Day: October 28, 2015
Bliss
Today was nothing shy of just plain blissful! I woke at 7:30 and got ready to exercise (like we’d all agreed), but every soul on Tanda Malaika was fast asleep, so I ventured off on my own. The scenes before me were beautiful as noisy parrots were already causing a ruckus overhead, and howler monkeys mischievously made their way through vines and across branches as I passed them by. They are so fast but I did get a blurry shot of two of them.
Flowers were already being visited by insects and contrasted beautifully against the green of the jungle.
As I walked I thought of Jan and Daddy, wondering what they are up to, and if they could see what I was seeing – sharing the moment with me. I miss them so much.
When I returned home, Danny was up working on projects, and creatures were busy on school work. The most exciting project of the day was placing the lettering for Tanda Malaika’s name onto her.
She looks so proud and pretty. We are so excited to finally have her name on her…”Tanda Malaika”….Guardian of the sea.
Mommy and the creatures went to the beach while I took a siesta and then started on dinner preparations. Danny worked on several more projects, accomplishing so much!
The water was clear and calm, and even Mommy who is usually afraid of water, had a jolly ole time splashing in the water. I still have two weeks till I’m allowed to go in, but that is about to go out the window because I can’t stand staying out much longer!
Dinner for tonight is Coconut curry chicken over rice with corn on the side. We all seem to work up an appetite over the day, and have been drinking gallons of water. The average daily temp has been around 90 degrees with 60% humidity. Life is good, and we are grateful.
Adventure Day continued…..
Our time at sea yesterday was spectacular. Their wasn’t much wind for sailing but it was so simple and peaceful. I think that is what draws me to it…the perfect simplicity of nature.
I showed Mommy a great place to sit while underway, and it soon became one of her new favorite places to be. In fact, what makes it so perfect is that one can be pampered with a first class foot massage at the same time.
We hugged the coastline watching for new places to explore, and found many beautiful little beaches for bonfires and coral reefs for scuba diving.
We also saw many beautiful little homes nestled in the palms too, and I thought of my sister, Denise and her husband Shad, and how much fun they’d have remodeling and decorating some of the homes.
We finally rounded the corner, and headed back East on the leeward side of Isla Bastimentos again, and came into the Marina. Jude captained a good chunk of the way.
Back in the marina, many jellyfish had drifted back in. In this picture, most are males.
They eat small plankton, like mollusks, crustaceans, fish eggs and other small jellies, and grow up to 15″ in diameter. You can often tell what they have been feeding on because their color changes accordingly. Adult male moon jelly releases strands of sperm from their 4 gonads which can be clearly seen through their transparent bodies, and these strands are ingested by female moon jellies. After fertilization has taken place, larvae settle down onto the seafloor and develop into polyps. They live for up to 25 years and their juveniles are called ephyrae. The males have short fringe like ‘tentacles’, or cilia, where as the females are much smaller and have long cilia which sting when touched. I have been stung several times and for the first couple hours it feels like you’ve been burned with extremely hot water and after that the welts that form become extremely itchy. It’s quite invigorating.
When we were in Bocas the other day, I bought what I thought was yucca, but when I peeled them it was obvious that it wasn’t. The yucca I’ve peeled in the past has been covered in a slimy covering and these felt more like a sweet potato, but raw it tasted like jicama.
I cut it into chunks and cooked it up and once tender, covered it in butter and salt and pepper. It was really dry but quite delicious. The creatures put brown sugar on it and loved it that way too.
At the close of day, the marina looks so beautiful as it darkens and rests for the night.
I am so grateful for yet another day of life.
Adventure Day!
Today was filled with grand adventures. It began at 7:30am when we all (except sleepy Danny who was still resting from his stud day yesterday) dressed and went on an adventure in search of sloths and red frogs. Skyler and Mommy hadn’t seen them yet, and we felt obliged to show them the cute little creatures.
This morning was beautiful. Flowers were vibrant and the jungle was emerald green from last nights rains.
I never tire of the exquisite beauty that surrounds us, and just when I think I’ve seen all the flowers this Island has to offer, I see more. Like this one…
Each strip of compound flowers were about 8-10 inches long and resembled corn on the cob that was large and flat, and some had tiny flowers protruding from their tips. Amazing!
This one was interesting too, it looked like some whatchamacallit oozing out from a thingamajig, surrounded by exploding doodads. Nature fascinates me.
We came across a couple of sloths doing what they do best: sleep and ever so slowly eat. This one was making his way down at a snails pace in an upside down position.
From the top of the trail our view was spectacular…
We reached the trail that leads into the rain forest where the red frogs live, and I warned Mommy, telling her to watch out for the R.O.U.S’s and fire swamps. (For those who haven’t seen the movie, Princess Bride, a R.O.U.S is a ‘Rodent of unusual size’) Vultures even watched from overhead for left overs.
The jungle was so thick and alive. All the creatures climbed a staircase that leads to a platform used for ziplines.
We did find red frogs, and Mommy and Skyler thought they were quite cute, and loved the remainder of the hike as well.
After returning we were drenched with sweat and had worked up quite an appetite. Everyone chowed down and then the creatures worked on their school work and chores. Their next adventure involved going to the beach for a couple of hours while Danny, Mommy and I stayed to work on things on the boat.
Danny, of course got both engines running well. I guess that makes him a stud today too.
By the time the creatures returned they were so worn out and tired of the sun, that they came in and lounged around for a while. We were of course anxious to run the engines, so we counted heads making sure everyone was on board, and tossed up the dock lines and set off on the next adventure. When we started, Mycah and Skyler looked like this….and at the end of our adventure, they still looked like that. They slept through the whole thing which lasted a couple of hours!
We headed West then turned the corner looping around to the windward side of Isla Bastimentos, and ventured East for a while. I love the sight open ocean.
The water was incredibly calm.
The internet is slower than molasses on a cold winter morning right now, so I will continue writing of the remainder of our adventures in the morning….
Adventures of a Tribe 