We stocked up on groceries and things to “hibernate” during Carnival.
It actually was pretty calm here around us, but traffic on the autopista was
crazy. There is a yacht that spends time occasionally in our bay and it was
here for Carnival and it was joined by a pretty sailboat for a day. We referred
to them as “our” His and Hers toys. Mine is the sailboat. Ha!
doing a headstand seems to make sense????
Yes, the ATV is pulling the "surfer"
Jim & Jennifer brought friends visiting from Maine to
Picasso and it was very nice to meet them. We always enjoy their company.
Our friends Mary and Adam invited us to dinner at their
place along with 2 other couples. She made chicken enchiladas and refried beans
that were excellent. It was a fun night. Mary is a hoot!
We have been in hard core “booking things” mode for the
Antarctica trip. We booked 3 sets of round trip airline tickets. The round trip
from here to Buenos Aires (BA), the in country flight between BA and Ushuaia.
(the one that takes us to where we catch the expedition cruise) and the round
trip between BA and Iguazu for our side trip to Iguazu Falls. We booked the
Sheraton at Iguazu since it’s the only hotel right in the park. We added an
additional night in Ushuaia in the same hotel that Quark includes for one night
before the cruise. We felt more comfortable adding an extra night “just in
case”, plus there is plenty to see in Ushuaia. Plus, I’ve been doing research
on different Tango shows, Estancias, restaurants, and a couple of other day
tours for BA. I’ve finished the research for Iguazu Falls. We will spend 3 days
and 2 nights there and will spend part of a day on the Brazilian side and the
rest of the time on the Argentinian side.
The other time consuming thing is doing the research to find
all the layers of clothing we will need as well as other things we will buy on
our next trip to the States. (probably in May or early June)
We are also looking forward to a visit from a couple we met
on the cruise we took to Alaska. We did a few tours together. We have kept in
touch over the years and they are considering a move here and want to take a
look around as well as playing tourist for a few days. They are coming over the
long Easter weekend. (they both still work)
The trail we walk most mornings has started to pick up again
bird-wise. It was kinda quite for a while as it didn’t seem like much was
blooming for food. The Red-legged Honeycreepers are back. We have also found a
couple of new birds. One is an Oven bird and the other Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The Ovenbird is hard to get a decent picture
of since he walks really fast and doesn’t hold still for a minute. We have
never seen a sloth in there before, but we got a pretty good close up look at
one a few days ago. He was actually climbing fairly quickly for a sloth and was
gone went we walked back around. (we always walk the trail twice) The
Blue-crowned Motmots are back as well. One tree had 4 different kinds of birds
in it. Yeah!
2-toed sloth
pretty dragonfly
insect eating a smaller insect on my sleeve
Northern Scrub-Flycatcher
female Red-legged Honeycreeper
male Red-legged Honeycreeper
Streaked Flycatcher
Streaked Flycatcher
Rose-bellied Grosbeak - female
Ovenbird
Ovenbird
Ovenbird
Tropical Kingbird
Boat-billed Flycatcher
Lapwings in flight
Lapwing in flight
Pelican
Pelican
Pelicans
Pelican
Pelican - kind of looks like a drawing, but a normal shot
Frigate
Turkey Vulture
Roufus-capped Warbler
Streaked Saltator
Golden-fronted Greenlet
White-tipped Dove
White-tipped Dove
White-tipped Dove
Jesus Christ Lizard (Basilisk)
check out the ants on this cluster of flowers (better seen on Picasa)
The other day our washer quit working and of course it was
when it was full of soapy water. So, finished those in the sink and a few days
later we got that fixed so today I’m catching up on dirty laundry. Yeah fun
stuff…..
Yesterday morning we went to a wonderful memorial on the
beach to support Don in saying goodbye to his wonderful wife Phyllis who passed
away way too soon from cancer. She loved the beach and she loved to garden and
he had her ashes in a beautiful urn and her favorite trowel that she gardened
with and used that to scatter her ashes on the beach and into the water.
Cap filmed Don & his celebration of life of Phyllis
part of the group
We both had some issues and went to our doctor for some
routine bloodwork and to get our issues fixed. Mine is just an ugly little
toenail that has been oozing black stuff since we got back from the Amazon.
Plus, a few of my other toenails have some nail fungus and one of the toenails
is starting to lift. It’s 2 different things and will take different meds. We
laughed when we got the bill for the office visit. ($12.75 each) We went back
the next morning to have our fasting bloodwork done and go back Monday to get
results (Greg needs one more test) and if the bloodwork is fine he will put me
on some meds to get rid of my toe crud. We both got physicals basically. He did
EKGs on us. It was the first time I ever had to remove jewelry to have one
done. I think they were like $30 each. I
imagine our insurance will reimburse a good portion of the costs as well. The
doctor is a nice young man who’s English is very good. Most of the office staff
speak some English as well. He spends lots of time with you when you are in
there. We tried to make appointments, but they had us just go right back. There
have been times we just stopped in to ask a question and he has us come back
and chats and doesn’t charge a thing. We have had no problems with the medical
care here.
Summer vacation for the school kids comes to and end this
weekend. So, it has been a bit more noisy with family parties and fireworks.
Last night there were some really pretty ones.
Well, somehow it’s March already. The year is flying by
already!
Until next time……
