The day before the day before yesterday, which is the way we figure things out in this tiny slice of paradise, (otherwise known as Zancudo), is the day that a congress of monkeys swung by our casa for lunch.
YES WE HAVE NO BANANAS
WE HAVE NO BANANAS TODAY
A CONGRESS OF MONKEYS SWUNG BY HERE
AND PEELED ALL THE BANANAS AWAY
The day before the day before yesterday, which is the way we figure things out in this tiny slice of paradise, (otherwise known as Zancudo), is the day that a congress of monkeys swung by our casa for lunch.
The ‘we’ consists of a conglomeration of family members, brother-in law, sister-in-law, nephews, a niece, my daughter, and of course, our resident Costa Rican dog, Ting Ting, who loves to cross her paws and wait for sand crabs to poke their soon-to-be-short-lived antennae out their bunker holes.
Ting Ting ocean-side at sunset
After savouring a lunch fiesta of locally grown produce that included shiny purple grapes so big you can stick ‘em in your cheeks to make weird chipmunk faces, (c’mon peeps we’re on holidays, let’s have some fun), seasoned grilled pineapple on the ‘Barbie’, green beans with freshly plucked basil, freshly caught red snapper from the fisherman at the point, luscious red tomatoes and still-warm homemade bread, we were each drifting off to our favourite afternoon siesta spots when my nephew heard a torpedo of scrambling feet on top of the tin roof.
Like the jungle telephone, (we heard it through the grapevine), the news spread quickly – the monkeys are here! The monkeys are here! Grabbing any and all camera devices, we tip-toed into the yard and spent the next half hour in wonder as a mother with three tiny animated babies scrambled up and down the leafy tree limbs, while a father monkey cheecheecheed us from his lofty perch. My niece, ever the animal lover, came flying down the stairs with a mishmash of banana slices that our monkey friends immediately sensed. Inch by inch we moved towards the trees, agog with delight, as inch by inch the monkeys moved towards the banana slices, eager for their treat.
It wasn’t long before the over-ripe bananas had been monkey-eaten and the newly bought bananas duly donated to the monkey cause. After all, if ya can’t share your bananas with a monkey, or your nuts with a squirrel….
As you can well imagine, with the last bunch of bananas gone, the congress of monkeys quickly lost interest in hanging around, chee-cheeing to each other that it was time to split.
And for us? The verdict is unanimous…. the day before the day before yesterday was more fun with a barrel of monkeys than a nap could ever hope to be!
Join me next week as we River Dance in the Rio Claro.
Photographs by Jacqueline Scott.