One day just seems to roll into the next. Washing, cleaning, shopping, cooking .. and repeat.

Stress and anxiety continues to build as we stay locked away, dormouse like, wishing winter gone and jabs received. So many mixed and confusing messages around. Depending on which article you read numbers going up or down, vaccines effective or not so effective, lockdown ending soon/Spring/Summer/beyond, new strains worse or the same. Who knows what the reality truly is ? I guess no one. In the meantime we soldier on trying to stay safe and hoping for the best. It all adds to the stress and anxiety levels.

I was thinking the other day about some of my past holidays and realising how even they can provide anxious moments, the quickening of the heartbeat and momentary panic stations.

I thought I’d share a few with you ...

My 2 JY trips have provided very little in the way of anxiety other than a fortuitous finding of my mobile as I checked out of my room and when on the morning of departure for Canada treading on something small and sharp as I got out of bed which left me hobbling around for 10 days before it magically healed overnight just as I was about to seek medical advice !

Before this though, I spent a fortnight travelling around the staggeringly beautiful Costa Rica. 

One of my ‘stops’ was in the Arenal volcano area. My chalet had its own tropical garden (!) facing the magnificent volcano. Late one morning before an afternoon excursion I sat on my veranda enjoying the scene in front of me. Blue skies, a wisp of cloud atop the volcano, colourful birds flitting about, bright yellow, orange and blue butterflies busying themselves. Definitely a step up on my back garden ! I was aware of a banana tree about 20 metres down on my left hand side with a Montezuma Oropendola feeding on it. This is a magpie size bird with an astonishing call (try google ?). Suddenly it decided to relocate. It flew straight towards the chalet, which alarmed me as there was nowhere for it to go ! It then proceeded to fly straight into the window with a mighty crash. Before falling to the ground it gathered itself, turned left and headed straight towards me about 15 feet away. All I had time for was a lean forward as the mad bird whistled past the back of my head through a 4 feet gap. Phew, deep breath !

In the same area on a trek to the volcano base the trail took us through a tunnel of greenery. On our return we came across a gathering of people who were looking at a snake just above them in the trees. It was a large, yellow and black Tiger Rat snake. After a couple of minutes it decided it had had enough of all this attention and proceeded to move away. It chose the branches above my head. I was like a rabbit in the headlights as it moved with such speed over me to someone’s call of ‘you don’t want that landing on you’. Thanks for the advice I thought. But it was off and gone and I stood there gathering myself and marvelling at the snakes speed.

When I arrived by boat (no roads) at the beautiful Osa Peninsula I found my accommodation was one of 6 two storey buildings with a balcony on the top floor. Having been shown to ‘my house’ I entered to find 3 inhabitants laying claim to it .. a lizard on the wall, which scuttled off as I approached disappearing into a gap in the roof. A large beetle guarding the bathroom entrance and on turning to close the front door a huge spider perched (?) directly above it. All rather unnerving and I felt sure they hadn’t paid for the room ... when I returned from dinner later there was no sign of all 3 and, thankfully, they didn’t visit for the remainder of my stay.

When I was resting before dinner a couple of days later I decided to sit out on my lofty balcony to enjoy the environment as the sun set over the Pacific. As I was relaxing something flew across from the left parallel to the building and when directly opposite me turned at right angles and headed straight towards me. It quickly did another 90 degree turn and headed back from where it came. Seconds later it did the same manoeuvre and I realised it was a bat. It repeated this 5 or 6 times before it became clear to me that it was getting closer to me with each lap ! Time for an executive decision. Fearing a full on attack I stood up and said ‘ok Bertie bat, I get the message. I shall retreat and leave you to it’. Back in the safety of the room I wondered which of us was the most batty ! Fancy being intimidated by a little bat ..

So, as you see, this exploration game is not always plain sailing. Stresses and strains are all part of life and I look forward to experiencing some more close encounters in the not too distant future.

Sorry if I’ve added to your boredom, but it’s good to share.   😉

Take care,

Roger

Be positive and live in hope that at least your September trip to South Africa will go ahead. I am sure things will get better after Spring and we can all start enjoying our holidays again.

Best wishes

Jaya

I am lucky that I do not have time to get bored as am still working full time (from home). I am shielding again and even though I can go for a daily walk, I have hardly been out. Firstly because of the weather. We have had almost constant rain since September so walking in the fields behind my house is a big NO for me due to mud. I try walking along the roads, but find that stressful as people are not following the rules. You are constantly encountering 2 or 3 people either walking or running together side by side, but when they see you coming they do not go into a single file. This means there is not enogh distance between you. I find myself constantly crossing the road to avoid people and this is so frustrating. Hopefully we will get a few dry days in a row for the mud to dry and I can start venturing further out into the hills and fields and this way I will be able to avoid people.

Regards

Jaya