Puerto Rico is teeming with cats. And as seems to happen whenever we are in a new place, the most filthy, unhealthy, matted, sad specimen wandering the docks finds Ali. No stray goes unnoticed or unloved with her around.
We drove out to the town of Arecibo, one of the oldest colonial towns in Puerto Rico, and home to the Arecibo Observatory. Thanks at least in part to COVID, the town was inhabited only by ghosts, and the Observatory was closed.
GE Appliances and Color TV!
The essential is invisible to the government.
Even though the town is run down, color is everywhere.
One bowl becomes three bowls.
Ouest has been anxiously waiting for weeks for her new camera to arrive. The package was lost somewhere in the States for a month before magically appearing in a busted up box one day.
We found “Rico” sleeping on the boat before long.
We went over to this park one day to let the kids rip around on their scooters. Walking past this fountain we spotted two big toads sitting on a tiny piece of metal out in the middle. At first we didn’t think much of it. They appeared at first glance to be “hugging” each other. But when we walked past a few minutes later it occured to me that there didn’t appear to be any way out of the fountain. It was solid concrete wall all the way around (with grass leading to the edge of the wall on one side). The big toads weren’t hugging, they were stranded on the only spot possible to get a break from swimming, slowly baking in the sun.
I waded out and found the two of them barely alive—too weak to jump away. We moved them back across the sidewalk to the pond that they had obviously come from, set them in the water’s edge and watched them for a while. They didn’t exactly spring back to life, but they did hop around a bit in the water and get themselves in the shade. Ali and the kids were happy. Later that night Ali and I were sitting outside enjoying the night when she said sadly, “I can’t stop thinking about those poor toads.” I didn’t think it was possible, but when it comes to animals, she’s getting more and more soft.
Little did he know that by befriending the Bums he would end up at the vet. Got medicated for worms and some stomach issues, and found out he has FIV. Not great news for him, but if nothing else at least he got cleaned up a little and his stomach should be feeling a lot better soon.
22 Comments on “Arecibo”
Can’t you take the kitty? Cats are no trouble.
Cruising with cats isn’t as idyllic as it may seem. The rules vary from island to island as to what you have to do to be able to bring a pet with you. For instance the Bahamas require that you have a form from a US vet stating that the animal is free from rabies. Not so tough, except the rule says it has to be less than 24 hours old. Yikes! If you are waiting for a weather window to make the crossing, that can be difficult. Litter boxes are a real pain on a boat. We travelled for 15 years with a couple of cats. I’d never do it again.
We could if we wanted to, but we don’t want to. We love animals but I’m a helper right now, not an adopter. At some point in our lives I will rescue and adopt a few (some?). Pat never reads the comments. 🙂
Just spend some time reading about Juan Bobo. Thanks for the prompt to learn something new.
So weird, I was perusing slashdot.org as I’m want to do sometimes and I saw this article (https://news.slashdot.org/story/20/08/12/2015256/arecibo-observatory-featured-in-james-bond-film-goldeneye-shut-down) about the Arecibo observatory being temporarily closed due to some damage that was done to it. Then a few hours later I went to Bumfuzzle.com and saw that you guys had tried to visit there. What a coincidence!!!
Yes I saw that same article and thought the same thing!
You think Ali has a soft heart now, just wait until y’all have grandchildren!!
I cannot even imagine!
I would love to know the story behind the Nomada bus! It looks like a purpose-built vehicle for motorcycling adventures.
Me too. PR is a pretty small place to tour around though. I’m not sure how easy that thing would be to transport to other destinations…
Google says a cat with FIV could leave 10 to 12 years……. just saying.
Yes, we saw that. Nothing to be done about it. You could take another with your cats getting so boring and old. 🙂
OK. Fork them over. I know y’all have got more pictures of cats, than you’re showing.
We do, we do. 🙂
I had to do a double-take if that was Pat or Lowe walking on the sidewalk of stars….
We were just talking about how much Lowe is built like Pat – lean and fit, and can eat and eat without a worry.
Great too be back on the Bumfuzzle train:-). Hope to see you out in the Oceans of the World soon… Since Crossing the Atlantic, I have sailed the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and currently in Pensacola loving life and enjoying the journey…
Nice travels! And happy to have you back!
Our cat has FIV and is doing well, but that’s here in the states. You do what you can.
Yes nothing to be done about the FIV, it is the no home and food that is the issue.
That toad looks identical to a cane toad, imported from central America to Australia in the 1930s, it is now our biggest pest, killing all our native animals. I Also have a cat with FIV, he is a rescue cat, but seems as healthy as can be!
Interesting about the toad – killing all our native animals, who would have thought. And yes, the FIV isn’t what we are worried about it is the no home and food.