a handsome zebu bull with one of his cows on San Cristobal
Before I completely forget about some of the wondrous animals I interacted with whilst away, I thought I would upload a few images to share with you. You will have gathered by now, I’m passionate about animals, and in particular mammals – from the teeniest rodent through to gargantuan whales. All, wild and domesticated, human and not so human, fascinate me. I thirst to know more! Here are a few encounters…
This little creature with the fearsome teeth is a kingajou. He’s a nocturnal animal with an extraordinary prehensile tail (he hangs from trees with it). He eats fruit and insects with a long tongue that he also delights in sticking down your ear in the middle of the night. He also had a penchant for big toes…we were entranced by each other!
My birthday wish was to find dolphins…a day or so late but nevertheless we found a large, playful pod that swam with the boat. If you look very carefully you can see the shadows of them around the prow. Very difficult to photograph – a lot of swirls in the sea!
We managed to capture this one – just!
Sharing breakfast with Honey the parakeet – a traitor – he would have your finger off if he could!
Hence the photo of me wagging my finger at him.
A beautiful tiny, tiny rufus-tailed hummingbird flitting around the veranda. The image is possibly bigger than real life.
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February 5, 2008 at 4:07 pm
mary
It is so good that you relaxed and fell to sleep in the warmth with the open book awaiting your reawakening. Weren’t you the lucky one to see close up so many wonders of nature. Absolutely beautiful animals, birds and locations. The holiday of a lifetime. I had never heard of the kingajou – was he a sort of domesticated wild thing?
It must be a shock to be back in the old routine and the mud. You refer to the bobcat a lot – is it a sort of mini tractor?
February 5, 2008 at 10:39 pm
paula
Yes hugely lucky Mary.
Kingajou is a wild thing – apparently they are favoured animals to take out of the wild when babies and try to make domesticated. Unfortunately they are not good at being tamed, you can’t housetrain them and they are totally nocturnal and can be very destructive in domestic situations – so folk get tired of them and keep them caged in appalling conditions. This Kinga was a rescued one. The couple who owned the chocolate farm had an ocelot (another animal they take as cubs, and can’t cope with as they grow) again rescued. These two animals have enough freedom to return to the wild if they build up the confidence and if they haven’t become too imprinted. In the meantime they are well looked after.
Ah ha – my bobcat is my right-hand man, my mechanical farm worker. I panic if it breaks! It’s a skid machine, so it turns on a sixpence and has hydraulic arms for attachments such as scrapers, buckets, grabs etc. Weighs in at about 3 tonnes.
February 5, 2008 at 10:41 pm
paula
PS – Mary, I’ll take a photo of it in all it’s winter working glory!
February 7, 2008 at 3:18 am
heidi
It’s all so wonderful!! Iam sitting here listening to the wind and rain, still in my work clothes, boots, heavy socks, carharts (bib over-alls), thermal shirt, big wool sweater and there you are in your tropical glory warm and relaxed.
Good on ya!
The chocolate farmers sound like they are pretty groovy people, do they take in guests all year?
I love all the animals, the kinga , how special was that to get to know such a being?
Excellent pics, what kind of camera are you using?
February 7, 2008 at 9:09 pm
paula
It seems all a bit dream-like now, as it’s back to wellies and overalls, mud, rain, wind and…well, mud, rain and wind!
Yes, the chocolate farm couple are remarkable and well into their seventies. They don’t take guest, but delight in showing people around their holding, free…in payment you can buy some organic chocolate. What a hardship!
We were staying at Dolphin Bay Hideaway http://www.dolphinbayhideaway.com/
The animals were very special – I would have liked to have found more!
I have a cheap little Sony Cybershot 7.2 – it does me really well. I’ve never, ever taken photos before I had the blog, so I’m only learning. I thought I wouldn’t be able to frame a small segment of what I see and convey what I wanted to. But Robert tells me I have the knack and have wasted years!! Ah well…
February 12, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Jane
Brilliant pictures and amazing wildlife… I’m very envious! You look so peaceful on your hammock! I hope the holiday did you good. Jane
February 12, 2008 at 10:40 pm
paula
You have some totally stunning images of fabulous wildlife – so please can I return the compliment…