I have sporadic access to the internet right now so this will be quick. We are having some fabulous adventures and I have lots to share with you. In the meantime, here are a few photos….

QUALITIES:
New beginnings – Energetic – Creative – Protective – Dominating – Sensitive

Enhanced creativity and inspiration.
An intense need to birth new projects and nurture them.
Starting new projects even when the current one is not yet finished.
Tendency to nurture others in a parental way, expecting the same treatment in return.  
Lying still for long periods of time, and then bursting into activity.
Biding your time.  Controlling a situation. 
Heightened reactivity to any changes taking place around you, frequently rushing in to “keep the dam from breaking.”

CHALLENGES:
Overprotective, dominating, territorial. 
Being overly attached to being a caretaker.
Making mountains out of molehills.
Feeling unsupported in life.  Struggle for security.  Lack of trust.
Oversupporting others, giving too much, abandoning your own needs for others.
Caught in the struggle created by expectations.
Critical and fussy.  Extremely touchy and sensitive. 
Difficulty taking criticism, reacting defensively when corrected.
Expecting others to intuitively know your feelings; you are responsible for communicating them.
Neediness and co-dependency.  Look at your own issues of basic security, self-worth, and the need for outside validation.

Well, I’m done with Darwin. The rain quit and it’s been in the 90s since I got here. But the camper van lease is going to expire and I have to get it back to Sydney. The Scots, Mac and Johnny, caught a plane yesterday for Edinburgh. After all the back and forth, they decided to head home in time for Christmas with their families in Scotland. Before they left we took a boat trip on the Adelaide river to see some crocodiles.

The water is muddy and you can’t see much unless you catch one on the mud banks. So, the guides entice the crocodiles (saltwater crocodiles I guess, they call them ’salties’) to jump up for scraps of meat. The tour isn’t very popular in the wet season, and the river is higher than normal, which makes the banks narrower and the crocs harder to find. But it was still worthwhile, and having Johnny and Mac there to make rude comments made it even better. The guide let them try getting a croc to jump at the bait, but, of course, Mac swung the pole down and cracked the croc on the head with the end, which pissed off the guide.

At the base camp they had a couple of snakes (pythons?) to mess with and a few baby crocodiles to handle. I can tell you that even when they are as small as your hand, they can still bite, and it hurts.

So, the Scots are gone and I put an ad in the Northern Territory News ($30) for a rider to help pay for gas on the way back to Sydney, but all the responses I got were through Craig’s list. Apparently, the younger, more mobile crowd doesn’t read the newspaper. Oh, and by the way. I mentioned about the lightning here in Darwin, how dramatic it was. Well yesterday, two men were struck by lightning in two different incidents about two city blocks apart. They both survived, but honestly, that’s too much lightning for a civilized person to put up with.

After some emails back and forth, I arranged to ride back with Bennie, a female masseuse/body piercer. She’s only going as far as Alice Springs, but she says she’ll pay for all the petrol to there. We met up at the Red Rooster (a chicken/fish/chips place) at the airport. It’s odd meeting someone like that, I didn’t know what to expect and she turned out to be just a normal, kind of plain looking young lady in her (guessing) mid 20s. She has a silver stud in her nose, pretty small. I guess I was expecting huge inserts and multiple piercings — I mean, she does it for a living.

Her story is that she came to Darwin to work at a tattoo parlor but didn’t get along with the other ‘artists’ there and couldn’t get work as a masseuse fast enough to keep the money coming in. It takes some time to build up a regular clientele I suppose. She’s got a bit of gear (a fold-up massage table and some boxes of clothes and equipment) which makes the camper a good match for her. There’s plenty of room in it, I’m not carrying much, and Johnny took his surfboard with him. All in all, we hit it off and will be leaving tomorrow.

Well Hello. Me again, the time is 2.06pm and the day is dragging on slowly. I wish I was at the shops, I have been frequenting eBay alot though today while eating Digestive Biccies and drinking cups of tea (did I mention before I dont have much work to do!)

Here are a few things I have found on eBay today that I am LOVING:

 Vintage Statement Neckpiece – $20 with 7 hours to go (3 bids)

 Vintage ‘Apple of my eye necklace’ – $9.99 buy it now

 Peter Alexander ‘Cutie Pie Puppy’ PJ’s – currently at $11 with 3 days to go (I am watching this closely!!)

 Authentic Chanel Sunglasses – $220 buy it now, Im contemplating it – very seriously! someone go buy them, before I do

 Vintage Birkin Style Tote Bag – $5.99 with 4 days left ($18 postage, ouch!)

 Vintage 80’s style Sequin Coat – $60 buy it now, I love this too!!

 Hermes Brown leather Birkin Tote $49.99 with 8 days to go.

 Vintage 70’s faux fur hooded coat – $69.99 buy it now.

Now, if only I could afford it all, and if only I could stop looking at winter coats – seeing as its 40 degrees outside today! eek.

C. xxx

Former model Tyra Banks has arrived for a star-studded luncheon in Auckland….Banks was reportedly seen taking photos with guests, and was expected to be launching a new campaign called Beauty Inside and Out at the luncheon. Around 12.30pm Banks wrote on Twitter: “At my Global B.I.O(Beauty Inside & Out)Summit in NZ. so many people! … Take the pledge on tyra.com to expand the definition of beauty.”

So I did…and here it is.

UPDATED:  “Reality television mogul Tyra Banks broke down today, shedding tears in front of a star-studded crowd at an Auckland waterfront restaurant…Banks gave a speech about her stay in New Zealand and discussed the importance of embracing all kinds of beauty, encouraging young women to love themselves inside and out.”

I’m not going to go there (ahem), other than to say (given the IP address I logged just before she burst into tears) she was probably crying because they put a salad in front of her rather than beef and Yorkshire pudding.

If there are any young men following Tyra Banks’ advice, I’d encourage you to join a rugby club as soon as possible and flush your moisturiser down the toilet.  Loving yourself inside and out  can be an unhealthy experience for men, my legal expert Dr Thaddeus Jack tells me…

Too risky, next...

Trop risqué, suivant…

From Dec 1st till Dec 31, a play ” Rejection” /Du 1er dec. au 31 dec. , une pièce “Refus”

COAST OF JAPAN — Was it an accident? A hero’s overenthusiasm in figthing anything seemingly evil to save humanity? Or was it a case of a superbeing’s indifference to the environment and the planet?

Whatever the reason, Ultraman, Japan’s 200-foot superhero, self-proclaimed saviour of humanity and protector against evil, is in trouble for killing a rare breed of giant crocodile, which migrates to the island nation every 76 years to lay eggs. The incident happened yesterday, as the crocodile, lovingly dubbed by locals as ‘kyodai-na wani’ (giant crocodile) approached the shore from its  deep-ocean habitat.

The unfortunate event began when the 250-foot, 550-tonne benign beast broke the water surface approximately 850 feet from the beach at 5.13pm. An American tourist, obviously ignorant of the local wildlife and legendary creature, panicked and called the authorities, erroneously describing how ‘a giant monster is coming to devour Tokyo’. The call naturally went up to the Japanese chapter of the global agency assigned to tackle sinister alien and giant monsters, a special police force known as the Science Special Search Patrol, or SSSP, which has a close working relationship with Ultraman.

However, unlike what is stipulated in SSSP’s S.O.P. (standard operating procedure), which demands that alien or giant visitors be granted ‘friend or foe status check’ before any action is taken, the agency immediately called its Ultra-being friend and the crocodile was methodically attacked and violently killed before it could begin laying its eggs.

MERCILESS: A picture taken by a horrified Japanese passerby

“If the SSSP had followed procedures, they would have found out that the crocodile was harmless,” said Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara. “Anyone with a little knowledge of history and an ounce of respect for nature would simply have done a background check with the city’s administration office — or even the library — and seen that the gentle creature visited the shore every 76 years or so simply to lay eggs, and not to destroy anything, like many of the usual monsters who visit us.

“But look what happened now. They killed kyodai-na wani, one of the very few left of its kind in the world. Just like that. Like many denizens of this great city, I’m very angry.”

Captain Muramatsu, head of SSSP Japan, confirmed that ‘a breakdown in process flow’ had resulted in the killing of the friendly giant.

“My team had just returned from a fierce battle with a gigantic mutant lobster in north Honshu in the morning, and was not in any state to fight another giant monster in the evening. The guys were tired, and immediately summoned Ultraman when the call came,” said Muramatsu. “I’m not offering any excuse. They should have checked first before calling Ultraman. But really, I wouldn’t blame SSSP. We cannot control Ultraman or what he does when he ‘deals’ with the alien or monster threat.

“Whatever the case, I promise a thorough investigation.”

The agency has a long record of letting their alien partner settle their giant problems in the past. It is believed that this year alone, Ultraman disposed of 38 out of 41 hostile visitors who wreaked havoc in the city.

“Ultraman is nothing but SSSP’s hired killer,” said Hitoshi Kobu, founder of Save the Monsters, an NGO that has been fighting for giant rights for the last 30 years. “He himself is a destroyer, not a saviour. Like a rabid rottweiler, his first instinct is to kill, and what could be better than getting a target once or twice every month, courtesy of the SSSP? And now, we’ve got a dead giant crocodile, a gentle and lovable soul whose only motive was to precreate.”

Kobu said that this was not the first time Ultraman was involved in a ‘friendly fire’.

“In 1994, a giant squid broke the water surface near Kobe after losing its bearing. It approached a passing cruise ship to ask for directions, but the ignorant people called the SSSP instead.

“The rest, well, we all remember the story. The bay had to live with the black ink from the innocent squid for the next three months.

Kobu said that for the longest time, his organisation has been saying that the SSSP was more interested in a monster killing spree than respecting life. He also added that he suspected that one of the SSSP operative could be Ultraman himself.

“We’ve had inside information that a certain ‘Officer Hayata’ was actually Ultraman, but when we tried to verify this lead, the contact person inexplicably disappeared.

“But think about it. If Ultraman was directly working for SSSP, then obviously the agency has a policy of destroy first, talk later.”

Governor Ishihara, meanwhile, said that the city would have a tough time dealing with the loss of the giant crocodile.

A GREAT LOSS: Japan's Coast Guard investigating the remains of the giant crocodile

“Cleanup will be the least of the problem. We’ve been cleaning one giant carcass every month, so we’re OK there,” said the governor sadly.

“It’s the loss of a national treasure. Yes, there are reportedly four giant crocodiles left in the world, but this one is only one who visits Japan. In a way, it is — it was — part of our heritage… our identity.”

Ishihara said that sanctions against Ultraman and the SSSP management are possible.

“We’ll have to relook at their powers after this, to prevent more of this kind of mishap. A restricted residence order for the so-called superhero, perhaps. We’ll see.

“Whatever it is, we will not have the silver-and-red monster, or his Ultra being siblings, running around killing anything they like. It’s bad enough that we’ve had to live with the colossal collateral damage from their epic battles for last few decades. Enough is enough.”

If you are one on a journey of gastronomic heights, Cairns can cater to some of most twisted whims. This city up above Down Under also knows how to combine exotic eating with fine dining. Independent food trips is fast becoming one of the hottest trends in food trips (no more of those stuffed restaurant and food-nook-and-cranny-houses you get brought into). So get your camper vans ready, go on a food trip (bring your family along to heighten the experience), and bring your tastebuds to a whole new reality of eating!

Why not start off with the meat of the infamous crocos? Crocos, or bush tuckers as they like to call it, are quite tender and juicy as opposed to the reputed stringy meat that some might think. The taste, is arguably more pork than chicken (probably because of this large lizard’s diet), but you’d find a lot of restaurants up in North Queensland serving this delectable delicacy. Croco meat toughens when cooked quickly, so the usual dishes this meat is assigned to usually involves raw to medium rare, or anything that has a slow, soft heat.
Kangaroos, the very animal associated with Australia, is surprisingly, up for grabs as well. Kangaroo meat inherits the same vitality from the animal, so when you eat it, expect a full flavor and a certain kick once you’ve been embraced by its taste. Go for the restaurant’s specialty when trying out a kangaroo dish. It is so versatile, there are a lot of ways to enjoy its meat. If you’re a newbie cook who would like to serve kangaroo meat, go with a dish that requires fast cooking. Kangaroo meat easily dries out, so frying requires special attention. But the taste is easily worth it.

Emu, that large bird akin to an ostrich, is the next best thing for bird lovers everywhere. Emu meat has a low fat content per slab of meat and the cholesterol is also reduced. Tastes a lot like chicken, so first time eaters would know what to expect. The red meat is also low on saturated fats (bad fat) and high in protein. Emu is probably the outdoors man’s delight. It is meat that is best served grilled or broiled, does not shrink much unlike other meats, is low on fat, does not require high heat and is overall good for the heart. Best served rare to medium rare, emu is now being added to grills and outdoor parties all across Australia.

Barramundi, as the symbolic sports fish of fly fishers everywhere, is not lacking in taste as well. Thes large-scaled fish are often served with lemon, and they’re not too shabby about it either. Barramundi can go on par with some of the tasty fishes in the world, like salmon or tuna (don’t use as a substitute though, barramundi has a delicate flavor that is it’s own). But for whatever purposes, if you know how to cook fish, you’d definitely know how to cook barramundi.

That, or you can go with Coral Trouts, one of the best fishes for eating. A butter sauce and herbs make for a tasty, yet simple dish.

A lot of the markets off in Queensland and North Queensland now carry this line of products for tourists, should they want to bring a little part of their trip back. Of course, it is recommended for you to always go for the freshest pick of the day, so do your shopping early morning to pick the market’s choice!

*photos courtesy of Photobucket

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To see Mike and Paul, a crocodile show in Pattaya, Thailand, where a man almost gets his hand bitten off. He then puts his head in the Croc "s mouth! … Mike Swick MMA NHB UFC Ultimate Fighter Fight Fighting Thailand Pattaya Crocodile Farm attack Phuket Koh Samui

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97pG3ZkO8B8&hl=en

New Items added to the website today:

Aborgini Design Vase

Peacock Stained Glass Lamp

Cast Iron Frog Bookends

Monkey with Mirror

Visit the main site to view all our available items  … you’ll find a perfect Holiday Gift!

Went To Jong’s Crocodile Farm yesterday…

Underage fun???

It Was Fun…

The Eagle…

Iguana Mafia…

Stupid SunBear Sitting in an awkward position…

I was actually more Into the Crocodile feeding show…
Greater photo opportunities…
Otherwise, All the animals will be doing NOTHING…
Sitting stupidly like this bear…

Don’t get confused, It’s the same photo…

Here’s 2 of my ‘nailed’ shots…

NOTE:
[K.K. Post in 48 HOURS... or less...]
Just finished(But not completely) going through 3000++ photos…
That’s the reason for the delay…

Till the next 48 hours, What The Fiq…

460

“The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it’s just sort of a tired feeling.” – Paula Poundstone

Introducing Lacoste’s 2009 Collector’s Series in which they have teamed up with the Campana brothers, Fernando and Humberto, to create fabulous polo tees applique with the famous Lacoste crocodile logo in various creative ways.

They really should smile more. But anyways..

Here’s the Special Edition featuring a small nest of crocodiles, which I feel is really eye-catchingly whimsical.

For Men’s:

For Women’s:

And here’s the Close-Up of the entire logo, featuring 8 of Lacoste crocodiles:

Next up is the Limited Edition plastered with many nests of crocodiles. I feel it’s abit of an overkill though.

For Men’s:

For Women’s (The crocodiles are more scattered akin to covering your bodice in moss/algae):

Next up comes the Super Limited Edition with hundreds of the Lacoste logo embroidered and moulded into a wearable polo!

The concept is actually amazing. It is also available to order in the standard Lacoste green, silver or gold.

For Men’s:

For Women’s:

And all these come in a neat packaging!

To get your hands on one of these, head down to your nearest Lacoste store, or if you’re in Singapore, then head down to the:

Campanas+Lacoste pop-up store, 02-01 Hilton Singapore

Tel: 6737 5851

The Campanas+Lacoste pop-up store opens only till 17th December 2009.

So hurry!

]]> http://benvaro.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/but-never-doubt/ Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:49:42 +0000 benvaro http://benvaro.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/but-never-doubt/

Crochet /
Les dieux me disent
Que l’Apocalypse ne sera pas joyeuse.
Il fallait s’y attendre.
Moi j’ai goûté aux crocodiles, et eux à moi.
J’ai perçu toute ma vie cette violence latente, moins concrète et réelle qu’un ennemi à la guerre, mais plus sournoise et plus grande aussi.

S’il n’y a pas d’ennemi, tout le monde est un ennemi.
Je devrais, par sagesse, apaiser ces jeunesses et ces saines errances, aider Pan et la fille.
Mais je ne le ferai pas.
Car personne ne l’a fait pour moi.
Car j’ai erré longtemps, et qu’on ne m’a pas sauvé.
L’opulence, l’excès de choix : personne ne peut les vaincre.
Je me rêvais Gauguin, arpentant, sous le vent, des îles et des pucelles.
Maintenant, le cœur n’y est plus.
J’ai perdu ma bataille.
Pantin sur un plateau, je me livre au spectacle.

(c)

Dexter Season 1 Episode 2 Crocodile

Alternative:

]]> http://animalonstamps.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/306-australia-7-reptile/ Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:28:01 +0000 fiume051 http://animalonstamps.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/306-australia-7-reptile/

Commonwealth of AUSTRALIA

stamp: 20 cents

year: 1997

reptile: crocodile

Socialist Republic of CUBA

stamp: 40 centavos

year: 1981

reptile: crocodile

I alway love it when it come to adventure, exploration, learning in a natural way, it is fun though but it is a must for everyone to know much more about where he or she lives.

Moreover i don’t know if people know there is a crocodile santuary in Cape Coast and all along many people have attribute it to Paga. Maybe is lack of advertisement also.

My friends and i travel to kakum and on our way to the castle the driver showed us around and we had to go to a hotel which is learnt to harbor crocodile (40 in that area) we had the opportunity to see one just after it had taken some lunch and was resting in the sun.It was a great experience and i loved it.

There is a lot in here (Ghana). We did not have the opportunity to boat tour in the pond where the crocodiles are it could have been fun.

All should have fun and visit that place unfortunately it is on the way to kakum but i cannot recollect the name of the hotel.

Whenever u go to kakum ask your tour guide or the driver to take u to the crocodile dungeon.

Ghana: Day Six

Right now I’m up, tired, and very, very excited – a group of us are leaving at 1:00 for Cape Coast, to spend the rest of Friday and most of Saturday sightseeing. I know nothing about our plans – I’m just along for the adventure. Of course, the downside to not knowing how much down time one has is that one tends to overpack, hence the rebirth of my 200-lb backpack for the duration of the trip.

Before leaving, and after showering (yes, I have running water, and yes, showering feels amazing after sleeping in a sauna) I met up with Laura and we headed to Koala market for breakfast; there’s a cafe above the store that Laura said had a good reputation, and so we went up the stairs in the back, but not before running into Eloise. A Projects volunteer from Australia, she is in Ghana for a total of five months (I think) and she’s already served three; most of that time was in Cape Coast so she was coordinating with Lauren (who is organizing said trip) the things to do and see while over there. We met her two days ago at Sharpnet; just thought that I’d introduce her.

Koala Cafe – not sure if that is its real name, but if it isn’t then my second guess is “Santaland.” The market itself is full of garland and gigantic, silver stars hanging from the ceiling – fairly festive, if you ask me – but its nothing compared o the cafe. First of all, there’s the six-foot-tall Christmas tree in the back corner; then, all the plates, napkins, mugs (not cups), and tablecloths are Christmas-themed; but the thing you notice the most are the chair coverings – like somebody skinned 32 miniature Santa Claus’ and mounted them on the chairs. It’s funny and sad at the same time; but the Christmas overload is just scary.

The food itself was interesting (as always, shenanigans, shenanigans) – I ordered the beef sandwich, and Laura ordered the chicken (she really likes chicken if you haven’t noticed) and I ended up with a bologna sandwich, and Laura with what I believe was tofurkey. I also ordered a meat pie, which was good, but I’m not even going to conjecture about what sort of meat it was; apparently I ordered the last one, because Laura ordered one and they were all out – this sparked an interesting conversation about overconsumption in America and Europe. Laura quoted one fact that I really want to check up on, that all McDonalds “start fresh” once an hour, which means that they throw out whatever is on the conveyor belt at that time. For humanity’s sake I hope she is wrong, but I doubt it.

From here, we grabbed our stuff from the bag check area downstairs and went (via taxi) to meet the others at the tro stop, specifically the tro stop down the street from Joker’s Bar (near Laura’s house – I’ll make a map at some point). The plan was to take the tro to a stop called “Kaneshie” and then transfer to a tro headed for Cape Coast; we piled on, all eight of us, and after a few stops the driver just decided to take us to Cape Coast himself (we sort of filled up the van anyway).

And by eight of us I mean, in no particular order: Henrietta, Laura, Demetri, Lauren, Floriane, Jasmin, Chris and myself. And in no particular order, each of them put in earbuds within five minutes of each other (except for me, without an MP3 player); and approximately forty minutes after that, in no particular order they all fell asleep. I stayed awake to watch the drive (and because it was too hard me to sleep scrunched up like that), and here is what I learned:

One – the Ghanaian countryside is truly beautiful. I’ve seen African countryside firsthand once before, when my parents and I spent the two weeks surrounding New Year’s in South Africa, in a game preserve one week and near Cape Town the next. But that was South Africa, and this is Ghana; and what I can tell you is that at least along the coast, Ghana is subject to a kind of verdant fertility that reminds me of back home – except that this abundant greenery is painted on a much flatter canvas, allowing you to see “the bigger picture” from the coastal road. Sometimes, in contrast to the green on my right, I could see a larger expanse of blue on my left; and as we drove, we passed through towns literally made of red and brown peppering the landscape, with people dressed in all the remaining colors tucked betwixt. It was, as I said before, beautiful.

Two – things get hot. For a reason none of us could really place in the beginning, this tro was extremely hot; first, chalking it up to the midday sun, we opened a window and managed some surprisingly paltry relief; but when the front cab in the van (underneath which was the engine) started billowing steamy protestations, it made a lot more sense. None of us obronis know for sure what happened (probably just basic overheating, since we managed to get to our destination without serious incident) but it stopped the van a good five times; and a good five times I thought, “Okay, is it going to explode yet?” Yep, I’m ever the optimist.

Three – I learned how to ride a jackhammer. Reread that if you need to; I want you to have the full visual. This fantastic van, in which I was over the the rear left wheel, was missing one (1) shock absorber – and guess which wheel was the lucky one? So take one part uncomfortably fast driver, add one missing shock absorber (the entire van was sinking towards that side, I should have known), and throw it in a very cramped, eight-person bowl. Add speed bumps *very liberally*; let sit for three hours. Makes: way too many servings of ka-CHUNK-CHUNK-CHUNK-ouch-CHUNK-CHUNK-ouch-ouch-CHUNK-ouch-ouch-ouch-CHUNK-CHUNK-ouch.

Four – honk. I still don’t get exactly why our driver honked so much; it seems like a normal cultural thing to just randomly honk to say that you’re in a hurry, but he also honked nonstop when there were no other cars near us, when we passed through towns, and when we weren’t actually going that fast. I think repeated honking must also mean “Look at me I have obronis.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cape Coast, Day One

The tro dropped us off in the middle of town, after much finagling. Apparently, the driver hadn’t known where the hotel exactly was when he said he would take us, and after driving into town and asking some random bystanders, he wanted to charge us a whole handful of cedis more to take us to the hotel. We declined that generous offer and instead got out, got our bearings, and made our way to a “bar.” A pleasant, tented sitting area, where this “bar” differs from normal bars is that normal bars have drinks, and this one apparently didn’t. We asked for coke, fanta, diet coke, sprite, orange juice, pineapple juice, and every other kind of juice imaginable – “so sorry, we don’t have it.” Granted, three different people, apparently not paying attention, each went through that list, which was somewhat amusing; but the point is that this went on until Henrietta ordered water, was told they didn’t have any, and promptly stood up and informed our waitress that she could see numerous bottles of water behind the counter. I still don’t know what the issue was, but in the end half of us got water and half of us got Smirnoff Ice – and then Demetri hunted down some pineapple and a loaf of bead from the street vendors, and that was lunch.

After our refreshments we grabbed two taxis – there were now nine of us, as Lauren’s friend (whose name I cannot spell) had joined us at the bar – which made the taxi ride nice and cozy. For the duration of the ride (which was actually surprisingly long), Demetri, Laura and I continued a game that had begun this morning, before leaving for the coast, but had gotten started again with renewed vigor at the bar; there is no official name for this game, so I just term it “Gamed Word.”

Take a compound word, or a noun comprised of two words, and pretty much switch the order and add an “-ed.” Really simple and immature, and really, really fun. I think it started off with Demetri mentioning something about “creamed ice” and things took off from there (“meloned water” “clouded rain” etc). Quality entertainment, for which I’m sure the taxi driver wanted to shoot us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ve stayed in a hotel before; Ive slept in tents, teepees, yurts, dorms, cottages, B&Bs, airports and on roofs (neither of those last two are comfortable, by the way) – but never before have I stayed in a botel. Yes, I’m sure it’s just a misspelling, or cultural insensitivity on my part, but the fact is that’s what was carved onto the plaque out front the main gate: Hans Cottage Botel.

This is a misnomer on all three counts: in the course of our stay, I didn’t meet anybody named Hans (or see any Germans for that matter); there were no cottages; and I didn’t see any botels (whatever they are).

That is unless “botel” is a synonym for “crocodile sanctuary” – because, as it turns out, the lake underneath the dining area isn’t for swimming, unless you like being eaten. But don’t worry, for those of you who like to be on the water and have only slightly less of a death wish, you can rent paddle boats – or as I call them, mobile bait buckets. This seems like a horrible idea for setting up a returning customer base.

I’ll try and add some pictures to the blog, but if you’re going to be checking my shutterfly site (once I’ve uploaded the photos) you’ll notice the interesting design of the dining area. I’ll do my best to describe it: there is a lake full of crocodiles. Two, maybe three feet above this lake is a series of walkways leading to the gift shop, the main dining room, and the side dining room. The walkways themselves are made out of concrete, with similarly concrete, waist-high walls; the design flaw comes at the gift shop and the side dining room, where both are surrounded by knee-high fences of the |=====|=====| variety. I think of them as “ladder fences” because they’re so easy to climb on. So, a knee-high fence that is easy to climb, a few feet above what we later proved to be some very hungry crocodiles. Does anyone else think this is a bad idea? No? Just me?

And yes, I almost fell in, so I’m a little biased.

But anyway, dinner. We began by making our way to the main dining room, a large two-story thatched hut full of empty tables and only a few guests, all obronis; more noticeable was the dancing in the center of the open area. Supported by four talented drummers was a group of maybe ten dancers, the oldest among them (drummers included) being not more than sixteen at the most – the youngest being six. I’m not sure what you would call their style of dance, but it was the happy marriage of the Casper Slide and the hokey pokey, and I mean that as a compliment – it looked really fun, and was entertaining to watch.

But we didn’t get to see the rest of the dancing, because rather than seat us among the Land of Empty Tables we were lead across the Lake of Certain Death (see above note on crocodiles) to the Isolated Food Chamber (side dining room); named such not because that’s where we got food, but because being above the crocodiles, beneath the bats (yup) and surrounded by mosquitoes makes you all-too-aware of how many things in the world would like to eat you.

And so, conscious of our humanity, we ordered a variety of sandwiches and spaghettis; I was famished at this point, and ordered a soup, salad, and spaghetti bolognaise, one of my typical tourist fares. I can out-pig most Americans, I’m just not proud of that fact (well, to be perfectly honest, I am a little bit – it’s a guy thing). We ordered, and then we waited; and waited; and waited. I had made a joke at the beginning of the meal, that with Ghana time factored in our food wouldn’t come for two hours; apparently, I wasn’t kidding. Everyone’s meal overall was good, though, despite my questionable tomato-and-cucumber-shavings salad; the mistake was going for dessert. Two orders of cake resulted in eight pieces of dried bread that had been baked with a little bit of sugar; the closest comparison I can make is that it was like eating caramelized Styrofoam (or at least what I imagine the taste & texture would be).

After the meal wrapped up, but before they cleared the plates, we noticed that we were being watched from below – an unnerving feeling – by a crocodile (also unnerving). It’s head was the only exposed part, so I don’t know big this guy was in total; but with a two-and-a-half-foot long snout and foot-wide head, we weren’t keen to find out. Instead, we all took pictures, and pictures, and picturesd – and then someone threw the leftover chicken off of Jasmin’s plate. If you’ve never seen a crocodile feed, it’s like a force of nature: before the chicken even hit the water our visitor had snatched it and dragged it under, and then swam off. At least, we thought it had swam off, but we were wrong; and being wrong about the whereabouts of a large, hungry crocodile is something I would not recommend to anyone or anything made of meat.

It’s not like we were attacked or anything; but the crocodile made itself known by thrusting it’s open mouth out of the water as we were sitting down. I don’t care if it’s behind a foot of plexiglass, staring down at a five-foot-long toothy mouth attached to a pair of eyes staring right back up at you is not, in either my or the esteemed Mr. Darwin’s opinion, beneficial to one’s survival or general relaxation.

After the hungry welcome mat made it’s way back to the deep, half the group headed for bed, since we were leaving at 5:30 the next morning for a canopy walk; the other half, comprised of Laura, Demetri, Chris and myself, stayed behind and I taught them how to play Set (of course I brought my Set cards). This may have been a mistake in retrospect, seeing as both Demetri and Laura became instantly obsessed – we played four games (I just dealt, didn’t play) until we realized it was just past midnight, and literally ran to bed.