The Enchanted Toad

Well well, who would have thought my late night adventures with my now friend toad would get me to start writing again on this blog after years of not doing so... It happens that I stayed up till midnight getting different things done, and when I was about to go up to bed, I spotted the grandpa toad hanging out in the house. I went ahead and looked over at him and realized with disgust and utter amazement that he had like 5 different sized ticks on him. OMG. I had never seen that. One of the ticks was so gigantic I couldn't believe a tick of that monstrous size was even possible!

I immediately thought of how much I would love to take those ticks off him (or "HER" for instance, for I don't now how to determine the gender of my friend other than with the given male gender of the spanish word sapo). I definitely couldn't bring myself to do that. Or could I??? Heck Yes! I would at least try, the "Poor Innocent Creature". So I went and got an old pair of tweezers. I assumed he would jump as soon as I approached closer to execute the plan, but to my surprise, he did not jump. I was afraid of him tossing poisonous milk at me or something. Instead, He was all stillness... Maybe, all gratefulness. Yes, I think he knew what I was up to. I took out one. Two. Three, the big huge one!, uughhhhh!. And when I went for the fourth, right next to his eye, the darling just closed his eye tenderly... Yyyesssss!!! I was able to pull all out and drown them horrible critters of Beelzebub! The sight of me must have been a pretty funny one, for sure. If a stranger could have seen me, maybe I would have been thought a "Witch", working toad witch-crafty spells right at midnight, Hahahaha! Maybe... if like in the fairytales, this guy is a magical toad... well, maybe, yes, maybe, why not?... he can grant me three wishes to pay me back the good deed. HA!, funny enough, my mind stayed blank thinking what I would ask if suddenly he turned into an "Old Wise Magical Wish Granting Wizard" What immediately came to mind was just: "May the flow of guests be always steady and enough to keep covering the salaries!" Hahaha!!!... I don't know why not just ask for a big huge trunk of GOLD instead. I guess I like my work. Just keep it coming!

OWL MEDICINE

THIS FEMALE OWL HAS CHOSEN TO NEST RIGHT ON THE TREE WHERE OUR LAUNDRY LINES HANG FROM. SO COOL TO HAVE HER BE SO FRIENDLY AND CONFIDENT AROUND US. OO! OO! OO! OO!

YiiMtii Dreaming

Another day...aaahhh...

An Orchard's Turning Point...

Avocado trees at Yiimtii were planted nine years ago. We bought trees grafted with the Hass variety but then the grafting died and the Mother lived on. We only knew it was a good Heirloom Mother that bore fruit like a Mango Tree... Anyway, after nine years of waiting, we discovered we have the Best Avocados on the face of the Universe (not exaggerating)... They don't go bad or black or have fibers and they taste deliciously buttery and sweet...
We truly consider this a turning point at Yiimtii. Avocado being one of our everyday essentials.
THANKYOU MOTHER EARTH AT YIIMTII FOR GIFTING US WITH THIS MARVEL!

Tandem Flying

Every night we have several bats come and hang from the roof of our hall. We noticed last night that almost all of them are females that have their young ones hanging from them. It is pretty cute! If you can say that...

Ephimeral Yellow Blossoms

Five Days after the first rainfall, the Ocotines of the forest dress themselves in yellow blossoms. The blossoms only last two days on the tree and then they form yellow carpets on the ground. What a sight!

Sacred life giving Rain

Rains are back these year... It is always surprising to see the forest be reborn again. It takes less than a week to notice the green scenery. At the third day you could see the green sprouting:

And after 10 days this is how it looks like:

WELCOME BACK RAIN!!! WELCOME BACK JUNGLE!!!

Birding it out!!!

JABIRU MIGRATION:
The NIGHT of May 24th-25th The Jabirus stopped at Yiimtii for the second year that we notice them. They stopped for the night, like last year, that the majority of them stopped at the Dead Old Ocotin Structure, which this year became the Star-Gazing Tower, which this time they by-passed it probably surprised by the feathered turtle shell that hangs as a shild on top of the tower, they chose an overlooking tree a little bit further. The Jabirus are like storks, mentioned as the largest flying bird of North America, although I still have my doubts compared with the Condor. In the morning they took off with the same ritual, all of them gathering and flying in circles for a while, aligning the formation one by one, calling the others from other trees.

I feel honored and am in awe, to witness this migration pattern, having them over for the night... every year... like best friend visitors.


BABY TOUCANETTE:

A ride on a boat, through the mangrove, with the lulling of the song -rows in water-, we find this nest:

CRESTED CARACARA:

It is the first time in all of my life in Yiimtii that I see a Raptor so close to us. Today she landed on our passion flower trellis. She seemed to be a youngster. What a big gift to see her eye to eye:

Sometimes Owls appear at dusk... singing and blinking... but they never come as close.

Turtle Rescue

Early morning we saw turtle tracks down on the beach. We got ready to go down and do the usual, once we have located the exact spot of the nest, we try to make a mess around it, dig a big hole near it so the turtle egg hunters get all confuse and think someone else has got the eggs first. It works all the time. But for once to our surprise, not just the tracks were there but the turtle was still there!!! Towards the end of the trail going down, very deep in the forest, the dogs started barking at something and we discovered the turtle all tangled up in vines and trapped. Anyway, it was quite a rescue... Rodolfo broke her loose and between him and Naim they tried to carry it all the way to the path. We don't even know how she got so far in because it is pretty thick and full of cactus. Only she knows...but she must have been looking for as high ground as possible, her instinct telling her that the tides would come higher this year... She was exhausted. Later on we discovered why, her tracks were all over the beach, she had tried to dig several nests but it seemed none of the locations really convinced her. Anyway, when she felt free she went directly for the ocean, with some help here and there and some histerical flapping on her part anytime it was necessary to lift her up. We were sorry to not be able to communicate with her that we were just trying to help. She must have been scared to dead of us and plus the barking of the dogs. If it was me I would have had a heart attack.

What a great relief to see her go, swimming in the waves... and we wondered if she would come again the next day... and she did, but she just hasn't found the right spot yet. Hopefully she will tonight if she comes back. Turtles lay her eggs on the beach they were born, so I guess she has no other option but finding the right place for her nest here.

What wonderful animals they are, no wonder why they are icons of Mother Earth... Sacred Ancient and Wise Beings...
It is impressing the way they are born, working so hard digging themselves out of their nest without any maternal love near them to help them deal with such immensity as they face the world... the beach and then the ocean and all the predators in between as well... How inspiring that such small creatures can accomplish something so grand as to survive... and then come back one day and repeat the cycle for the sake of the species.
May all the turtles of this Earth be safe and healthy and happy...
May they prevail...
Thankyou so much Turtle for letting us be so close to You... We'll always remember You.

Friendly Critters

Walter and his fabulous chirping siblings insure premium dinnertime entertainment at YiiMtii Retreat, complete with the Gecko Chorus, sound of lapping waves, and moonlight to sooth the soul.

I'm lying in a hammock, feeling the warm breeze blow through the cabin here are yiimtii. Outside is in, surrounding me with the sounds of lapping waves, bird calls and geckos. I am alone and alive in a magical place on the planet.

Come. BE at YiiMtii... BE....