The Wayfaring Wordhack

 
A glimpse from Mount Benara. I spotted this hawk at the beginning of our hike. He paid us no mind as he was in the middle of tracking prey. He swooped into the leaf litter on the other side of the path just after I took this shot, but he came up empty-clawed. I sent our guidebook off in the shipping container and can't remember the exact name of this fellow off the top of my head. If my google-foo has not failed me, I believe it is a Frances' goshawk (or sparrowhawk).

 
In hopes that this brings lemur-spotting luck and not a jinx, I give you two maki pictures from Mayotte. I don't see these little critters all the time--mostly because they have been decimated on Petite Terre by the Mahorais who didn't appreciate them "stealing" their bananas--but I'm sure going to miss having the possibility of going to see them whenever the fancy strikes me.

 Subtitle: Better Late Than Never.

This photo is courtesy of my wonderful husband. That bright red cheers my day, and the homemade popsicle reminds me of simple childhood delights. Hope it brings joy and technicolor memories to your day, too.

 Every year, starting around the new year, bouenis set out their tiny grills, fill them with charcoal chips, and roast whole ears of corn. The smell is delicious and terribly tempting. I succumbed once, the first year we were here, and bought one. 

Blughblugh.

Anyone else grow up on a farm? Anyone else ever eat field corn? You know, the kind meant for livestock? Yeah, that's what they roast and sell. Without salt or pepper or butter.  Still, I often wonder as I walk by, do I risk my 50 centimes on the chance that, this time, it might be better?

Mayotte has no Toys 'R Us, no aisle after aisle of shelves crammed with toys, even in the larger stores; so kids make do with what they can. Tire-less bicycle wheels are a big favorite. But there aren't always enough to go around:

I haven't been posting photos lately because we still haven't recovered the hard drive where all of them are stored. We have some fantastically lovely ones (landscapes and portraits) from my brother-in-law and future sister-in-law's visit, but they are on J's MacBook.

So, I give you experiments with my new lens. These were taken on Sunday, at Musical Beach. Unfortunately, I took so many flora pics, I had no more batteries left for the race or, sadly, for the grand finish.

Lazy sod that I am, I'm not going downstairs to look in my field guide to find the name of these pretties. Both photos are of the same flower species that grow on a tree on the beach. They are butter yellow when they open and turn a mellow pinky-orange when ready to fall off the tree.

I went out on the boat today with mana_trini  and a friend to pilot for them while they spearfished. The morning was overcast, giving me this moody glimpse of Petite Terre's marina. After passing through a tiny patch of rain, we had fantastically blue skies and gorgeous aquamarine water. We even saw two dolphins calmly breaking the surface not far off. Alas, I was sick and could enjoy none of it. I fed the fishes no less than three times and forced the boys back into the boat before J caught anything.


( a panorama lurks beneath )

Ha! Now that I know to look for the chameleon in the avocado tree, I found him again this morning, and camera in hand, I set out--or rather sat in the window--to get a photo worthy of a glimpse. Alas, it shall not be a high-quality pic because he was at the top of the tree, and my window is on the ground floor; we don't have any on that side of the house on the top floor. So here he is, zoomed to the max. (We need better lenses. :-/ )


Conversation with mana_trini following the first sighting:

Me: I saw a chameleon in the garden today! ::bounces:: But I didn't get to take a picture because there weren't any batteries in the camera.
He: But they're on the desk, right by the camera.
Boring discussion ensues about batteries, in which the wubs is declared to be in the right.
Me: I sat in the garden for half an hour trying to catch another glimpse of it. No luck, but I did see it's droppings, so I--
He: Oh, do they change color, too?

:P

A sunset snapped in panoramic (and power-line) glory from our balcony. I don't think I wax poetic often enough about sunsets, and given the spiritual uplifting I experience when witness to a particularly lovely one, that's rather surprising. I guess part of that is because it's been a while--years in fact--since I've seen a breathtaking one. No sun-bathed hues I've seen in France or even in tropical locations like the Maldives or Mayotte can compete with the magnificence of the sunsets I stopped work and play to enjoy in Texas and New Mexico. The paradisiac locales lack the necessary dirt in the air. *g* Sorry about the wideness of the photo, but I made it as small as I reasonably could. :P




*Vivian is a twit. I heart Wilde.

A twofold glimpse today. First the more personal one: The house is packed, except the shower stuff, the contents of the fridge and freezer, and the cleaning products. The cleaning is underway but far from being finished. I just want to get the worst of it now, and I'll worry about the real clean-up after the house is empty. Claire called; the keys are with the landlord. As of 8am tomorrow, mana_trini  and I will no longer live here. No idea as to when we'll get the phone/net up running in the new place, so that means I probably won't be able to keep up with my flist. If you have something I need to know, you can comment here or email me.

And now for the glimpse of Mayotte, in keeping with the unofficial theme of J's work. This is one of the saddest glimpses there is I'm afraid, and the posting of these pictures is timely because we just heard on the news that a boat carrying illegal immigrants has sunk off the coast of Mayotte. So far there are six survivors who have been found out of the +/- 26 on board.

ETA: At least 6 people have been found dead. The count on the people in the boat was last given as being at least 30, and the gendarmes and legionnaires are still out looking for survivors. J doesn't know why he wasn't called in to help look or why the PAF (his branch of the police) hasn't been cited in the news reports on the tragedy.


(Taken by one of J's colleagues from the police helicopter). That's a Gendarmerie boat (military police) stopping the kwasa-kwasa.


(Taken by one of J's colleagues) The horrifying thing about this photo is that there are *never* kwasa-kwasas that come over with only men , and it's extremely, extremely rare to hear of one with less than 20 people aboard.