
Brynna and I playing an endless gave of UNO flip in the Rio Quindigua this morning. 
Landslide/rockslide above Guadual Waterfall last week, occurred in Winter 2023.
Rocky debris covered farmland near the Guadual Waterfall last week.
Jonah takes a dip in a freshly carved tributary, result of a landslide.
A brand new bamboo bridge grants us access to the other side of the river this week, Malquy Machay

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