Yesterday I was happily thinking about what a perfect day it was while I was cooking dinner...a hike up to the bat caves with friends...lunch at home, then an afternoon on the windward beach swimming and body surfing. While I was cooking I was thinking about all the animals we had seen that day and I counted 12, let me see if I can remember everything:
I've seen plenty of bats before, so for me the coolest thing in the caves was the whip scorpions, a first for me. Seeing them made me super duper careful not to brush up agains the walls, even made me wish I could levitate. Other animal musings: due to a bounty on donkey carcasses, the island donkeys have adopted a nocturnal habit (how clever!) so sightings are more and more scarce. I think an unforeseen consequence of this is we are often woken up by their bloodcurdling braying in the night. Bob assures me they are...having fun...but you would NOT believe the racket. They indirectly provide entertainment: yesterday morning (before light, thank God) one was SO loud and SO close to the house Bob felt obliged to stand on the front porch in his boxers and yell, "GIT! GIT ON OUTTA HERE! SHOOO! SHOOOOOOOOO" in his best cowboy imitation, and the donkey just flipped him off and kept at it. But later in the day on the way to the beach we saw a female donkey and two baby donkeys crossing the road, and NOTHING is cuter than a baby donkey, except possibly TWO baby donkeys. Loooong fluffy ears, omg.
So I was musing about all these wonderful animals we got to see, smiling because I loved waking up to the sound of doves cooing, feeling refreshed by all the exercise of the day, hungry for dinner...and as we sat down to share our meal together, the lights go out. No electricity. This happens about twice a week, but almost always during the day. Earlier we had lost water, and now no juice. I wasn't worried, because usually it comes on in under an hour. But the hours inched by, nothing. I missed my House rerun. Finally we just got bored and went to bed. And sweated. No fans. NO breeze. A couple times the power blinked on, which let me know which lights we had accidentally left on, but nothing. ALL night. I think I was up all night, hot and miserable. We still didn't have power this morning, and I was so cranky Bob took us out to breakfast at Oualie Beach. That's when I decided to scrap my list of wonderful things about Nevis and give my top eight least favorite things:
1) Losing water and/or power is a weekly occurance. And it is HOT here.
2) Ants. Lots and lots of ants. I have ant bites on my toes.
3) No bookstores, no sushi, no movie theaters and the library is crap.
4) Groceries are twice as expensive and the selection is small and inconsistent. And you know I love me some groceries.
5) Litter. Lots of litter in some places and nobody does anything about it. No recycling.
6) Stray dogs and cats. Nevisans can get FREE spay or neuter, but don't.
7) Dog fighting is a sport here.
8) People stop their cars in the middle of the street, to chat, to pick up or drop off riders, to run in and buy a loaf of bread...it's cute and weird unless you happen to be in a hurry.
But then, the power blinks on, the taps run hot and cold...another great swim in the ocean, a good laugh watching the goats frolic, a spectacular sunset...a shooting star, a double-rum punch...and all that other stuff doesn't seem to matter.
The photos: This afternoon Ava and Ishita having ice cream and cookies one minute, then the next minute Ava has lost her tooth.
Now for some tooth fairy magic! Then bed. And donkey serenade.
- Bats
- Whip Scorpions
- Cattle
- Horses
- Donkeys
- Goats
- Sheep
- Birds (pelicans, doves, bananaquits, cattle egrets, frigatebirds)
- Cats
- Dogs
- Mongooses
- Monkeys
I've seen plenty of bats before, so for me the coolest thing in the caves was the whip scorpions, a first for me. Seeing them made me super duper careful not to brush up agains the walls, even made me wish I could levitate. Other animal musings: due to a bounty on donkey carcasses, the island donkeys have adopted a nocturnal habit (how clever!) so sightings are more and more scarce. I think an unforeseen consequence of this is we are often woken up by their bloodcurdling braying in the night. Bob assures me they are...having fun...but you would NOT believe the racket. They indirectly provide entertainment: yesterday morning (before light, thank God) one was SO loud and SO close to the house Bob felt obliged to stand on the front porch in his boxers and yell, "GIT! GIT ON OUTTA HERE! SHOOO! SHOOOOOOOOO" in his best cowboy imitation, and the donkey just flipped him off and kept at it. But later in the day on the way to the beach we saw a female donkey and two baby donkeys crossing the road, and NOTHING is cuter than a baby donkey, except possibly TWO baby donkeys. Loooong fluffy ears, omg.
So I was musing about all these wonderful animals we got to see, smiling because I loved waking up to the sound of doves cooing, feeling refreshed by all the exercise of the day, hungry for dinner...and as we sat down to share our meal together, the lights go out. No electricity. This happens about twice a week, but almost always during the day. Earlier we had lost water, and now no juice. I wasn't worried, because usually it comes on in under an hour. But the hours inched by, nothing. I missed my House rerun. Finally we just got bored and went to bed. And sweated. No fans. NO breeze. A couple times the power blinked on, which let me know which lights we had accidentally left on, but nothing. ALL night. I think I was up all night, hot and miserable. We still didn't have power this morning, and I was so cranky Bob took us out to breakfast at Oualie Beach. That's when I decided to scrap my list of wonderful things about Nevis and give my top eight least favorite things:
1) Losing water and/or power is a weekly occurance. And it is HOT here.
2) Ants. Lots and lots of ants. I have ant bites on my toes.
3) No bookstores, no sushi, no movie theaters and the library is crap.
4) Groceries are twice as expensive and the selection is small and inconsistent. And you know I love me some groceries.
5) Litter. Lots of litter in some places and nobody does anything about it. No recycling.
6) Stray dogs and cats. Nevisans can get FREE spay or neuter, but don't.
7) Dog fighting is a sport here.
8) People stop their cars in the middle of the street, to chat, to pick up or drop off riders, to run in and buy a loaf of bread...it's cute and weird unless you happen to be in a hurry.
But then, the power blinks on, the taps run hot and cold...another great swim in the ocean, a good laugh watching the goats frolic, a spectacular sunset...a shooting star, a double-rum punch...and all that other stuff doesn't seem to matter.
The photos: This afternoon Ava and Ishita having ice cream and cookies one minute, then the next minute Ava has lost her tooth.
Now for some tooth fairy magic! Then bed. And donkey serenade.
