2013, Day 303 - Preening

This morning we got off to a sunny start.  From our seventh story windows we could see men fishing just off the beach of our hotel so we both put on some clothes and wandered down.  When we arrived it was clear that they have an eager flock of pelicans waiting for their rejects to be tossed back into the water.  Why work when someone practically hands you a meal?

After watching them work for a while Francene found a piled rock breakwater further down the beach where the pelicans were congregating.  It was still early and most were just standing quietly in the shade but as the sun rose they began to hold our their wings to the warming light and to groom themselves.  Birds came and went and I captured a few good frames but I liked this guy grooming his head on his back.  It looks so awkward and uncomfortable that I had to share.

We stayed too long watching the bird but it was so much fun.  As other people began to come see what we were looking at Francene and I decided that was our queue to leave so we went back to our room to get cleaned up so we could head into town to meet her friends for breakfast.

Our arrival was a little late as it took us some time to walk from where the bus dropped us to the restaurant.  It was rather unremarkable but we caught up with everyone so it was nice none-the-less.  Afterwards we wandered around the old part of the city center looking at shops and checking the menus at restaurants.  Soon we were sweating pretty heavily so we ducked into a little coffee shop for a drink, some air conditioning, and a bit of internet access.

By now it was well past noon so we decided to head back to the hotel for a little rest.  That means another harrowing ride on one of the local busses where the drivers race every car on the street and each other as well.  Still, it is a bit of a rush.

Much of the afternoon was spent enjoying the air conditioning, reading, and relaxing.  It was peaceful and by about four o'clock we agreed we were hungry so we went back into town where we wandered for a while before finding a place that specializes in Mexican cuisine heavily accented with mole, a rich savory sweet sauce.  It was delicious and very filling but no so much that we couldn't split a frozen banana with a caramel center dipped in dark chocolate and rolled in almonds.

By this time it was dark and there were lots of little kids trick-or-treating along the waterfront.  We walked its length where we reunited with some of Francene's friends briefly before deciding the sprinkles of rain combined with the hot weather was encouraging us to retreat for the evening.

Tomorrow my friend Araceli arrives so we will probably sleep in and hang around the hotel until she gets here.  I am looking forward to a lazy morning!

Canon 1D X, Canon 70-200/f2.8L IS Mark II
200mm, f4, 1/2000 sec @ 400 ISO