Nails, Monkeys, and a Vanishing Act.

Yesterday was full of unexpected surprises.  Nothing horrible, but when everything was said and done, let’s just say it wasn’t the best day ever.  All in all it could have been much worse, and I kept a smile the whole day. I did require a couple beers when I got back to the Gecko just to help relax.  So I should probably start at the beginning yesterday, at first it was great!  We rented a scooter, and decided to cruse the island. First up we headed toward the cable car, to get a nice view of the island. Unfortunately right after we passed a police check point something felt wrong and the bike was sounding funny. Low and behold a FLAT! Luckily we were right next to a resort so we tried to get a hold of someone to fix the flat, but the guy that ran the shop there couldn’t get ahold of his friend to fix it.  So then we tried to figure out the phone number to devise a game plan. After about twenty minutes of trying to see if the hotel staff there could look up the number, we asked someone browsing the web. And within about five or so minutes we found the number to the place right next door, and then got a call back about 10 minutes after that; SUCCESS!

After figuring out what to do with the dead scooter, we rented one where we were at and headed back on our way.  One small annoyance, but at least we were on our way. Within a few minutes we were at the Oriental Village, and the flat was a distant memory. So we wondered around the oriental village for a little while looking at the shops and whatnot. Then found out due to high winds the cable car was closed for the day, so we took a couple pictures and headed to the beach instead.

Of course with the top notch tourist map we drove past the beach, but in doing so we ended up at a pretty neat waterfall. And it was covered in monkeys, well the area was, not the waterfall it self.  And of course I had to take some videos of the monkeys running around. I even got a few pictures of some monkey sex! It was a little inappropriate…

So after watching the monkeys running around for a few minutes I felt I had a couple good pictures of them so we headed up to the waterfall.  Which was a nice short walk in, and a nice amount of stair climbing. And of course right at the top there was a monkey on the guard rail just sitting there.  I was even able to get some pictures with him, then when we were finished taking pictures I walked slowly toward him, and then the little bastard charged me with teeth showing.  This of course made me jump and I started walking backward down the stairs straight into Nataly, luckily I wasn’t going to fast so we didn’t tumble down the stairs, and I kept the camera between the monkey and me which made me feel a bit safer.  Then he just ran up a tree and glared at me. So all was good again, but I kept on eye on that little bastard just in case he decided another run at me.  I really didn’t feel like having a monkey on my back, especially with those teeth. Then within a few seconds we were at the waterfall, a huge drop into a pristine pool; probably great for swimming. Took a load of pictures and headed back to the bike.

After riding to the end of the road, we pulled out the tourist map and saw I missed the beach, so we turned around and headed back. This time we found it just fine, and spent a couple hours relaxing.  I even got some videos of crabs making sand bubbles, and about thirty monkeys running across the path when we were leaving.  Over all a great time, relaxation, pictures, and videos.

Even with a couple small set backs the day was going great! And since it was getting a bit late and we needed to take a cab back to the Gecko we decided to head back to the scooter rental place.  But on the way of course we needed a sweet video of us cruising by on the it. So I found a nice little stretch of road, set the camera up and started recording. Then we shot down the road about 15 seconds or so, just around the corner that was there.  Spun around and flew back to get a high speed action shot! Then something happened, something was wrong, something…  I was driving back to far, did I pass the camera in my joy of the ride? Was I blind? Wait…. So I turned around, slowly going back to our u-turn spot turned around again…  My brain started thinking what might be going on, but I still was sure I was just blind.  So we passed again where the camera was; or I should say was left.  Vanished, no trace, no people, no cars, no camera, just an empty road.  Panic; my pictures from today! Nataly and I; the waterfall; the scooter; the beach; the videos of the crabs; the… the… the… damn it! So I headed back and fourth a few more times on the scooter; nothing… Got off walked up and down the road; nothing… Walked some more; nothing… Road some more; nothing… Road to the end of the road about a 1/4 mile away; nothing… Back and fourth, up and down the damn road…  Trying to peer into the jungle; nothing, nothing, nothing…  Gone… We spent at least 40 minutes running up and down the road to no avail, the camera, tripod, and pictures were gone all gone… S***! Really it was left alone for less than 60 seconds!!!!  A tiny little minute, less than a tiny little minute. So it was either a damn fast monkey, or the world’s luckiest and sneakiest damn snatch thief ever….

So we headed to the near by police station, which was closed of course, but luckily there was a number, and they sent a car so we could fill out a police report which took about twenty minutes of waiting in the heat. The report took at least an hour to get everything figured out; I’m hoping they find something, but I’m pretty sure it’s vanished. And of course I was to lazy to load up some “if found” pictures on the memory cards, or a label on the camera. Like what this guy did, guess I better do that just in case I ever loose a camera again.  It just seems like such an easy thing, and you never know maybe you’ll get your camera back.

And of course after the police station it was dark, which was fun riding the scooter back to drop off.  But when all was said and done, no one was hurt, we still our money and our passports, and all the other pictures from the trip so far were on the laptop also.  So it could have been much worse, still a bit sucky but not the end of the world.

Today we decided to just lay on the beach and do nothing, we needed a nice break from yesterday.  I’m hoping to pick up a Canon G12 or Nikon P7000 soon, and maybe even a new 5Dm2, which hopefully won’t be to much of a pain in the ass. But today was great, nothing eventful happened, which is just what we were looking for after yesterday.

Sorry for the lack of photos on today’s post most everything was on the SLR, luckily there were a couple pictures on the baby camera.  Here’s one of the last photos of my camera, may the monkeys treat it well, and if it was a thief that took it I hope it somehow lights on fire while he sleeps burning down his house and all his belongings.  I’ll miss you camera; at least until I get somewhere I can replace you for a good price..