We got to enjoy the condo for 2 days before we left, I really like the colors. I tried to get a pic the morning we left but the light was coming straight in as it was early morning and the pics are kind of blown out.

We finally got out on the road at 4pm on the 23rd. So, it was dark and around 9pm when we got to our friends land in Calderitas. We found the gate and pulled down their long driveway through the jungle. They were up and we had a good time chatting for awhile. They had some preliminary plans for the houseing development they are working on and we got to look at those. Really nice. They have accomplished a lot since they bought the land.

This morning we could see just how much work they've done. There is a lot more land cleared and it is starting to have a park like feel to it. The weather has been pretty good, it's hot in the afternoons but that means it is time to sit in the shade and talk. Around 4pm, a breeze came up and it was pleasant.

I was thinking about the weather this afternoon, I realized that many of my friends would not like this weather at all. It's hot and it's humid but the air is fragrant and feels like soft silk. Sometimes you just sweat and have to kind of get into the zen of sweating. The jungle is so present when you are in it, it isn't like a nice vista somewhere it is right in your face. It's full of noise and smells strongly of life and decay.

Lots of birds here, we saw a pair of parrots and heard a toucan. There are the loud and raucous Yucatan Jays that schreech and complain whenever something comes into their space. I always want to see before I step when I'm in the jungle, I am not a big fan of insect world. But having to have that kind of awareness is sometimes good, I know I never just sit somewhere or step through brush without looking carefully. What I hated was getting out into the brush last night to open the gate. There was no way to stay on the road so I had to walk out through it in the dark. I admit I got back in the rig and brushed myself from head to toe, even taking off my Crocs to check inside them.

Kathe & Colleen had a dinner to attend on xmas eve so Mimi and got out our new barbeque, a couple of rib eye steaks we'd smuggled from the states. We grilled baby potatoes, carrots and mushrooms and had a cucumber and dry doble cream cheese with balsamic vinegar salad. We had a wonderful dinner alone in the middle of a lush jungle. Feliz Navidad to all of you.