April 10, 2025

ISLAND OF PARROTS, PARA, BELEM, BRAZIL

Another reason we got a hotel room in Belem for the night was we wanted to go on Sunrise trip Sunday morning to the Island of the Parrots. A driver picked us up from Hotel at 5 am and took us to a small boat dock, where we met tour guide and boat captain and traveled to Parrot Island. It was about a 30 minute ride thru the harbor and we arrived right when the first rays of morning sun were awakening the 100's of Mangrove Parrots, who live on this island.

OH WHAT A SHOW WE SAW!! The photos don't do justice to the experience. First off, you hear the noise before you see anything. It comes in waves, as 100's of Mangrove Parrots wake up and start squawking. Our guide explained parrots mate for life and the female does the picking. So you see 2 birds flying together as a couple, 3 birds is a female testing out 2  males, and the balance of 4 through 8 size groups are families where the kids are just learning to fly the distance and many times can't make it - so the whole family comes back and they go on to plan B. The morning light is magical! Five of us from ship part took - Silja, Memo, Callie Scott & Myself along with 2 college grads from London.

Below are closeups of Mangrove Parrots from our Amazon visit to tribe and center photo is off guide's website.

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After birds quiet down and morning show is over, we sail back to port, but detour through small tributaries and get to see a number of island cottages and homes.

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TIOMAN ISLAND, MALAYSIA

By Pat Patrick • July 6, 2026
Fun day in the waters of Tioman Island, Malaysia snorkeling with friends. Life is good! It was nothing fancy, a boat & captain, who spoke minimal English and barely interacted with us, for roughly 7 hours. We started the outing spotting a group of dolphins and was quickly at anchor drop 1 of 6. The distances between the 6 snorkel spots was minimal, which gave us lots of time in the water (at least 45 minutes, at each spot) with an added stop for a lunch break at local restaurants. Even the restaurants were fast and efficient, definitely used to catering to the boat crowd.

HAPPY 4th of JULY from SE ASIA SEA!

By Pat Patrick • July 4, 2026
Wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July! Here on the Odyssey we celebrated in the SE Asia Sea on our way to Tioman Island, Malaysia . We have such a talented and dedicated group of residents here, they put together a fun hour of things to celebrate and embrace a lot of what we collectively love about the USA. Even our residents from other countries - Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany , etc. joined in the fun! ( I lent my flag below for decorations)

BINTAN, INDONESIA - BUDDHIST TEMPLE

By Pat Patrick • July 2, 2026
Vihara Avalokiteshvara Graha or Guan Yin Temple is near 500 Lohan, so we also toured the grounds of this large Temple complex. It's dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy and is one the tallest brass statues of her in SE Asia. She is just over 55' tall, coated in 22 carat gold and is surrounded by scenic dragon fruit plantations. The tile work is intricate and textured with great details. The whole place is very tranquil and calming for meditation and prayer.