Party day

Photo of the Manatee and of Blake and myself at our birthday celebrations.

Because we are such a big group we didn't stay overnight with the hosts so a taxi ride home to the guesthouse completed the day.
Home Stay Day 2 began with a trip to see where we might be living follwed by a visit to the Botanical Gardens where huge water lilies threaten to block the waterways. The leaves were about 2-3' in diameter and the flowers stood 2 feet high. The birds here are so colourful, parrots and mackaws and orioles and a hundred others I cannot name - but I am sure Gwynneth and Pam can.
Like all things in developing countries it would be unfair to compare the maintenance and upkeep with that at home but given their limited resouces and the kind of growth that is here the Gardens proved to be a cool and pleasant place to take a walk where there were picnic tables and many locals fishing for Tilapia in the creek.
The Zoo was the next stop and it was a sad site although not the worst conditins I have seen. We are told that it has improved in the last year and it was interesting to see Harpie Eagles standing almost 4 feet high with legs as thick as tree branches I certainly would not want to meet one of those in the forest. Of note also was the labba a local animal which to me looked like a rat on stilts and which ate its food sitting like a squirrel or gopher. Much could be done to improve this though if only there was more money or a concerned donor.
Perhaps the most strange animal for me was the Manatee which looks like a seal in some ways but does not seem to have a well defined head. It is large and feeds on vegetation (i.e all the grass cuttings) and it seems to vacuum them all up along the surface of the water with its wide mouth. They are an endangered species but as I had never seem before I was interested to learn about them.

On our return to Terri and Jim's we helped prepare for a VSO Home Stay pot luck.This was a great get together with old and new volunteers. There are three VSO apts in the same compound so it made it easy for getting together as only one group came from a few blocks away.
The party was held on October 15th and unbeknownst to Blake (partner of Jessica a new VSO)and myself, Mick and Jessica had got together to buy a deicious Chocolate birthday cake and we celebrated together our two birthdays - Blake's on the 14th and mine on the 16th. Add to that the wine and beer and everyone was very happy including Blake and me. A great ending to our initiation into life in Georgetown as VSOs.

Have to leave the A/C now and return to the guesthouse so will continue when I can.As you see so far there is no real hardship for us and we are doing and seeing lots but I am sure our time will come!