Cruising Down the River

One evening last week we went on an excursion to the Bird Sanctuary with four other senior couple. One of the couples, the Farrers, was leaving us soon and one of the others was taking their place, the Barnes. The Farrers wanted to see this one more time before they left. For the rest of us, it was our first time. We got in a 20 man boat with a motor on it and cruised through a man-made river out to a large cove near the ocean. The trip through the river introduced us to many unusual plants and animals. We saw a cayman (small alligator) hiding under the roots of the large mangrove trees. We saw very small, brightly-colored crabs crawling all over the branches of the same roots. We saw huge termite nests that looked like beehives. We saw a snake coiled in the branches above our head. And, we saw lots of beautifully colored birds. Passengers are motored out to the cove because just about 45 minutes before the sun sets hundreds of birds fly into the trees surrounding the cove to roost for the night. It happens every night without fail. The trees fill up with brightly colored birds making them look like they are blossoming. Unfortunately, my camera wasn't good enough to get a good shot of the birds roosting in the trees.