A Sloth Thing

Sleepy in my tree
photo from sandiegozo.org

So here I am just hanging out in my tree, doing my sloth thing, dreaming while I sleep.  Haven't moved much in the

past few years, but that's OK, there's always tomorrow, I'll move a few more inches up this tree then , but I'm so 

comfortable right here I think I'll just hang out and sleep some more.

"Ouch, what's than poking me in my back"  I open my eyes and see this tall, fast moving, hairless creature with a 

long stick with prickles on the end, and a bucket.   Before I can do anything about it I'm falling through the air and 

.

upside down in the bucket.  

HELP ME !
photo from news.bbc.co.uk

  

The creature has taken me from my tree, and into a dark place with loud noise, and many other creatures, but some 

of them have hair, and are all looking at me with their strange scary eyes. I curl up into a tight ball and close my

eyes, hoping the creatures will go away and leave me alone, if I can't see them maybe they can't see me. 

I was so happy in my tree

Now we're going up higher, it's bumpy, something squeek's and there's a loud bang and a rush of wind, where we are

,

is lighter, then there's another squeek, bang and a rush of wind, now it's very light and I'm lifted out of the bucket and 

into a bright slippery shiny place. "OH no it's raining.  How can it be raining there's no sky above me"?  The rain is 

warm, I open my eyes through the rain and see 2 more of the strange creatures looking at me, one has very bright 

yellow hair and the other dark, they're staring at me and they move so fast. 

  

"OH crap what's happening now"?  The  water  is slimy, and there's bubbles, the hairless creature is rubbing my coat 

and making it slimy and bubbly and smelly, and ouch it hurts when it gets in my eyes it taste's nasty.

I'm all wet and slimy!
photo from flickriver.com

I'm so scared, I don't understand what's happening to me.  The bubbles get bigger as the creature rubs my back and 

my tummy, it smells funny, I don't like it.  Then comes more warm rain, this isn't like jungle rain, why is it so warm.

Now I'm lifted out of the slippery wet place and something is being wrapped around me, what are they doing?  it's 

dark wrapped in this thing, the creature is rubbing my fur, it smells funny.

Now I'm back in the bloody bucket again and I'm moving, suddenly I'm back in my tree.  I'm so confused, what 

just happened to me?  

Small

Have you ever felt small?  I don't mean as an infant, but as an adult, just simply made to feel small  by something stupid that you did, or something that was said to you, or just the way someone speaks down to you.  It's really not that difficult to be made to feel that way, people can often inflict that feeling upon you quite unintentionally, I suppose it depends upon the person's state of mind, both in giving and receiving in a verbal exchange.  Sadly the more it happens the smaller one becomes in their own mind.

I remember something that happened to me about 30 years ago, an odd incident that for whatever reason I can't forget, and am occasionally reminded of it for the strangest of reasons. I was recently married and attending a business function with Bob, we were being introduced to someone (I really can't remember who) quite a tall (and as I recall, obnoxious ) man with a very self imposed, superior air of authority, I instantly disliked him, his manner was rude and dismissive, and he barely noticed me, (a typical MCP in my book).  Anyway my husband (always the gentleman) was making the effort to make conversation and be pleasant to the tall, unpleasant man, when I noticed a tiny little lady peering around from behind him, she was really quite small, both in stature and obvious lack of self-esteem, she seemed very nervous as she reached out her hand towards me to say a quiet, tentative hello.  I took her hand in mine warmly and started to introduce myself when her husband interrupted (quite rudely I thought) "OH yes this is Madeline my wife" he said and immediately dismissed both of us as he went back to his conversation with Bob.  The woman seemed visibly to shrink as he spoke, and lowered her eyes as she obviously thought she had spoken out of turn.  I felt so sorry for this poor little soul who had probably over the years been beaten (verbally) into submission by this horrible man, and had probably shrunk to her current tiny height through all his hurtful dismissals;  I clearly remember thinking "I'll never be that small, I'll never let anyone treat me such, that I become so small and feel that inferior".

Sometimes I struggle with feeling worthy of anything, when I do something dumb, or just make a stupid mistake, I think we all do at times, I do more than most it seems, but my memory of the little lady I met all those years ago is still so clear in my mind, it gives me the determination not to shrink and become small when being unjustly criticized or berated, but to dismiss it, rise above and move on.

The most precious gifts come in the smallest packages.

OH for the love of England

Once again back in Ohio, and the weather is pretty typical for January, very cold, gray and rainy, somewhat  reminiscent of Wales ( the 7 years I lived there I think it rained most of the time).  

It was only a few days ago that I was in sunny Panama, and yes I'm missing the blue skies and sunshine, but honestly I don't miss the sweltering heat, being a Christmas baby I love the snow,  frosty mornings, and log fires.  I'm actually more comfortable in a cold climate.

My niece from South Africa has been in London for the past 6 months, and has just booked her ticket home because she can't stand the dark rainy days any longer.  January is often a miserable month, especially in London, but even in South Africa they're having rainy days, and when I think of living in a county where you have iron bars at every window and door, razor wire and electric fencing around your garden walls because of the enormously high crime rate, England suddenly doesn't seem that bad, even in the rain.

  

I miss so many things about England, in my mind it truly is the most picturesque country, the West Country and the Cotswold's are my favorite areas, with all their quaint little cottages, and beautiful flower filled gardens.  I love driving through the country lanes, where tall hedges form high walls at the sides of the roads, and tree branches overhang the lanes forming a thick canopy overhead. I love the solid stone buildings that have such a sense of permanence and history. I love the integrity of the British people,  the "what you see is what you get" no bullshit attitude. I love the way everyone rides their horses along the country roads, and the green, green fields that are full of grazing sheep and cattle.  The daffodils, bluebells and crocus that grow wild everywhere in Spring. I love the old country pubs with their log fires burning brightly in lovely inglenook fireplaces.  I get so excited about British produce, locally grown fruit and vegetables so delicious and bursting with flavor.  The cheese, OH the cheese, especially Cheddar cheese, produced in caves in Cheddar, there's nothing like it.  Yes, there are many, many things I love about my home country; so why am I not living there still, you may wonder?

England is a tiny island that has so much to offer, but on the negative side, and the reason we left to live in another country is quite simply the English weather.  I love blue sky, and rain free days, I love deep snow in the winter, but still with blue skies.  I love seasons; in England the seasons seem to all merge into one another, with no definite separation, October could be April, November could be March, August could be May, the seasons there seem to have evaporated. And yet I still miss so many things...

I love living in America, I love the weather here, even on rainy, cold January days, because I know those days will be of short duration, and the blue skies will be back in a heartbeat, I just have to wait it out.

Beautiful Wells Cathedral

Bewitched !

So, one minute I'm in Shelter Bay, Panama, having a blast hiking through the jungle taking photographs, hanging out in the bar at night with my friends, cheffing in the restaurant, complaining about the comments from the (MCP's) but generally enjoying life, when suddenly 9 O'clock Saturday night I get a call from Bob, "Danni was kicked by a horse, she's in hospital, and you're booked on the morning flight from Panama City (2 hours away) back here".


Thank God for my dear friend Lynn & (executive chef) Chris, 2 of the wonderful friends I have here in Shelter Bay, they both have, and still are helping me.  Closing up the boat takes a while, there are so many things to do, and I can't stress enough my gratitude for my neighbors and friends there that are looking after Daisy for us until we get back, although having said that, it may only be Bob going back, I'm still undecided, and I need to see how Danni is, and how much help she needs.
I didn't sleep that night,  I was up all night packing, cleaning and preparing the boat for my departure at 5:30am. I feel very sad that leaving as suddenly as I did I didn't get to say goodbye to some of the lovely people I got to know, and have become very fond of, and possibly may not see again.

It all happened so quickly, in a blinking of an eye, or a twitch of a nose, as in Bewitched, I went from being in Panama to arriving in Columbus.  It was as if I had been "beamed up".  My flights were with Continental/United, and I can't say a single thing bad about them, they could not have been more helpful.  When the flight from Panama arrived (30 minutes late) in Newark, I had 50 minutes to deplane, clear immigration, collect my checked luggage, clear customs, re-check luggage, go through security (again) and make my flight...  Immigration was quick, but waiting for the checked luggage took a full nerve racking 25 minutes, my connecting flight was due to leave at 4:59pm, and it was already 4:36, I cursed myself for checking luggage, without I wouldn't have had a problem.

When the luggage finally arrived I almost ran through the customs area, thank goodness they didn't stop me, but then having re-checked my bag, I ran at full speed to the security gate and (no exaggeration) there must have been 800 to 1,000 people in line, I had about 8 minutes to clear security and get to the gate before it closed, had I stood in line that would have been impossible, so I went to one of the officials and explained that I only had 10 minutes to get my flight, I had to get back to Ohio because my daughter was in hospital, was there any way they could put me to the front of the line?  Without question the official immediately took me to the front of the employee security line, and I was through in the blinking of an eye, I ran to the gate which was waiting for me, as soon as I boarded they closed the door and we left, I couldn't believe my luck, or rather the fantastic customer service that I received from the Continental/United staff.

My plane into Columbus arrived early, and I was able to get to the hospital to see Danni.

Sometimes things happen so fast we barely even notice what's going on around us, but I really have to give thanks to all the Continental/United staff that helped me make it back.

MCP !

When I have work to do outside on Daisy I get up at 5:30am so I can get a few hours work in before the heat gets too much.  I like to keep Daisy looking nice, while she's the closest thing I have to a home I'm doing my best to take care of her.
So, this morning I'm cleaning and polishing all the stainless around the anchor, which, because we are bow too, hangs over the dock walkway.  By 6:30 people are starting to get up and head to the showers, with the marina this full the showers are busy very early, and for most of the day.  I'm there working and sweating and trying to do a good job.

Sailors are generally a friendly group, and most people passing by stop to say good morning.  Because I was working on the bow everyone passes by me and most stopped to say good morning.  Most greetings were pleasant, and genuinely friendly, and much appreciated.

 But I have to say, seriously guys, you don't think we women, that have given up hearth and home to sail the seven bloody seas, fulfilling YOUR dreams need to hear, or enjoy comments like "Hey you got any sisters?" or "I wanna get me one of those" said while looking right at me and winking, or "where'd he fine you?" "Hey you missed a spot"  "You wanna come and clean my boat next?"  WTF  Seriously WTF

NO I don't find any of these remarks funny, I'm sick to death of hearing them, so I have one thing to say to all of you guys out there with your suggestive, winking, snide, NOT FUNNY remarks...   MCP ( I think you all know what that stands for.)    


( for those of you that don't...  Male Chauvinist Pig)

Chef Daisy

Thursday 19th January

My dream of being a professional chef was fulfilled briefly today, when I worked the dinner service at The Dock Restaurant, in Shelter Bay.  Chris Young the executive chef and manager of the hotel and restaurant decided to host a guest chef night, and my good friend Lynn and I were convinced to be the first participants.  It had taken Chris a few weeks to talk us in to doing it, not that we didn't want to, both Lynn and I were very keen, but this is a lovely restaurant that Chris has worked very hard in over the past year to raise the standards of both the food and service, and we didn't want to do anything that was going to change that.  One disastrous service could tarnish an otherwise spotless reputation.  Lynn is a fantastic cook, and I like to think I am too, but we're not professionals, that's a whole different ball game.  Anyway one boozy night at the bar we both accepted the challenge.  

We were to design a menu for the night's specials.  The usual menu would be made and served by the restaurant staff, but Lynn and I would be in sole charge of the nights specials.  The kitchen, while a professional one was quite small and about 120 degrees, and with 8 of us working in there it was going to be a challenge.  The restaurant and kitchen staff were unbelievably helpful, and patient with us.  Lynn and I spent the later part of the afternoon in the preparation of the entree and garnish.  Chris had ordered the food we requested,  showed us around the kitchen, how to prep our entree, then we were left to it.
I had spent the last two days making my desert on board Daisy, as the restaurants kitchen oven had been out of order for a day.  I wanted to make something that would require no cooking on the day, but could be quickly plated with all the preparation done ahead of time.  This alone had been a challenge because my oven is so small, I had to make about 200 profiteroles but was only able to cook 30 at a time. I was making cream filled profiteroles with a rum caramel sauce.  The profiteroles could be cooked a day in advance, the cream whipped and stored in the fridge until needed, along with the rum caramel sauce.  For the appetizer I made tapenade served on crostini with salad garnish.    Lynn was in charge of the entree.
At 3 in the afternoon we donned our chefs jackets and got to work. By 7 O'clock the restaurant was absolutely packed with all the tables both inside and outside full.  Our special proved to be really popular and we were both kept busy for the entire night.
I don't know when I've worked so hard and had so much fun.  I may even (given the opportunity) do it again.

The Dock Restaurant, Special

Tappenade 

served with Crostini

Almond & Coconut 

Crusted Fish

with a 

Creamy Pineapple, Cilantro & lime dipping sauce

served over 

Sweet Potato Fries

&

Red Beet Slaw

Cream filled Profiteroles

with a Rum, Caramel Sauce

Photo's to follow

Masked Men

My trips to the supermarket here in Panama are never without some excitement.  Although the roads are horrible bumpy, there are always interesting things to look for in the surrounding jungle as we pass through, like monkeys, sloths, toucans, far too many creatures to name.  This morning as usual  the bus was full to bursting, with standing room only, but luckily the locks were open so we were able to cross without the usual delay.  As we approached Colon the traffic slowed to a stop,  and I could see clouds of black smoke rising ahead of us, as the line of traffic slowly crawled forward I could see crowds of people, and I wondered if there had been an accident.  Everyone on the bus started to speculate what it could be.  

I could see men running around and waving red flags, fortunately I couldn't see any guns, but then I noticed that the men all had full masks and dark glasses.  They were stopping all the vehicles one  by one, and I have to say I became just a little anxious, I had flashbacks of the movie "Proof of Life" with Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe.  (note to self: watch less violent movies)

As we approached the crowd a large group of men suddenly surrounded our bus, they were shouting, banging on the bus windows and waving their flags, a large fire was burning in the middle of the road sending up a stream of black smoke.  Everyone on the bus was silent for a brief moment, a couple of people tried to take photographs, but the men became very angry and shouted to us "no cameras, gringo's" The driver was talking to one of the men and eventually we were waved on.  We crawled past hundreds of protesters, I was so relieved when they were far behind us.

On the return journey, the protesters had dispersed a little, as the military had moved in to break up the mobs, now there was a large presence of guns and other weapons, I don't know who scared me the most, the masked men or the military with all the weapons.  When we got back and passed through the armed security gates, I saw lines of armed men in uniforms marching along the road towards the docks.  My friend Lynn told me that they frequently used the marina grounds for training... I breathed a sigh of relief, you never know what's going to happen next in Panama.

Shopping excursions here are always an adventure.

Bird Quiz

Can anyone tell me what bird this is?  I've looked at so many web sites trying to identify it, but nothing matches.  The bird is eagle size, blackish brown, with a white tail, yellow hooked beak and yellow legs. I thought it was a Great Black Hawk, but I'm not sure because of its yellow beak.

Photo taken at Shelter Bay Marina, Panama

Thank you for all your responses, apparently this is the  Common Black Hawk

Sleepless in Panama

So, its 4 am and I'm awake, not because I've been to sleep and woken up, but because I haven't been to sleep at all.  The wind's been blowing so hard since yesterday morning, all the lines are clanking loudly against all the boats masts making a real din, it's impossible to shut out the noise.   From inside my cabin it sounds like 50 knot winds blowing outside, I know it's not, but it's so damn noisy.  Daisy is swaying in her slip and straining against her dock lines, I have to keep getting up and checking we're still OK, which we are, Bob spent ages before he left making sure we were tied alongside securely, but I get so nervous when alone on the boat I worry about everything.  This isn't fun and once again I find myself dreaming of my safe, quiet home so far away in snowy Ohio. I love the snow, I was born in December, so I suppose it's more natural to me, and I've never much minded the cold, but I really, really hate the wind, I find it exhausting, noisy, and frightening at times, the wind is not my friend. 

I have new neighbors here on the dock, they arrived yesterday afternoon from the San Blas.  I asked them how the sail back was,  because it had been so windy all day I was reminded of the horrific sail Bob and I had just a couple of weeks ago.  They said it was rough with consistent 30 knot winds, but they didn't seem worried about it.  Most of the people here don't worry about that, but then they're here because they love to sail, its just nervous ninnies like me who worry about it...

I went for another walk in the jungle yesterday morning alone with my camera, and got some more photographs.   I saw some beautiful birds and butterflies. I think I should like to have been a nature photographer.

This butterfly was the size of my hand

This beautiful little guy had wings like white velvet, and a furry hat

Last Seen !

Back in Portobelo, the water was so calm Bob suggested that we go exploring.  The plan had been to take the dinghy to the other side of the bay to which we were anchored, and go ashore, but having gone up and down the coast a couple of times we were unable to find anywhere to bring the dinghy ashore, so we continued on to the far corner of the bay where we came across an inlet,  we turned in and proceeded to follow the river into the jungle.

There were beautiful Curlew birds, Storks, Pelicans, Humming birds, Parrots and kingfishers in the branches of the trees surrounding the river, it was so pretty, and quiet other than the howler monkeys calling some distance away, although we didn't manage to see any.

White Ibis

Red & Green Macaws

About 30 minutes into our exploration we came to a large lagoon, the water was as still as glass, white flashes from the storks and egrets punctuated the dark green of the surrounding jungle. I imagined  crocodiles lurking all around us under the mangroves watching and scheming, I wondered whether they would attack, puncturing the dinghy with their razor sharp teeth and eating us for lunch;  somewhat dramatic of me again, but this is how my sad little mind works.  I kept myself busy disturbing the silence with the clicking of my camera, attempting to capture the many birds in the lagoon.

Whimbrel's

After a few minutes we turned to head back, and as we slowly made our way along the river, I could hear the distant rumble of engine.  "Is that a speedboat?"  I asked Bob, as the engine noise got gradually louder (and closer), I thought about our situation, we were a couple of miles away from all the other boats, up a small river in the jungle, no one knew we were here, and no one would know if we didn't return to our boat.
As the noise of the approaching speed boat closed in on us I really started to get anxious,  a voice in my head kept repeating "the Morgans were last seen, " then suddenly in a rush of water a see doo flew around the bend in the river towards us at great speed, the guy driving saw us, spun around and headed back leaving us bouncing around in his wake.  I breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt angry that he had disturbed the beauty and silence of the river, not to mention scaring off any wildlife (and me).  I consoled myself that things could have been worse, and we headed back to Daisy.

Finally I Got It...

I've been trying for so long to get a photograph of the magnificent Panama Blue Butterfly, and today I managed it.
Here it is  :o)

Blue Morphe

 Other Butterflies, 

some species unknown to me, if anyone knows what they are please let me know.

All found around Colon, Panama, & Isle Grande.

Sister (Adelpha

Tropical Buckeye (Junonia genoveva)

White peacock

Tanna Longtail Skipper

Julia Dryas Julia Moderata

Heliconius erato phyllis  otherwise known as the Postman butterfly

A male Heliconius Ismenius

Blood On The Beach

Monday January 9^th

Today was to be our last day on Isle Grande; we plan to head out tomorrow morning for Portobello, just for a day and then carrying on to Shelter Bay on Wednesday.  After the crowds of the last 2 days we were hoping for a quiet day today to go hiking again, sadly it appeared to be a long weekend, as yet more boatloads swarmed across the bay, not even close to the amount that arrived yesterday, but still many more than usual.

We packed the bag with the necessary items and headed back to the lighthouse, where we spent a couple of hours trying to capture the Panama Blue, and Swallowtail butterfly’s on camera.  There were many, but they were not still long enough for me to capture anything other than a blur.  One of the Panama butterflies we saw was so large, if I put my 2 hands together it would have been about the same size, you would think that being that large I would have been able to get a photograph, but with the size also came incredible speed, too fast for me especially while I was struggling with exposure, aperture and focus. 

Local kids playing on the dock

We stopped at one of the seafront beach bars for a couple of beers and a quick lunch of Calamari and fried chicken, I had hoped it would be like the delicious calamari and chicken that Chris serves at The Dock restaurant at Shelter Bay, but it was as far removed from Chris’s food as it was possible to be. The chicken was VERY well done (meaning over cooked) and the calamari was so chewy it was like eating rubber, (not that I’ve ever eaten rubber).  But it was nice sitting on the restaurant deck out over the water sipping our Corona’s and watching all the going’s on. 

Hiking up to the lighthouse

People watching here is quite entertaining in a stomach-churning, puzzling sort of way, they are all at least 4 or 5 times larger than the clothing they wear, especially the women, I couldn’t help but wonder how they get the clothes/swimwear on in the first place, it must be quite an ordeal. They all look as though they stepped out of a Beryl Cook painting!  I concluded that they must spray paint the clothing on and then shrink it so that every visible inch of flabby flesh protrudes in a desperate bid to escape between all the gaps in the clothing.  Yes, I realize this is very judgmental of me, and I’m hardly in a position to criticize people for being overweight, but when 99 out of 100 people here are really quite large and then dress the way they do, I have to wonder, do they ever look in a mirror, or don’t they care, or maybe they think it’s OK to look the way they do, or maybe they think squeezing a size 20+ body into a size 10 swimsuit is OK no matter how it looks or feels, because they know that what they’re squished into is a small size, so in their minds that makes them small, I really don’t know the answer.  What I do know is that clothing that is much too small for you makes you look fat, no matter your actual size. My Nan always used to tell me “it’s not what you wear, it’s how you wear it.”  One doesn’t have to be skinny to look nice, it all just comes down to dress sense, something that I’ve decided is seriously lacking out here.

Late afternoon we returned to Daisy for a cocktail, and a bit of a rest before going back to the island at sunset to hopefully watch the Macaws.    Later as we walked along the sandy path on the shorefront, between the little houses, we came across a group of people looking at a man lying on the ground, “drunk” Bob said, but when I looked again I could see that his shirt was not red but soaked in blood, and his head looked like it had been split open, blood was pouring from a huge wound.  We stopped to see if the people were going to help the man, or whether we should do something.  An old woman in the house next to where the injured man lay, was just casually sitting on her porch watching us all.  One of the men in the group asked the woman for a towel and some water.  I watched as these people were obviously trying to help, and they spoke Spanish, which of course we didn’t, they then started to try to clean the wound, the man appeared to be quite unconscious.  I looked around wondering what had happened to him and noticed 2 men standing just a few yards away watching us all, I didn’t like the look of them, they looked angry  I felt very uneasy, “we should go” I said dragging on Bob’s hand, “there are people here helping him, there’s nothing we can do, we don’t even speak the language, come on please”.  I started walking away pulling him.  We left, obviously if no one had been helping we would have.  When we returned an hour later I was very relieved to see that the man was gone.  We hadn’t seen any Macaws, they didn’t return to the island tonight, I wished we hadn’t either.

 It’s very easy out here in the beautiful Caribbean to forget how dangerous it can be.  I was woken only this morning by the sound of gunshot. I didn’t know the day would end by seeing blood on the beach.

Caught In The Crossfire

Sunday January 8th

Another day at Isle Grande, OH was I ever wrong yesterday, Saturdays are not even close to being the busiest day here, yesterday was simply a gentle introduction to the invasion of bodies that was to flood across the bay this morning.  The little ferry boats started at 6:30 am, cramming in people and children like sardines into a tin, and transporting them from the mainland across to the little beach which was filling up at an alarming rate, by 11am it was standing room only, as we sat on board sipping our coffee and watching all the activity we couldn’t help but wonder whether the little island would sink under the weight of it all. 

This is the quiet end of the beach!

The ferry boats crawled past Daisy, fully loaded from bow to stern with day tripping sweaty bodies, carrying their coolers full of beer, and fun floatie things, then on the return trip the little boats would fly past as close as possible to us with empty boats going at full speed in a race to beat each other back to the mainland to pick up the next load.  Daisy is in the middle of the bay and caught unceremoniously right in the middle their crossfire.  For 15 hours the boats whizzed past in both directions, non-stop.

We had planned to go ashore today to take more photographs, since I had a fully charged camera battery, but honestly I just didn’t think I could cope with the swarms of flesh flaunting, beer swigging, island invaders (I say invaders rather than visitors, because it appeared to be more of an invasion).

It actually really upsets me how they openly drop their trash everywhere, showing total disrespect and disregard for the island and the people who live there.  I’m sure that tomorrow morning the island will be filthy with piles of trash everywhere for the locals to clear up.  Meanwhile on board, Daisy is clean, comfortable and safely away from the masses.  I’ve even become used to the rocking and rolling it doesn’t affect me at all today, I can read without nausea, and the dreadful giddiness and dizzy spells of the past few days have passed.

The bay has been so noisy today, between the non-stop ferry boats and the cool kamikaze dudes on their see-doos, who display no manners, or thought for anyone else on the water, I just saw one of them almost tip a couple of people in their canoe over, they flew past so fast the poor people struggled desperately to keep their canoe upright. 

One of the locals told us last night while we were waiting for the Macaws to arrive, that they flock every night at 5:30 to the almond trees, just as we had seen them for the past 2 nights, but they don’t come on a weekend because of all the noisy people.  Bob say’s birds are stupid, but it sounds to me as though these Macaws are pretty smart.  We’ll look for them again on Monday; I’m really hoping to get some photographs.

Pretty vacation home on the beach

We’re the only boat in the bay, and all the bay traffic seems to go out of its way to pass Daisy so close, seeing just how much they can rock the boat.  At least tomorrow the bay will be quiet again, the great unwashed will have returned to the mainland, and we can go ashore and hike in peace, photograph more wildlife, and watch for the return of the Macaws at dusk.

I’ve become quite a miserable old biddy of late, frowning and complaining about all the goings on,  as I sit here on my yacht passing judgment on all around me… 

Panama Blue Butterfly

This is the amazing butterfly that I've been trying to photograph, I'm still trying...

White-Throated Capuchin (monkey)

I am so excited about these photographs, I just had to share them with you.  Bob and I had so much fun chasing (following)  these little guys through the jungle...

leaping from tree to tree.

And then there were the howlers:

you have to look closely  but this howler monkey is holding twins, two little babies, that's very rare.

The photographs were taken in the pouring rain, so they're a little foggy.

Butterflies and other things...

I just had to post some of the photographs I got of some incredible butterflies in Isle Grande and Shelter Bay.  I hope you enjoy them 

Godyris zavaleta caesiopicta, Variegated Clearwing

Erato Heliconian Heliconius Erato Petiverana

Julia Dryas Julia Moderata

Dragonfly

Butterflies & Dead Batteries!

Saturday January 7th

Daisy was still rocking in the bay, and I really, really needed some stillness, I was continuously giddy, I needed to feel some terra firma beneath my feet for a while.  So we packed our insect repellent, sun tan lotion, bottled water, beer, binoculars, cameras and walking shoes and headed ashore. 

We tied the dinghy on the dock, and made our way along the pretty shorefront past hoards of scantily clad, enormous beer guts, boob jobs and butt cracks, all on unashamed display; I really have to say, “not very attractive”!  People have no shame; they seem believe a beach gives them license to display as much body fat as possible, without thought of consequence to any unfortunate onlookers.

Saturday is obviously the day when everyone within boat or ferry distance flocks to Isle Grande to play on the beaches, swim, barbeque, drink and generally be merry, chickens should run for their lives, they were being barbequed on every corner, the island was busier than I’ve ever seen it.  All the colorful little beach front houses had loud music playing, people were gathered in groups on front porches and around picnic tables on the beach, the restaurants and bars were full, and all the hammocks across the island seemed occupied, the ferry boats were working overtime transporting people to the island, children were running around laughing and playing, there was a strong party atmosphere, it almost felt like carnival.

We headed away from the crowds, inland and up, working our way through the little shantytown of brightly painted ramshackle houses with their lines of washing and hoards of little children.  Isle Grande is a very small island, but its lush with rich flora and fauna, and has a wealth of beautiful butterflies and birds, and we were hoping to photograph as many as possible.  The island has no roads, just sandy paths.  Several times the magnificent Panama Blue butterfly flew past us, but sadly they were too fast for me to capture them on film.  Panama Blue’s are absolutely beautiful, they’re bright iridescent blue, and bigger than my hand, but also fast! After about an hour of chasing butterflies through the brush we headed back. On the way we passed an adorable little white-faced monkey, he seemed to be playing peek a boo with me, I got some cute shots of him.  We also found a couple of lovely little bright green parakeets that let me get close enough to take their picture.

I think he's telling me to go away

Now I know he's telling me to go away

Panama Green parrot.
yes I did get this close
All Photo's by me :o)

We walked back to the shorefront and then to the East end of the island, following the footpath that lead us to another track up a very steep path towards the old lighthouse. When we got up to the top, the lock on the gate securing the fence around the lighthouse was broken, and the door to the lighthouse itself was unlocked and open, I wanted to go in and climb to the top, but Bob wasn’t happy about me doing it, so instead I looked for more butterflies.  I came across a fabulous bright orange one, (I apologize for not knowing its name) I’d spotted them several times throughout the day, but been unable to capture any on film, and this one was there right in front of me sitting on a leaf with its huge, beautiful bright orange wings open, I couldn’t believe my luck, I picked up my camera and tried to focus, it was so close, I was really excited this was going to be an incredible shot, but just as got the shot all lined up my battery went dead…   Crap, Crap, Crap ! 

OH well I just better go back again tomorrow, and hope for better luck (and a fully charged battery).