Shore Finds

This morning's walk on the beach was lovely. It was low tide, no breeze, very calm and still, which means sand fleas are waiting for a bite of you. A little squirt of insect repellent was required; somehow they always find the one spot you missed!

We were blessed to see this egret sitting out on this old chunk of coral and just as I zoomed in, he took flight.

This small starfish had washed up into the shallow water. He's oddly speckled.

Debi held him up to show off his other side. He had a tiny shell stuck to him (or her).

There were really no stray dogs out on the beach this morning - quite unusual; all of the other dogs, pets, were inside fences.

My taxi fears yesterday were allayed. Last night as I was walking down our hill to meet Kristen to share her taxi, our friend Courtney came driving down the hill and stopped to ask where I was going. She gave me a ride down the hill and offered to take me all the way to the Bible study at Debi's. I had her stop at the bottom of the hill so I could call Kris who was enroute, and just as she answered, her "bus" (a mini-van) pulled up in front of us. What timing! She was only too happy to get off and ride in Courtney's car - the "bus" was packed and 5 more workmen were trying to squeeze aboard. (I'm sure they would have liked the cake I was toting.)

It is very easy to catch a taxi here, just walk out to the road and wait; there is a steady flow of taxis and they will pull over when they see you. Of course, it's harder to be seen at night - there are very few street lights anywhere. The buses come by about every 10 mins. during the daytime. Taxis will stop and pick up passengers until their vehicle is full, unless you have paid them extra and indicated "no collectivo", then you might have the taxi to yourself. There have been a few instances of tourists being robbed at night by "passengers" the taxi picked up. I had no intention of sharing a taxi with anyone other than Kris, but was greatful that I didn't have to worry about it after all. God does provide. At the end of the Bible study, Debi and her husband insisted on driving both Kris and I home. I didn't have to ward off the driveway dogs, tarantulas, possibly a snake, and who knows what else, armed only with my flashlight and cake pan, while walking up my hill in the dark. I was especially thankful for that ride right to my house.