Day 5 - Tuesday 17th May 2022
Tam creeps out of the bedroom at 6.20 am and I decide to follow a few minutes later. She has already gone out on a bike so I ride out to find her. We meet up and ride to see the manatees at Jensens Marina. Off to the beach for a quick look before we go back to the villa for breakfast.
This bird is called Leroy. I know this because a man was working in the area and he welcomed Leroy like an old friend and gave him some breakfast.
India and Georgia are suffering with insect bites, one of India's is really big.
We drive to Tarpon Bay where we hire kayaks and paddle through the mangrove swamps. We've done this before and it's always so peaceful.
After the kayaking we try to find a fish market as we're having a BBQ tonight, but fail due to the lack of internet connection. In hindsight it would have been better to get an American SIM card. At the supermarket we buy large steaks. These cost $88! Another indication of how things are no longer cheap in the US. We also buy some fried chicken and lobster mac and cheese which we eat back at the villa. As we eat we notice a bad smell. I try to blame Tam, but it's coming from water seeping up through the outside patio. Tam rings the villa management company and they send out a man who says the septic tank may be full. He says he'll ring the owner and arrange to get the tank emptied.
We walk to Boops By The Bubble Room (as in Betty Boop) for ice cream and these things are absolutely enormous. I have a Dirty Turtle - chocolate, caramel and pecan. We have to rush home as they melt really fast in the heat. I can still only manage half and put the rest in the freezer for later.
The police have messaged India to say her Fitbit has been handed in. It shows there are still honest people in this world. We will pick it up tomorrow.
We all shower and go down to the Mucky Duck to watch the sunset with margaritas and beers.
Back to the villa where I light the BBQ. The huge steaks cook pretty well and we have them with chips, salad and bread.
The expensive steaks. Still, they tasted very good. For some reason there are no photos of the actual BBQ. I blame Tam - she's the photographer. I'm the video guy.
Just as we're going to bed the poo sucker turns up to empty the septic tank! We know how to live the exotic life on holiday. They have to dig up a bit of the patio, which seems rather silly. You would think they would make the septic tank easily accessible. It's pretty loud outside for 30 minutes or so - the neighbours must have loved it!