I bought fruit as well, so I should be fine. Gerald is another story. If you know him, he is picky. Hard to shop here for him. Although, he did eat lobster and shrimp ceviche last night. I told him it was chicken! =)
It was delicious – but a little too spicy for us. Sheldon said he would lighten up on the jalapeños next time! Next time? HA!
The caretaker here, Francisco, said he would take Gerald fishing soon so maybe we’ll have some fresh fish to eat! Pictures of the big “whale” he hopes to catch will be posted of course!
Today promises to be a good day. The sun is actually shining. Hopefully Tropical Storm Richard will just keep to himself over by Honduras
Out on the Palapa it’s absolutely gorgeous. Sun shinning. Quiet. A nice steady breeze. I’m looking forward to taking a nap out here! On the way back to the condo, we spot a stingray in the mangroves. He must have found something, because he was stirring up the bottom. (hope you can see him in the pictures!)
Gerald makes breakfast. Bacon, egg and cheese sa’mich. Mmmm. I have to remind him to break the eggs in a cup first. These are brown country eggs…I don’t want a fried chicken sa’mich. I cut up the papaya and kiwi we got at the roadside stand and eyeball the pineapple. I’ll cut it up tomorrow. Unfortunately, we just missed the mango season, but the avocados are huge… and I can’t wait to eat my first one!
We decide to take advantage of the sun today and head out to the pool. We meet another couple, Jan & Bobby) who have been here for a few weeks. They have already done a lot of the touristy things, so we soak up the information. Bob and Judy are coming in November, and we will try to do some of those things with them. Always better to do things with friends than alone!
Bobby says that he and Francisco are going fishing tonight and invite Gerald. (He’s in heaven!). After a few hours in the sun, we head back in to clean up. We have to walk up to Paradise to get Gerald a fishing pole for tonight! (The owners of our condo also own Paradise Resort. We get to use all their facilities, including fishing poles, equipment and boats. For our first time here I thought it was a good idea to have the extra amenities). Luckily Sheldon and Alan are down this way working on a boat and they give us a ride on their golf cart to the resort to get the fishing equipment.
We get to the equipment shack and most of these lures are gi-normous! What size fish are we talking about here? We better tie the rod to the dock or we’ll be yanked and drug out to sea! (a scene from Jaws enters my mind! da-dun…da-dun…da-dun…da-da-dun!) Sheldon doesn’t set us up with the big stuff though (thank gawd!) but it’s still a large hook. He also takes us to get shrimp for bait. Apparently the fish love it. If nothing, we can have shrimp scampi for dinner!
We saw some big moon jellyfish in the canal too. They are as big around as a large dinner plate…really cool to watch them waft in the water looking for food! I see a little crab that got a hold of one and he is having a feast! Guess we won’t be swimming in the water there!
Threats of Richard becoming a hurricane have everyone on alert. Most times these pass by, so they will pay close attention to the forecast and plan accordingly. Either way, it doesn’t seem as if it will turn out to be a big one.
Fishing was fun. A steady breeze kept the skeeters at bay. Francisco fished for bait with a spool of string and a hook (no pole). And Bobby and Gerald mostly fed the shrimp to the fish with their jousting pole sized fishing rods. There were lots of bites…but the fish here don’t act like the ones back home! Gerald didn’t catch the “big one” but he did catch some sort of sea slug or conch. No one has ever heard of catching one that way! But he sure didn’t want to let go of that little piece of shrimp. We couldn’t figure out how to get the hook out of him, but as we were pondering the dilemma, he let go! Weird! No fish for dinner tonight!
The company was great and we’ve made plans to get a poker game together! Better get busy on uploading the pictures for everyone to see.
Gerald heads out fishing again this morning – hoping today he will catch the “big one.” He forgets his coffee so I take it to him. I notice hundreds of dragonflies hovering above the mangrove on the ocean side of the condo. Strange. So I take a stroll out to the palapa. There are MILLIONS of them, and they seem to be flying in from the ocean! Fascinating! Are they coming inland for shelter because they sense the storm coming? Or are they just feasting on all the darned mosquitoes! Hopefully, the mosquitoes. MOSQUITOES! HOLY COW! I forgot…I gotta head back in and spray down! Because, despite the fact that I wear “eu de Off” in layer upon layer, I’ve still been bitten by the skeeters and no-see-ums. Guess you can’t avoid it – better get used to it.
So I stroll back toward the condo and I spy a cute little crab in the mangroves and stop to observe him. Mostly camouflaged with browns and grays, but his legs and claws have this beautiful striking blue color. A bigger version of the one I saw eating the jellyfish yesterday. He actually raises his body and looks up at me … then waives his little blue claws around (as if to curse at me for bothering him) and scurries off. He then stops abruptly when his eyes become hidden behind a mangrove root. I laugh out loud…just like a little child who believes if they can’t see you…you can’t see them. Thanks for the chuckle this morning little fella, but you better do better than that, or that stingray I saw hanging out here yesterday will have you for lunch!
It’s cloudy and sprinkling this morning. I think it will be a good day to take a nap and catch up on my sleep! =)
All the locals are taking their boats inland. Guess we better get ready too. Sheldon came and told us the American Embassy has called them to ask us if we want to evacuate. No one else has, and since it’s not supposed to be bad (now only supposed to be a tropical storm or maybe a category 1), we’ll probably stay. We shouldn’t have any crashing waves since we have the reef to protect us and the building is totally concrete - floor to ceiling. Besides, we can go up to Paradise or shelter in one of the upper condos if it gets too bad or the water gets too high. All standard stuff in the life of living in the tropics I suppose. If the locals evacuate... I'm definitely leaving!
Sheldon and a couple of guys bring in the furniture from the veranda and store it in the second bedroom. They’ll come tomorrow and strap the doors down. Right now the weather is ok and you would not know anything was happening. The sun even occasionally peeks through. But I’ve told my brother Greg that I’m prepared. I have memories of when we went through these in Okinawa when I was a kid, and I’ve tried to tell Gerald what to expect. We have plenty of water, food, flashlights, batteries, candles, matches/lighter, first aid kit, my handy-dandy Swiss Army Knife, rum, ice and lime (I had all that in my purse!). We should be fine. Still waiting for that attachment Greg! =)
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