Monkey Business...

We are currently re-doing all the wood work on the boat which means every piece of wood surface has to have the old varnish sanded off and 4 new coats of varnish applied with a light sanding between coats. We have Charlie, one of the locals helping us with this project. Yesterday we had finished all the initial sanding and the first coat of varnish went on, so we decided that rather than take a chance that Miss O's little finger or toe prints would appear on a freshly varnishes wood surface, her and I got on a bus up to the Grand Etang rainforest in search of the elusive mona monkeys. The roads are so twisty and windy and narrow and there are clearly no speed limits here. I'm not even sure all my internal organs are still attached where they should be, but never the less, we made it to our destination. It was an overcast day to begin with which means that up in the rainforest, it is shrouded in cloud or raining - we got both. We walked the paths where the monkeys are usually seen and even stopped at the local cafe for a sandwich while we waited for the furry critters to make an appearance. Just as we were giving up and searching for a bus home....voila! The furry little creatures appeared out of nowhere. I guess even in mating season they have to come out for sustenance sooner or later. They are clearly used to being fed by awestruck tourists because as soon as they saw that we had a banana and a mango for them, they made a complete bee-line for us. They were happy to accept our fruit and peel it ever so carefully before scarfing it down and then retreating back into the jungle once they figured the buffet was over.

Finally...the monkeys!!


These little guys love to peel mangoes and bananas.

Olivia had her very first official sleepover at her friend Lala's boat. She has slept away from us once before, but that was with people she has known forever and are closer than family. She was so excited and seemed so non chalant about us leaving her there that Ron and I both had one of those moments where you silently question why your child can so easily leave you. Just as we were about to lock up and turn out the lights for the night, the VHF buzzed and it was Lala's mom, Mariola calling us to say that Olivia wasn't ready to stay and wanted to come home. When we dingied over to their boat and picked her up, she said "mommy, my magination told me I missed you and daddy too much". Gotta love it.

We haven't embedded ourselves too much with the scheduled social scene here, but we do head over to Hartman Bay on Sunday's to play dominoes with some of the cruisers - it's a great way to get away from boat chores,relax and enjoy the company of others.

This coming week is the annual Carnival here in Grenada and it's a very, very big event. The entire island shuts down during this time and the parades and parties are endless. Preparation for this event starts the day after it ends the year before and we have been feeling the excitement building throughout the island. We feel lucky to be here and get to experience some of it. The events go all through the streets and are 24 hours a day for 4 days.