Thursday, September 29, 2011

Dining in Nicaragua: Spiders

We got to Ometepe Island in the late afternoon, got off the ferry (?) and drove to the Villa Paraiso. Check in for the group, around 14 or 15 was the usual firedrill, but we got settled. We probably had supper at the hotel, drank a lot of Tona` or Victoria and plenty of Flor-de-Cana 7 year old dark rum. BTW, this is a magnificent rum, among the best if not the best I have ever had. World class. Anyway, the next morning when Sal and I walked the path to the patio for breakfast we noticed a lot of spider webs across the path. We used the old "sweep your hand in front" trick and had no more trouble. I noticed a few webs around the table.
The next morning when we went for breakfast the damn path was really webbed, so we picked up a couple of sticks to clear the way. On sitting down I noticed that the silverware and everything else on the table was webbed down to the table. Then I noticed that I was webbed to the chair, so was Sal, and so was everyone else!! Nobody had seen a spider, but when we looked, as they say down this way, real close, there they were. Thousands of the tinyest spiders I ever saw. Busy running all over the place, webbing everything to everything.
The next morning, more of the same. When we left that morning I looked back at the hotel and the entire roof was solid web. I couldn't see the tile or thatch. Just web. The owners told us that sometimes they have an outbreak (read that a hatch) of these harmless spiders. Just an annoyance. I agree. We didn't get bitten or anything, and we had good breakfasts, but what a feeling to be webbed to your chair, arms, legs, shoulders, the whole Guapote.
I couldn't find a photo of the building, but here is a tree covered in webs. Imagine a whole building, but so dense you couldn't see through it. It was GREAT!!!
Image: http://igniteaparty.gigxl.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/flor-de-cana-grand-reserve-7-year.jpg
Image.http://cdn.webecoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/worlds-largest-spider-web.jpg

No comments: