Birthday Wishes

Firstly, many, many thanks to all of you who left comments (that would be two of you) wishing me happy birthday; also to those who sent me emails and other birthday greetings. All were gratefully received.

I would especially like to say "Thank you" to my brothers who made such an enormous effort not to forget my birthday - oh wait, they made no effort at all... not a word via email, blog comment, telephone call, messenger voicemail etc. etc. It's good to know that two people who I'm so closely related to, care so much about me.

Anyway, my weekend was wonderful. The house is on the Rama Negra (The Black Branch) and took about one and a half hours by boat. The boat ride was like a bus ride but on the water, people get off at their local jetty (some privately owned, some public) but the way out is drop-off only and the way back is pick-up only. There are no roads therefore no cars. The only mechanical noises were from the neighbour who needed to strim his lawn (big lawn) and the radio commentary of a football match. However these didn't last very long and much better were the noises of the local wildlife.

I actually went out there on my own, never having been there before, with just a set of instructions and a hand drawn map. It is a bit of a trek especially as we have to take our own sheets, towels, bottled water (the tapwater comes straight from the river) and food. L joined me later and, once she had turned on the gas bottle, we were able to make a cup of tea and relax.

The house is basic but comfortable and clean. It stands on stilts for those times when the river floods. I was woken up in the middle of the night by something sniffing around the front door and on the roof. At first I thought we had an intruder but then I realised it was an animal - but I don't know what kind. I also saw a woodpecker, a bee as big as my thumb (black body with orange sides), a flying ant-like insect about an inch long (and orangey-brown). Everyone seems to have a dog but they are generally well trained (although they bark a lot).



The Tigre House (more on Flickr)

I really enjoyed it but all good things have to come to an end and at 6:30pm L and I caught the boat home. The journey back was a little hellish. There were a gazillion people trying to get back to BsAs, so much so that they had to send out extra boats to pick people up, we had to queue for tickets at the train station (unfortunately the return tickets are only valid for one day) and then squeeze our way onto the platform and finally onto a train. We were lucky in that we got onto the first train that came into the station. When we got back to BsAs, we went to a local cafe and had something to eat and finally to Persicco for birthday ice-cream - L's treat for me and a lovely way to end my birthday weekend.