This morning as I was about to take my shower (always a challenging experience in a facility run by solar power with a gas-fueled on-demand water heater designed to run as economically as possible) I picked up my backpack to find a very unhappy little scorpion. I was as unhappy to see him as he was to see me but we both kept our cool, and he kept his tail folded down, no doubt to save any wrath for a later and more serious encounter.
In truth, we were told that the scorpions here are not poisonous. That doesn't mean it wouldn't hurt to be stung, however. That looked to be a pretty serious stinger had he decided to deploy it. Worse, the encounter would not only have hurt me but would probably have been fatal to the little scorpion. He fled. I put my backpack down elsewhere and we both hopefully went on with our daily activities.
There is flora and fauna aplenty here on the slopes of Maderas. I can hear the howler monkeys constantly. Sometimes they are close, though I haven't seen one yet. We have been told that there are Capuchin monkeys further up the slopes of the volcano, but that it takes more than a bit of hiking to see them. The Urrucas are a constant -- chattering, carrying on, and showing off in the way of corvids. While I do, in fact, miss the rustling and calling of the Grenadine bats and, in a way, the caterwauling of the feral cats there, I am not without nightly companionship. There is a little Gecko in the room chirping sweetly for its mate (and not once has it talked to me with an Australian accent or tried to sell me insurance.)
In truth, we were told that the scorpions here are not poisonous. That doesn't mean it wouldn't hurt to be stung, however. That looked to be a pretty serious stinger had he decided to deploy it. Worse, the encounter would not only have hurt me but would probably have been fatal to the little scorpion. He fled. I put my backpack down elsewhere and we both hopefully went on with our daily activities.
There is flora and fauna aplenty here on the slopes of Maderas. I can hear the howler monkeys constantly. Sometimes they are close, though I haven't seen one yet. We have been told that there are Capuchin monkeys further up the slopes of the volcano, but that it takes more than a bit of hiking to see them. The Urrucas are a constant -- chattering, carrying on, and showing off in the way of corvids. While I do, in fact, miss the rustling and calling of the Grenadine bats and, in a way, the caterwauling of the feral cats there, I am not without nightly companionship. There is a little Gecko in the room chirping sweetly for its mate (and not once has it talked to me with an Australian accent or tried to sell me insurance.)
At about 4:30am this morning, though, things really began to get serious. I heard, close to the cabin, "The thing that goes Wow! In the night." I have no idea what it might be, though my best is a frog of some kind. Its call started out with a low bass murmur which most of the time built up to a loud "wow!" that sounded as if it were made by a breath intake. After some exceptionally long buildup the "wow!" was followed by something that sounded like an arrow being released from a bow. Whatever made those sounds, I hope it attracted her.
This afternoon I found a spider the size of my hand behind the bathroom door. Again, I left it to its own devices, most likely to eat something that I'm sure I'd like much less than I liked the spider. At lunch, thousands of tiny, tiny ants found their way onto the restaurant menu, no doubt to see what they could expect from the kitchen. As yet, however, we have yet found the need to deploy the mosquito netting provided for our beds.
Vultures are riding the breezes that come from the Caribbean and sweep up the eastern windward slopes of the volcano. Whatever you think of vultures, they are amazing gliders and soarers. Several came into eye me while I was sitting out by the pool this morning. I assured them, as loudly as possible, that not only was I not dead, I had no intention of expiring any time in the near future and most certainly not before lunch.
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