Leapin' lizards!

We were up VERY early this morning thanks to the dogs and birds.  Apparently, there is a lot to celebrate at 4:45 am if you are an animal here!  It was a bit hot in the house (we don't use the AC, as the fans are typically sufficient), so I moved outside to watch the sun come up.  That sounds like a realy lovely idea, but it actually takes a REALLY.  LONG. TIME.  Good think I had my book with me!  In the end, it was slightly anti-climactic because of the cloud cover, but I had waited the better part of an hour in the bug-infested dawn's early light, so a picture was obligatory. 

Yes, I know.  It's beautiful.  That's because you can't see the bugs.

I was more than a little thrilled to return to the house and find coffee made.  There is just something about coffee that makes things alright, no?  We enjoyed it on the bug-free comfort of the screen porch, while we discussed what to do with our two, short days remaining.  The winner for today:  visit Arch's Iguana and Marine Park!   

We had discussed making the 40 km (round-trip) trek to Arch's yesterday, so had done a little homework on hours, what a cab might cost, and what to bring.  By 8 am, we were heading up the driveway to hail our taxi with several pounds of cut-up bananas, and closed-toe shoes.  We negotiated what we thought was a pretty fair rate of $20 (each way) with a taxi driver who was a doppelgänger to the comedian, Paul Rodriguez.  He was accompanied (as the taxi drivers here seem to mostly be) by a friend who didn't speak, or really even move, the entire time.   As we drove, "Paul" chatted with us in Spanish, and we responded to the six words we recognized.  Incorrectly, I'm sure.  Note to self:  learn some gosh darn Spanish!

After about 25 minutes (no one drives over 40 MPH on the main road here), we arrived at the farm.   Paul said he would return for us at 10 am, and drive us home for the same price.  Deal!  

After paying the $20 (for 2) entrance fee, we walked down a short driveway and were immediately surrounded by iguanas.  I don't mean 5 or 10.  I mean HUNDREDS of iguanas.  With more rapidly dropping from trees or roofs, and descending various stairs and sidewalks by the second.  It was, at first, a bit disconcerting.  I am not, in any way, opposed to lizards.  I limit my complete revulsion for reptiles to snakes.  Having said that, however, these things were so snake-like as they crawled over each other dragging their long tails, that I had a brief, visceral response.   Over it quickly, we forged ahead.  "Be careful not to step on tails," called one of the attendants.  Easier said, than done.  

Andrew, with his mise-en-place of bananas, was swarmed the instant the first nub came out of the bag.  If you follow, you know that Andrew loves to feed all creatures (great and small, furry or scaly), and was in heaven for several minutes.

Feeding time

There were also other animals at the park:  

Turkey

Coco the monkey who immediately rushed over to hold Andrew's hand.

A pelican

Turtles

The point, however, was the iguanas.  So, having seen the other animals and with 58 minutes before we had to meet Paul, we returned to the swarm.  

The big guys liked to be scratched.

Seriously weird

We also took a few videos, if you're interested.  Warning - live iguanas!   Feeding Frenzy; Tree Descent; Andrew Pets an Iguana.

At 9:55, we headed back to the parking lot to find Paul waiting, as promised.  I love it when that happens!  He and his statue/friend returned us promptly to our VRBO.  

We had a bite to eat, and then lounged around the house with the fan going.  I know it's inappropriate to say this in the midst of the Polar Vortex of 2014, but it's hot as hell here!  About 2:30 pm we mustered up the energy to take the kayak out for an hour.   It had started to cool off due to some cloud cover, so it was a really nice paddle.   We returned back to the house, played with the dogs, and made dinner (burgers and, you guessed it - guacamole!).  Then we spent the remainder of the evening researching our next trip to Honduras.  Who's up for diving with the whale sharks in Utila next year, folks?  We've already picked out the VRBO!