Well, only to Judi perhaps. Today I was hanging out with a Boa Constrictor. Or rather it was hanging onto me, around my neck. Not something I do every day, but I trusted my guide who said she (the snake) was just a youngster and not poisonous. It was just one of many highlights. Now ladies you probably already knew this, but I discovered that you can tell the sex of male iguanas by looking into their ear. If you look through the skull toward the other ear of a male iguana, you see light! All this and some fantastic parrots, other birds, fish, turtles in the Fijian forest setting of the Kula Ecopark. It is a fantastic education center for all ages. When feeding tuna to turtles, let go of the tuna first. So many valuable lessons. There are 5 species of parrot that are specific to five separate Fiji islands. You discern their address by their colouring. So why don’t they just fly away and mix up the species? It seems they like it at home. There are over 300 islands that make up Fiji. But to save all species from extinction, next time I see a mongoose on the highway, I’m told to run over it!
Big spark and bang thunderstorm last night. Just the topping on an evening that was not going well. I thought I had some kind of jungle fever. Probably had more to do with a very poor late lunch in Sigatoka which left me so queezy that I did not cook dinner. Power was off anyway. So I was straight into a comfortable bed to sweat it out. Once the thunderstorm and torrential rain began, I gave up hope of a Canadian Forces Medi-Vac. By morning, with the help of two Tylenol, I cooked bacon & eggs with potato and two cups of tea; then at least a litre of water. The restorative drink!
It has been much cooler today, heavy overcast and windy all day and I was preparing myself to hunker down with a book. Recharged my Kobo. Recharged myself too. But when no rain appeared by noon, I ventured out.
I was sufficiently revived to walk the short distance to Kula EcoPark. I had lunch when the turtles were fed except my tuna was cooked. And tonight I cooked chicken with onions (non-Fijian way, I removed the bones before cutting it into small pieces), classic North American mixed vegetables and potato. I could only buy what I could use up in three days. I’ll donate the leftover cooking oil.
So now I feel much better and this should be a good (Thursday) night. The plan is to spend Friday night here, move to Nadi for Saturday night, reorganize my flight bag and day bag and fly to Auckland, Vancouver and home all on Sunday, arriving only 4 hours after I left Fiji. Yes, I am aware of the date and I will be extra careful.
Watch out next time you dine with me, I now possess a genuine Fijian cannibal fork. Certainly takes the uncertainty out of chopsticks.
The rain that started as soon as I returned from Kula Park developed into a full storm which raged all night. Torrential rain and strong winds. Of course this would have been the time when I would be off the boat anyway, but nevertheless glad to not be at sea last night. In fact, boats in Savusavu Bay were moving off the docks and onto mooring buoys to ride out the storm that they could see coming this weekend. Always a great discussion as to which weather service was the better or who was best at interpreting grib lines.
This morning the power is off so this blog as well as the last one, may be sent later. Hardly seems smart to take the bus into Sigatoka in the pouring rain to see if they have power. I have recharged my Kobo yesterday, so I can just curl up in the mist and read. It is the kind of day that needs a west coast fireplace. They do not exist here. The cabin is rather dark with the heavy clouds. I had to use a flashlight to chase out a toad that hopped aboard when I slipped out with the garbage. Toto had enough of the rain, even for a toad, and required the gentle coaxing of an egg flipper to get out the door before more mates arrived.
And still it rains…
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