Back in the Saddle

 For those few of you who follow this blog, you have perhaps detected a hiatus of a month or so.  In part, this is because Sandra and I went to Mexico for ten days.  More importantly, while we were in Guadalajara

The Author with Chupaflores.  Universidad de Guadalajara

 we got sick.  Now when you tell someone that you went to Mexico and you got sick, they naturally think of Montezuma's Revenge.  In our case, though, it had nothing to do with drinking contaminated water or eating a lukewarm enchilada at Casa Dispeptico.  Most likely we were poisoned by breathing the air provided by American Airlines.

    On the third day in GDL (like Portland, Oregon the Tapatios identify their city by their airport code) I had a sore throat and malaise.  By day five, I was a wreck.  Imagine verifying the destination of a bus with the driver. You are using a language with which you have mediocre skill and unfortunately you sound like Donald Duck.  Except when your voice fails entirely.   This is not a pretty picture but we soldiered on, seeing the churches and museums and taking lots of naps.

   Sandra became ill about three days after I did.  Both of us remained a little sick with this thing until a few days ago.  Talking with friends around the country, it sounds like lots of people have had colds lasting two

The Club Regatta Features Koa Canoes

 and three months, so I guess we should feel fortunate that this cold only lasted four weeks.  This was lucky for all involved, as my nephew Andrew arrived from the Bay Area two days ago, just as I became symptom-free.

   An hour or so after Andy landed, we were down at Snorkel Bob's,  outfitting him with a snorkel, fins and a prescription mask.  This ran to $44.95 for a week.  I live a life of ongoing sticker shock, but even so, this seemed a little high.  This morning I checked out my suspicions with Big Island Divers.  They run a nice shop where we buy gear every now and then.  This week they will sell you a prescription mask, two models and multiple colors to choose from, for only 90 clams.  As there are a variety of snorkels and fins floating around

Casa Ono, it makes this prescription mask seem like a pretty good deal.  Unless, of course, you really want to sit on the bench at Snorkel Bob's while the pretty young lady fits the family from South Dakota with everything from wet suits to souvenir T shirts. 

She was  cute, but not that cute.

    Eventually we were on our way down Alii Drive towards the pier.  As we passed Bubba Gump's, I noticed that a regatta was taking place, replete with koa canoes.   We opted to park at the library and enjoyed the walk through the village.  Paddlers from the regatta were everywhere, mingling with the Memorial Day weekend crowd. 

    Soon enough we were in the water.  It was a pleasant 78 degrees according to the thermometer I  keep hidden behind my hypothalamus.  There had been a bit of a swell and the water had the clarity of diluted milk, but I hadn't been swimming in a month and it felt great.  We were able to see a few fish and enjoyed the ambiance of the regatta.  Every ten minutes the canoes would paddle by and the supporters on

A Choir of Spinners Greets Andrew

 the pier would cheer them on.  How festive!

 Yesterday, Sandra rallied and the entire clan made it back to the pier.  We had decided to go to Paul Allen's Reef, as the surf predictor was forecasting 3 to 4 foot swells.  It was immediately apparent that the swell was not nearly that high, but even from the beach in front of the King Kam hotel we could see an inordinate number of small boats and paddle boards out past the pier.  When we reconnoitered out past the heiau breakwater, we talked about the numerous boats, the message being stay away from them.

     We swam across the small bay enjoying the warmer water, which was substantially clearer than the water by the pier the day before.  We were swimming opposite the entrance to Paul's lagoon, about twenty yards from the shore, when Andrew suddenly exclaimed, "Uncle Jeff!"  I turned to see four or five dolphins, about six feet away, leaping clear of the water.   Looking around we could see the rest of the pod porpoising past us.  So that was what all those boats and paddle boards were about.   It is a sad testimony

Jackson's Chameleon, Andrew Hill I-phone 4

 to the amount of time we have been away from the water that we had not identified the signs of a concerted dolphin-stalking flotilla.

     The pod, as a whole, seemed very healthy.  They were swimming fast, chattering among themselves and bore no signs of sucker shark predation.  We enjoyed a few close passes.  Once a tight group raced right under us, perhaps only three feet below.  It was truly exciting.

      Fairly soon the action ceased, the flotilla dispersed and we made our way through the cold inner harbour and home for lunch.

    We had decided that that afternoon we would take Andy to Greenwell Coffee Farms.  Since his last visit, we had identified Greenwell's as the place to look for Jackson's chameleons.  As we arrived, we saw a

My first chameleon...more to follow!

young man tugging on a branch of the orange tree where one is most likely to see chameleons.  Sure enough, there was a fine three horned male only a eight feet up.  We took turns taking pictures of this studly lizard.  The picture you see here was taken with Andy's I-phone 4 which caught the best image.  If only I knew how convert  those bmp files without losing 90% of the information, I would probably never use my camera (out of the water) again.  After we enjoyed our coffee samples, Andy went on a coffee tour, Sandra took pictures of her Teddy Bear (her new hobby) with various Greenwell props.  And I continued my chameleon hunting.  I found the male again and then I found a large fat female about twelve feet up.  She was brown with green spots, her tail curled around the branch.  I was so proud.  I had never found a Jackson's chameleon on my own before.  Having broken the jinx, I'm hopeful that it is only a matter of time before I spot one of these fascinating animals up here at Casa Ono.  Wish me luck!

jeff

Andrew Waves Aloha From Paul Allen's Reef.

Teddy and Greenwell's Coffee!