Rare time where there were two CRUISE ships in the locks at the same time



The breakfast place for dozens of parakeets that sing to us every morning



Mangos mangos mangos  EVERYPLACE



Beautiful flowering trees



Beautiful trees


Another long weekend.  Got notice on Friday that Monday was going to be a National Day of Mourning for a guy that died that had been president for 8 months many years ago.  This happened once last year as well when a guy that had been president for only 24 hours had died.    This is sort of like snow days that I will have down here - that unexpected “day off”.    But a day of mourning means: NO loud music, No Parties, No alcohol sales in restaurants, bars, or stores.

Some pictures here. One is a tree that we walk under every morning. The unique thing about this tree is that it is FULL of parakeets.  Dozens of them. Adorable little green parakeets that are feeding off the berries in the tree. It is just so neat.  The sound brings back memories of walking through the pet department at WalMart where all the birds are singing.   It is impossible to capture the birds on my iTouch so doubt that you can actually see the birds.  They don’t seem to like to sit still for a picture.
Now that rainy season had come again, trees are beautiful.  Flowers all over.  Never have I seen so many flowers in my life.  Absolutely breathtaking.

Another picture is one of the canal with two cruise ships in the locks. Generally there are always two ship but never two cruise ships.

Another one is of one of the millions of mango trees.  Mangoes are literally everyplace now and daily I see a new unique ways that the local people try to harvest them in the park.  Various ways include standing on their cars, piling things up to grab one, tossing various things in the air to knock them down, never ceases to amaze me how they get those things out of the tree.     But the trees grown everyplace here and mango are loved.  Apparently there are over 100 varieties of them
Did you know that:  the mango tree is a symbol of love.

• Mango leaves are used at weddings to ensure the couple bear plenty of children (though it is only the birth of the male child that is celebrated - again by hanging mango leaves outside the house).
• Many Southeast Asian kings and nobles had their own mango groves; with private cultivars being sources of great pride and social standing, hence began the custom of sending gifts of the choicest mangoes.
• Burning of mango wood, leaves and debris is not advised - toxic fumes can cause serious irritation to eyes and lungs.
• Mango leaves are considered toxic and can kill cattle or other grazing livestock.
• Dermatitis can result from contact with the resinous latex sap that drips from the stem end when mangos are harvested.
• Every part of the mango is beneficial and has been utilized in folk remedies in some form or another. Whether the bark, leaves, skin or pit; all have been concocted into various types of treatments or preventatives down through the centuries.