the adventures of Tif and the rainforest...day three...

it was nothing short of a small miracle Tif thought to herself the following morning,

to find herself, her man and their four children, dressed, sun screened and bug sprayed sitting eating breakfast at 6:30am, it had to be an all time record. little did she know at that point it was going to get earlier the next day...

the day started with the alarm going at 5:50am...leaping (okay, that bit is a little exaggerated) out of bed in the bungalow that she was sharing with her #2 and #4, she failed to check her appearance before taking the boardwalk to the cabin that contained her man along with her #1 and #3.

"morning" she said to the kitchen staff as she past by...were they sniggering at her inability to speak spanish she wondered or maybe her interesting flannel pj's with the little birds on...it became quite apparent when entering the cabin and being greeted by "oh my lord, what has happened to your hair" that it was not her lack of spanish or delightful night attire but the fact that she was now sporting a hairstyle rarely seen since the invention of perming rods and the '80's look' that became so popular in her youth...being savvy about these things, Tif knew the 80's were almost vintage now and so she embraced her Leo Sayer look and went forth to breakfast...

the reason for their early rise was due to the fact everyone seemed to get up early in Pirate Cove, something to do with the heat of the day and setting of the sun.

all the tours started after breakfast and so it was at 7am, Tif and her little troop were on the beach waiting for their ride...

the boat pulled up and they were soon heading 12 kilometers out to a small island that for now has escaped her memory (ah, the signs of approaching 40)...they were destined to 'snorkel', a thing that Tif had never done before and after experiencing it probably will never again.

she was told afterwards that there had been all sorts to see under the water...several different types of fish, a large turtle and some sharks but all Tif was aware of at the time was a awful sense of 'panic'...she seemed unable to deal with being so out of her depth at sea, the need to breath through her mouth without swallowing half the sea and also the feeling of claustrophobia. after what seemed an age and the poor guide using all of his patience, Tif was deposited on the nearest beach to join her #4 child while the others all went off and had a 'much better' time without their rather 'crappy at snorkeling' mother...

that evening overcome by the exhaustion of trying to 'stay alive at sea' and eating delicious food prepared not by herself (bliss if ever it was) Tif retired to bed at 7:30pm...but not before insisting to her youngest child that the big gigantic flying beetle in the bathroom was quite happy to stay where he was sleeping and would never venture into their bit of tented bungalow...11:00pm a storm came crashing all around, the waves seemed to be within inches of the flimsy door and the rain was doing it's utmost to come inside to play...added to this was Tif's youngest with his flash light sending out an S.O.S. signal in the hope of being rescued...

"the beetle has disappeared, i think he is in my bed...we need dad, please,please go and get dad"

"you must be barking mad, i am not leaving the safety of this tent...goodness knows what is lurking outside making it's web to catch me in...it's pitch black, pouring with rain and you are just going to have to sleep with the beetle...think of him as a friend, just like Billy's beetle"

somehow she knew that wasn't going to do the job...

Tif spent the rest of the night in her little bed with both her #2 child and #4 child huddled up next to her wondering if it possible the beetle could get lost in her hair and never be seen again...

the flash light still flicking on and off beside her...

to her knowledge, her child had never learnt morse code so she could only presume that instead of asking to be rescued he was probably more likely saying "any insects, poisonous or hairy, who require shelter from the storm, come on in"...

she's going to try better with the blogging next week ~ Tif ("yeah, yeah, heard that one before")