Friday, December 01, 2006

10/1 – Cheeky Monkeys

There is only one rule regarding the monkeys – don’t feed them. So of course I did. Then the innocent monkeys became cheeky monkeys, stalking us and our home. Once they found out we have food, they wanted it. No exceptions. We would pull the curtains back and they would be hanging in front of the window with their little hands out. We would be sitting on the deck and they would rush us to scare us into running away and leaving our food. They would hiss at the cats that we feed faithfully to steal their food. They got to be a little scary.

The hotel lets acrobats come and perform once a week. We were luck enough to catch their show. They were amazing but the audience was horrible. No one here claps so it is really awkward. The children wanted to get involved and basically took over the show. There were only a few of us that offered money in the end. We all know what the Europeans were saving their money for….. just kidding.

Later in the day we went for a walk to the ritzy hotels further down the beach. At one point the beach gives out to the water and a rock wall before continuing. We had two options – go over it or around it. We chose to get in the water and rough it out. All was fine until we got half way through. The water surged up and smashed us against the rock. The jagged stones cut at our feet and hands and we struggled to stay up right and moving forward. I had a series of blood blisters and rocks in my foot, as well as “rock rash” all over my hand. Tara had a huge gash on her leg and cuts on her foot. We were soaking wet. Tara thought it was hilarious and kept laughing. I was totally steamed. I eventually laughed about it, much later.

There were too many “Beach Boys” in that area so we used the Internet and headed back for some quite time on the beach. We were both ready to clear our brains with a Candice Bushnell book and journals. I don’t think we moved for hours.

Later in the day we spent an hour riding camels along the beach. Although our bums were pretty sore it was a load of fun. Right before we got off the camels another man, with a string of camels, came over and started fighting with our leader. I guess he had “called” us and our leader had heart his feelings by helping us out. It got pretty hot and heavy so we crawled off, gave our money and took off to watch from a distance. It only cost about $7, but I guess that is a ton for locals here. I felt bad but what can you do – I had no idea we had been “called.”

Dinner tonight was in a cave near the beach. It was simply gorgeous. They had remodeled one section of it with electricity so huge chandeliers could be hung from the ceiling. Every nook and cranny had a candle in it. There were fresh flowers on the table with more candles. It was totally romantic. Not that I don’t like Tara, but I was missing Jeremy and wished he could have been here. He would have loved this place. I ate a fantastic roast duck in an orange sauce and passion fruit cheesecake. Not cheap, but totally worth it. Tara stole toilet paper from the bathroom, so I guess we got a discount. She was so proud when she pulled it out of her bag. She cracks me up!

The staff here is great, and always willing to show us something new. I would consider myself pretty street smart but all was thrown out the window when a male staffer took Tara and I into the woods to see Bush Babies. It’s probably not the best idea to go trampling in the middle of no where with a man you don’t know in a country you are not familiar. You really have to trust your instincts here and luckily mine were right. There were Bush Babies and they were amazing. They are sort of like raccoon/ferret/cats. They had yellow eyes that glowed in the dark. They loved bananas and ate a pile of them. They got pretty close but wouldn’t eat out of our hands. I wish I could take one home.

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