I don't know whether it was the pizza or the alcohol, but I suspect
the former is what kept me up and on the toilet a good portion of last
night. Either way, the result's the same: I'm feeling none too rosy
come morning.
Brilliantly, I opt for a hike up a volcano. Or at least an attempt: a
very late start (~2), Amanda starting to feel like crap, me not taking
her advice to bring 3 liters water instead of 1.5, and the
scariest-sounding monkeys I've encountered combine to cut our hike
short: we turn back without summiting or making the timber line on
Volcan Concepcion.
But we do make it back, which almost surprises me given the shittiness
my dehydration has me feeling. I quickly drink 1.5 liters and an
orange soda served with a straw from a plastic bag and put my head
down on the cement for half an hour as soon as we get to a food stand
on the main road.
I'm more or less asleep for an ~2-hour taxi to Madera, made longer by
our first hotel choice not having food beyond bread and milk
available. Weird is me hitting my foot against a car heading the
other way; I guess I had it just enough out the window to hit hard
enough to wake me up but not damage anything.
The wait is definitely worth it: we chow down on tasty food and
veggies, drink several liters of water, admire the hand-carved animals
on our room's door, and fall asleep largely recovered from an intense,
albeit unsuccessful, summit attempt.