Monkeys, Gastroenteritis, and why one should not eat foreign plants

It all started two days ago. We were trying to decide if we wanted to go to the jungle to go tubing down the rapids in a rainforest or spend more time exploring the islands of Southern Thailand. I had made mention of Ling (monkeys) and everyone got excited. We ended up talking to one of the waiters at our resort and he had a friend whom would take us to the monkeys for around$60.00. We ended up taking a 15 minute drive and getting on a long tailed speed boat ( I will show you a picture later.) We went through the mangrove forests to another bank on the way out to see. Staring directly across from us was a terrestial monkey. Our boat drivers starting throwing chunks of pineapple ashore and monkeys started appearing from everywhere. Old monkeys. big balled monkeys, nursing monkeys, baby monkies. Many many monkeys. THe highlight was watching two monkeys boom-boom (I think you know what that means.) Ergi recorded the whole thing on his camera in a movie. We then went home to rest before taking a sea kayaking island tour the next morning. Ergi and Chris were exhausted. (Chris had a dirtbike accident before I met them and fucked himself up pretty bad... we call him gimpu). Bill and I went to dinner and stupidly ordered fruit lassies. We would end up regretting this later. In the middle of dinner a lightning storm began with a tropical shower that shut off the power leaving Bill and I running home using only lightning flashes as light along the beach front.The next day we all awoke, and lo and behold went to the same dock to get on the same Long Tailed Boat to see the same Monkeys. But first, we went sea kayaking and caving. The caving was ridiculous it was basicallty pitch black and one needed ropes to climb due to the steep elevation. By about midday, when lunch happened, Bill was really ill and started vomiting, gave the fishes a free lunch, and we ended up not spending much time on the Monkeys the second time around. While Bill lay, moaning in pain, Ergi decided to rip a large fern leaf with his teeth... About two minutes later he was screaming... it burns it burns, I can't feel my ams, I can't feel my arms. The plant he had tasted was an alkaloid like bathroom cleaner. We started washing his mouth out with salt water for the next ten minutes while everyone watched and laughed in amusement. By the time, we got back to our hotel, I was now bloated and nauseous. The next ten hours were my giving offerings to porcelain god while cursing the contaminated yogurt of the fruit lassie. This morning I feel better, but am still not one hundred percent. We leave to go the rock climbing settlement of Railey Beach.

The San Blas Islands, Panama (March 1st - March 4th, 2007)

I awoke this morning to the early crowing of roosters after awakening late last night to the freezing wind that swept through the thatched roof hut that Scott and I called home and our owner called his kitchen on the island of Chichime.

Yesterday, we finally got in touch with the Colombian, Hernando, who after walking off his dingy with a bad right leg and a left leg circumduction gait, the muscular dystrophy called to me. We got on his dingy and to the boat where a group of Irishmen and Australians dressed up as pirates greeted us:, "Aye Matey, we be pirates, and you gonna have to walk the plank." I immediately felt much better as Scott and I cracked open a beer and got to see the drunk captain at work. With a single sale raised, we cruised out to the outer islands to stay with the "hermano" of Hernando, Umberto. We were greeted along the way by two groups of Dolphins and rolling waves, as the boat pitched pack and forth. We arrived at Chichime several hours later around 2:30pm in the afternoon and all jumped off the boat and into the crystal clear water to explore the island.
We were introduced shortly to Umberto, an older Kuna Male who inhabited/owned the northeastern part of the larger island. He charged us $10.00 for accommodation and food. We watched hungrily as he grilled up a fish, only to discover our dinner would be a bowl of rice, a sausage like thing, and instant coffee.
I then walked to another part of the island to sit on some drift wood in the middle of a Coral atoll and watch the sun set before returning to the Pirates and a game of Maya, Exhausted and drunk, I passed out around 9pm.
Breakfast the next morning, was more sausage, plantains, and coffee. YUCK does not begin to describe the sausage like patties. Now it is important we get back to Porvenir. We are being charged $5.00/person for the boat ride back which is a canoe and an outrigger motor. Going through the sea and three to four foot waves in a canoe is pretty scary. We are arrived safely, and had a fish/plantain dinner and coconut. Scott gave me an airborne which made the drinking water tolerable. In the afternoon, I took a nap, went to hermit crab beach and took more photos.