First trip to Negril - Travel Report : Coco La Palm - DAY 5

[Hubby-man]

The first thing one must notice are the beautiful plants all over the hotel grounds. My favorite is the travelers palm tree with its fan shaped leaves.



As a kid I had read in a book about Magellan travels, how he had encountered this tree, while searching the shoreline of Central American for supplies for his arduous undertaking of finding a passage to the Pacific. Upon inspection it was found that the sheaths of the plant's leaves can hold enormous amounts of rainwater. One can drill a whole and hold a bucket beneath to collect perfect drinking water.

The description and a black and white picture, which I had found at our outdated local Library, fascinated me completely. Ever since I have stood in awe whenever I saw one, always imagining myself right inside the stories of the early gentlemen explorers like Magellan, Humboldt or Darwin.

Equally fascinating is the Breadfruit tree. As a kid the name just baffled me. I just could not imagine such a thing, a tree with a bread-like fruit. Impossible, yet there it is!



I checked all the little hidden corners - discoveries everywhere, like air-breathing crabs.



Even the omnipresent cats are a sight. Lean and muscular they roam the grounds like miniature tigers. Some of the kids had made friends with them I observed, but they don't give their trust easily.



I squatted down in front of someone else s balcony holding my hand out, offering some imaginary food-stuff. After a few minutes mama-cat came close enough to touch. She sniffed my hand unsurly, then circled me twice. When I let her slender tail glide through my hand on the last pass, she let out an elongated open mouthed hiss, letting me know, this touchy-feely behavior was a little too risky, especially in front of her kids.

I let her go respectfully.