Monkey Bay Marina...

...cruisers and other animals.


TBH and I are not very social animals these days. It's quite a surprise as most of our previous lives were spent 'moving and shaking' in the social whirls of life. These days we tend to say that we are not stand offish, just socially independent! Don't think anyone believes us though...

So we don't really get in to conversation with a lot of the other cruisers, beyond the niceties of a quick good morning or polite decline of invitations to potlucks and other 'group' events. It's not personal just the way we are.

It probably doesn't help that we are in work mode these days too. Not busy doing boat jobs or planning passages (well only in my mind). It means that we don't have a lot in common right now with the folk that surround us.

One of the reasons we enjoy Monkey Bay Marina so much is that there is no bar, no restaurant, no pressure to 'join-in' activities. I find that all a bit too much like practice for the dribbly farm! There have been more than a few social bullies on the Rio this season, the ones who 'insist' that you really will enjoy whatever it is they are planning to organise next. Yuch!

But every so often somebody pops up who enthralls me with their conversation. One of the recent additions to my 'passion for life' category is Joe. Joe is a big guy, tall and well built with surprisingly delicate facial features, a neat clipped white mustache and a twinkle in his eye. Married to his high school sweetheart Cathy for 51 years they are here on their sailboat Sundog.

Now Joe was a biologist before his retirement. he worked in Alaska and his great passion in life was the  Char, a surprisingly interesting fish. I sit mesmerized as Joe guides me through the geological upheavals on our world that have let to the division of the species of the Char. His explanations of the adaptability of this fish fascinate me. And just as delightful is to hear the passion in his voice as he describes the research that he undertook.

Most mornings I wander across to the palapa that sits over the river, right now the mimosa tree that abuts it is alive with hummingbirds, flitting from bloom to bloom gathering nectar with their needle like beaks. I can sit for hours watching them at work. Joe has taken some wonderful photographs of the animal life here at Monkey Bay and kindly has allowed me to reproduce them. You can see how lucky we are to enjoy surroundings like these.

The hummingbird is a variety call 'rufus tail' , that refers to the colour of the tail and it is a common variety from Mexico down to Venezuela. being from Europe I find it all very exotic!

You can actually hear the sound of the wings humming as they are flapped at incredible speed.

Amazing! In case you can't work this one out it's a snake swallowing a rather large frog. Joe said that the frog nearly got away a couple of times but ultimately became just another lunch....