Feeding time at the zoo

While typing out a list of ‘how to’ instructions for friends who are baby-sitting Sparky and our house for a few weeks, we noticed we had included a number of references to critters other than Sparky.  There are a myriad of instructions on the care and feeding of our free-roaming collection of pets that inhabit our small bit of the island.

Geek the Kitchen Gecko

We have Geek the Kitchen Gecko, who lives behind the fridge, and gives me a loud chuk, chuk, chuk greeting every morning when I turn on the coffee maker. Geek doesn’t require a lot of maintenance, except he likes a shallow dish of clean water to be available on the kitchen counter. A few times when he has tried to catch a drip from the kitchen tap it has resulted in a traumatic drop into a slippery sided enclosure with no traction for his Velcro-like feet. Rather than chase a panicky lizard around the sink, we have settled on letting him use the former-hand soap dish as a drinking bowl. Occasionally we pull the fridge away from the wall and vacuum his house, taking care not to suction him up with the poop. In return for our acceptance of his requirements Geek the Gecko does his best to eliminate mosquitoes and ants. 

King of the Beach - Thomas the Cat 

Before our famous seventeen-year-old Thomas the Cat passed away in April of 2016 there were a succession of kitchen geckos who had a brief and tension-filled existence.  We intensely miss our Tommy, but the household geckos had a disco party in celebration of his passing.

Stumpy the Iguana is about 15 years old 

While Geek patrols the interior of our house, the larger lizards inhabit underground burrows outside. There is a herd of about twenty five iguanas that mooch bits of fruit, veggies, and left-over pet food. They are similar to beach dogs, keeping a watchful eye on movements at Casa Rosa, Casa Luna, our house Casa K’aay Há, Casa Maravilla Caribe, and Punta Piedra. Any indication that someone might be willing to feed them, and the whole group will converge in a scurrying mass hoping to be the lucky one who gets the piece of mango, or papaya. They like to leave the boring broccoli or celery bits for the night-time beach-cleaning crew, the Hermit Crabs.

Hernando the Hermit Crab - we think ....LOL

The free-roaming Hermit Crabs number in the hundreds. They are probably the most labour intensive of our outdoor zoo critters. They require a daily supply of fresh clean water in dishes shallow enough to be accessible to small creatures, an assortment of scraps to dine on, and a steady supply of new shells to move into as they outgrow their current domicile. Hermit Crabs don’t create their own shells and must find larger homes on average every six months. Only certain shapes meet their requirements for comfort and accessibility. 

Hermit crab using a Pond's Cold Cream jar

The black and white turbo snail shells are their favourites, but the Hermit Crabs are in direct competition with tourists who also collect the beautiful and increasingly rare shells. Over the years we have purchased hundreds of substitute shells for the Hermit Crab shell exchange program at our crab-i-tat. The crabs take one – leave one.  We usually mark the purchased shells with red, orange or bright pink nail polish so that we can identify our frequent visitors.  And of course, since they are regularly swapping shells it is virtually impossible to recognize a particular Hermit Crab. You can never be certain of who you are chatting with!

Regular visitors 

And then there are the birds that visit every afternoon for a drink of clean water and a feather-cleaning bath. Soon after we moved here in 2008 we swept out the natural indents in the coral rocks just in front of our house. The birds quickly learned to rely on us for fresh water, happily congregating for a few minutes of social time in the late afternoon before heading to their roosting spots for the night. Even the iguanas, larger Hermit Crabs, or passing cats and dogs drink from the pools.

Sparky - star of Treasure Isla novel, waiting for the sequel

As for the instructions for looking after our almost-famous divo, Sparky, well those took up three full pages of computer printing.  We did mention he is a divo, a pampered, but we think very lovable, brat.

Being zoo keepers at our house is almost a full-time job.

Hasta Luego

Lynda & Lawrie

Join the hunt for pirate treasure on Isla Mujeres

$2.99 USD on Amazon e-books

5.0 out of 5 starsLoved it!

 5.0 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

By sharon on February 3, 2017

Amazon Kindle Edition |  Verified Purchase

I loved this e-book! It was an easy read, I loved the story line, the characters and reading a book about an island close to my heart was a bonus. The story was witty and full of fun facts about the island and its history. I'm hoping for a sequel!

Caribbean Sea - Lost & Found

Lost sole

It’s astounding.  The stuff that floats in from the Caribbean Sea is downright fascinating.  

From huge to tiny, boats to drift seeds, wood to rope, all sorts of weird and interesting junk gets tossed up onto the sand.

In our life BD, Before Dog, I combed our neighbourhood beach on a regular basis looking for fun stuff.  

Oars from Cuban refugee boat 

Now that we are WD, With Dog, my short, terrier-cross, walking partner doesn’t have a lot of patience for my frequent stopping and poking at strange items lodged in the sand.  Walks are all about him!  

It’s probably not a bad thing as our house was getting a bit crowded with the treasures I have dragged home. Our casa resembles a hut owned by castaways, salvaging anything that might be potentially useful.

One of my best finds was a set of long wooden oars used by Cuban refugees to land their insubstantial, home-made craft just a couple of hundred feet north of our house.  The boat was equipped with a diesel motor hooked up to a tiny plastic propeller.  The oars were necessary as a backup for the motor, and as assistance when landing the boat eighty-five miles from Cuba on Isla Mujeres.  Not a leisurely cruise, but a dangerous uncomfortable struggle towards a better life.

The start tangled and heavy. Small spheres under bench.

More recently I entertained three young workers with my valiant struggle to drag four hundred feet of wet, sand-saturated, seaweed-encrusted rope out of the water and up to our house.  

From their vantage point at the top of our ocean-side palapa they could chart my painfully slow progress.  They were still giggling when they joined me on the beach to drag my newest treasure home.  

Six hours later - a bit of fun for the patio

It took me six hours of untangling, and re-winding before I was satisfied with the results.  A large pale-blue rope ball now sits on our patio along with a collection of smaller spheres all made with various bits of rope scoured from the ocean.

We usually leave the various fishing net floats, solid pieces of lumber, or bits of netting out on the street.  Someone, somewhere on the island will find a use for these bits and pieces.  

The plastic bottles, old toothbrushes and other plastic junk we collect fairly regularly and toss into our household garbage.  It’s all part of living on an ocean shared by billions of people.

Prettier treasures include jars, boxes, and bowls of shells and fascinating seed pods in every size, shape and colour.  

Monkey Hearts (Sea Hearts) and Deer Eyes drift seeds

There is a sun-bleached turtle skull that I found several years ago, perched on the top of our microwave alongside a bowl of the fragile husks left behind by sea urchins.  

Another bowl holds a collection of volcanic pumice gathered from the beach.  It’s useful for scrubbing calloused feet and I have a thirty-year supply, just in case. 

And sea glass, oh, my goodness, sea glass.  White, aqua, royal blue, pale green and even a few bits of lavender.  

My favourite pieces of sea glass

I collected so much that I finally set it free - salting our beach with twenty pounds of sea glass that I didn’t need. 

It’s amazing how many visitors find sea glass in front of our house.   

I kept a few choice bits for me to eventually have turned into a necklace or a bracelet.  

Eventually.

Moto-helmet washed up on beach

There is always an abundant supply of shoes on the beach, never a matching pair just lonely, mismatched, barnacle-encrusted shoes.  A number of the lost soles have found their way to a shoe-tree built by a guest at Punta Piedra.  The shoes decorating the tree come and go, depending the whim of passing dogs who take a fancy to this one or that one as a good chew toy.  

Along with flip-flops and stilettos the occasional moto helmet floats up on the sand, or a set of keys.  Questions like: Why? How? Who? Flicker through my mind when I see them.

Lawrie repairing fiberglass moon

The most useful bit of flotsam and jetsam that hit the beach several years ago was not found by us, but another islander.  

It was an eight-foot tall fiberglass crescent moon, a very old remnant from an out-of-business bar in centro.  

Lawrie’s sister’s house is called Casa Luna Turquesa so as a surprise fun gift for Linda and Richard we purchased the moon.  

Garry - airbrushing on paint

Lawrie repaired the battered fiberglass shape and an artist friend, Garry Sawatzky, airbrushed on a new paintjob.  The moon has become a focal point of the large swimming pool at Casa Luna Turquesa.   

But the biggest bit of beach junk, was and still is, the navigational light buoy that drifted in over a year ago from the channel at the southern end of the island.  It’s huge.  Unwanted and unclaimed by the various government agencies it is slowly beginning to flake away, bit by rusty bit.   

We aren’t allowed to remove it, or cut it up.  Nature will gradually take its course and in twenty years’ time no one will know it was here.

Slowly, slowly rusting away. 

In the meantime, I really need to convince our little rescue mutt, Sparky, to enjoy beachcombing.  

There are some pretty cool treasures to be found out there.

Hasta Luego

Lynda & Lawrie

What is your address? ¿Cuál es su dirección de la calle?

Memorable entrance

It's a simple question that often leads to long descriptive directions, similar to – we live in Colonia Cañotal next door to so-and-so's house, across from the Mini Super, look for a yellow house with green and white trim.

Mexico is not the only country in the world with a confusing system of addresses, but most of our nearby neighbours originated from Canada or the USA. We are accustomed to a numbering system that has odd numbered house on one side of the street, and even numbered houses on the other side. The numbers typically radiate out from the centre of the town or city, increasing in numerical value further from the centre. We were required by law to affix our assigned number in a visible location on the outside of the house to assist the emergency services such as police, fire and ambulance to and ensure that the postal employees could find the address.

Our casa

On the other hand our house address here on Isla is a bit of a mouthful: Casa K'aay Hà, Lote #3 Circunvalacion Aeropuerto SM 02, M 204 Isla Mujeres QR 77400 Mexico. Just for fun I emailed four of our nearby friends to ask what their official addresses were. We all live on the east side of the street within a two-block area, on a road commonly known as Aeropuerto that runs along the east-side of the island.

Of the four friends I received four different addresses. One lives on Carretera Perimetral, two live on Circunvalacion Aeropuerto, and another lives on Carretera Garrafon. 

Some of us apparently live in the neighbourhood of Colonia Rancho Alegra, while the others don't. Lawrie's sister Linda, and her husband Richard live one lot south of us so their address is almost exactly the same as ours, except they are lote #1, the lot in between us is still vacant and would be lote #2.

Along this road there are several lots numbered 1, or 2 or 3 because every time the Manzana number changes – that's the M204 in our address – the lot numbers start over again. Many of our friends have attempted to number their houses with something recognizable, something that makes sense and the result is quite interesting: #216 is south of #305, which is south of #20. In other words if you were driving from the centre of town trying to find a specific number you would see #20, then #305, then #216. It's a good way to keep everyone guessing!

Other friends have chosen to name their houses in an attempt to be easily located by postal workers, delivery personal, or emergency services. Some of the best names we have seen are slightly humorous ones such as Sandra and Carl's Casa Spanglish, Brook and Paul's Cas-A-Beer, John and Betty's Casa Piolin (Tweety Bird) or Chuck and Marcy's Casa Gallo, (Rooster is Chuck's nick-name).

Linda and Richard Grierson call their house Casa Luna Turquesa (House of the Turquoise Moon). They have an easily recognizable turquoise crescent-shaped moon attached to the upper edge of the house. Harriet and Richard Lowe, on the other hand, chose Casa Flamboyan. The name aptly describes their beautiful multi-coloured home. A number of local folks just put a plaque with their family name on the house, and that works too. When we named our house Casa K'aay Hà, we thought we were calling it the Mayan equivalent of Singing Water, as it turns out the name can mean either Song Water or Fish of the Sea!

Well, with all of these choices for addresses no wonder the postal delivery folks have a challenge making deliveries. We have been lucky, always getting great service from the post office. 

Here's three hints that might help you get good service as well:

1. name your house, or put a number on it – anything to distinguish it from the others on your street
2. visit the post office with a photograph of your house and get to know the employees
3. stop by on November 12^th, National Postal Workers Appreciation Day with goodies, beverages, and of course a tip. (They are only open until noon on this day.)

We also offer a bottle of cold water, or a soda to any of the delivery people hired to drop off bank statements, utility bills, or parcels. A little kindness goes a long way towards getting great service.

As for how to find us, that easy! We either say we are on Aeropuerto across from the high school basketball court, or we say we are next door to Casa Luna Turquesa. Richard and Linda have been here on Isla longer than we have, and most people know where they live.  It's simple!

Hasta Luego

Lawrie & Lynda

An error correction: Along this road there are several lots numbered 1, or 2 or 3 because every time the Manzana number changes – that's the M204 in our address – the lot numbers start over again.    That should read Monzana - we have lived in this house for going on seven years, and all of our paperwork says Manzana (apple) but I just discovered the word is Monzana (block).  Too funny!

You can find us on the web at:

Humerous stories about critters we have known:

http://animalsandfamilymembers.blogspot.mx/

The Adventures of Thomas the Cat: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Adventures-of-Thomas-the-Cat-Las-Aventuras-de-Tomás-el-Gato

Colour and Confusion - Carnaval 2014

Every year it's the same.  Every year it's different.  Carnaval; it's a chaos of colourful costumes, confusion, and crazy-loud music.  Thumpa! Thumpa! Thumpa!  For the five days leading up to the forty days of Lent, the island reverberates with fun.

The schedule of events normally begins with the Coronation Dance on the Friday night.  It includes the crowning of kings and queens from various age segments, and finally the crowning of the official carnival king and queen.  In previous years there have been two parades on consecutive days both starting at three in the afternoon, give or take an hour or two.  For the Programa 2011 the parades were on Saturday and Sunday as they were in most other years. However, this year 2014, the two parades were moved to Sunday and Monday.  

Assuming the parade, as usual, would be late starting we arrived downtown at four in the afternoon on Sunday.  I was told by one of the carnival dancers that the parade was over, finished, done.  It had apparently started on time. "Really?" we shrugged, "oh well, let's go meet up with our friends at Jax Bar & Grill." 

Just as the waiter placed our cold beverages in front of us, the official Carnaval king and queen and their dance troupe came by!  Obviously the parade wasn't over.  It was just starting.  Recklessly scrambling down the asymmetrical stairs at the restaurant, I inserted myself into the crowds, hoping for a few good photographs.  

For the next hour several groups danced past, flashing feathers and flounces, gyrating north along Medina Avenue from the naval base towards the Auxles Hotel.  Again, another change.  Normally the groups congregate at the north end and head south towards the naval base.

Perhaps the Carnaval organizers wanted to shake things up a bit just to see if anyone would notice.

Slipping in and out of the crowd as I snapped photos I recognized a number of the participants.  One very hard working woman, possibly the owner of a local dance studio, annually leads her large troupe of dancers ranging in age from five to adults.  She cajoles, encourages, and entreats the dancers to stay in line, keep moving, stay focused, and most importantly - smile.  I am in awe of her patience and talent.  

The costumes for this group were outstanding as always; confections of fur, feathers, pink and blue gauzy fabrics, sequins and face paint.  Her theme this year was jungle cats, big cats, cute and snarly cats. 

Standing on the street and looking back up to the upper deck at Jax Bar & Grill, I noticed one of the patrons tossing multiple strings of Mardi Gras-type beads to the groups below.  

A look of delight brightened the face of the Carnaval queen as she caught one of the flying strands, happily displaying her colourful trophy to the group.  

The man tossing the beads lives part-time on Isla Mujeres, but his primarily residence is in New Orleans.  He wanted to inject a bit of Mardi Gras fun into the event, promising to bring more sparkling beads for next year's parade. 

Look what I caught!

Amongst the other dance troupes this year were several friends: Yadira Velázquez Medina, Jeannie Poot Hau, Bonnie Hamilton and Alexis Graboskie. 

They have had a very strenuous schedule in the months leading up to carnival with dance practice most nights of the week, and then four days of dancing in parades, on street corners and at the official events. 

One troupe of dancers did a special appearance at Richard and Linda Grierson's Casa Luna Turquesa.  
After a few technical difficulties (someone had misplaced the USB  that held their dance music) their enthusiastic presentation got underway.  

In front of Casa Luna Turquesa on Aeropuerto Rd.

The ladies did a spectacular job in the hot afternoon sun.  It was a bit of impromptu fun for the neighbourhood. 

After a refreshing cold drink or two they proceeded on to the next location, Brook Prinsen and Paul Ricker's house, Cas-a-Beer, for more dancing.  These extras dances are how the participants earn money to pay for their elaborate costumes.  The hat, or bucket, or box is passed around through the crowd.  Dig deep folks, and help them out!  Carnaval just wouldn't be carnaval without the various dance troupes.

I am not having fun.

Later in the day when I downloaded my photographs to my computer one in particular made me laugh aloud. One young lad, who was at the head of the largest dance troupe had an expression that said: "I am not having fun.  And you can't make me!" 

I realized his cat costume and annoyed expression perfectly matched my fifteen-year-old cat's expression when he is annoyed.   When the youngster is older he might find the whole parade-thing amusing, but on that day he was not pleased.

Tommy - looks like the young lad in the cat costume

But now everything is finished, the fun, the festivities, and the crazy music. Only eleven more months until the next Carnaval - February 11th to 17th in 2015.  

It's the same, and it's different. Similar events, different dates. Similar groups, different costumes, and possibly different parade dates, times and routes!    

We can't wait.  

Hasta Luego
Lynda & Lawrie

Lawrie dancin' with the ladies at Casa Luna