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| The agave plant...the source of tequila |
Today I woke up pretty slow from the night before but I
made it to the market by 9am to grab a bunch of fresh vegetables. I found a papaya the size of a watermelon that was calling my name as well as a mini
pineapple. Love fresh fruit. Other than that I got the bare essentials including peppers, onions,
and pears as well as a bunch of cheese empanadas. Afterwards we summoned enough energy to head over to Las Greitas for
the rest of the day. It was much
different than when we were there last time because of the tides going on right
now. It was about 6 feet lower than normal and clear as day or as Joe put it
"I can see clearer underwater than above water.” On top of being crystal
clear you can see down the 45 some feet just as clearly. We swam around then
did some climbs. If you climb up 20 feet in this one section then another 15
from that it comes to a cave that then goes back until you can’t see the light
of day anymore. From here there’s no other way to get down but to jump back
into the water. Same place as one of the earlier videos I posted.
A woman we work with and lives over in the German section of
town was hanging out at the beach we passed on the way back. She was more than
eager to show us her house so we went to check it out. Right off of the beach
we passed through this picturesque blue gate that opened to a small winding
path around salt water tide pools. It then led to this blanketing path of
picture perfect, spongy, overgrown, grass that swerved to the porch of the main
building. The main building is no longer occupied and was sold by the owners to
a local hotel…Should probably mention that this is the childhood home of Tui
De Roy. For those of you who don’t know who Tui De Roy is (because I couldn’t
put a face to the name either) she is one of the world’s greatest photographers
with prints in nearly every National Geographic and plenty more publications
globally. Her parents who built this house were one of the first 100 people who
came from Germany back in the early 1900’s and built this very house. Built
from local materials it has a semi thatch roof, indoor garden, naturally
lighted displays, cactus infused windows (gives it a stained glass look) and a
porch overlooking the beach we were just at. Currently in the process of moving out, her
mother sold it, built a 4 story house in Bellavista and now 84 years old she
wanted money to travel the world for the rest of her life. In her youth and
knowing nothing of sailboat design they constructed a handmade sailboat from
materials they found on the island. Another fun fact, living on an island gives
you plenty of access to sea shells. The family’s collection holds some of the
rarest shells and was sold for more than any normal person would want to pay
for shells. Quite the life. Now, you can understand when given this as your
backyard in your childhood you could start out a photography career in the most photogenic archipelago. Tui now spends her time in both, the house of
her own behind this one, and a home she made in New Zealand.
As we were on the
porch hundreds of finches lined the trees, table, and ground looking for a rice
handout that they know will come. As
we leave the house there are exotic and definitely not native species of plants
growing in and around everything. If you look close enough there are is a
species of finch here called woodpecker finches. They are one of two species of
birds in the world that use a tool to find food. We watched this little guy for
quite some time, first find a thorn of his choosing, then start jamming the
thorn in holes throughout this branch hoping to stab whatever he can, whether
that be ants or worms. 
Behind this place is a special tree that grows graviola. It is a
fruit that is what I deemed nature’s version of yogurt. The inside is a
gooy-white substance with fairly large seeds. Although looking much like
the inside of a coconut it tastes like a mixed fruit yogurt container. Adding a delicious fruit
tree to this little ocean oasis it almost felt like we were back at Bellavista
in the Andes. Put that tree on my list of things to grow in my future garden : )
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| flower off of an exotic lilypad |
GAHHHHH, soon enoughh : )
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