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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Singapore - Little India

By Pat Patick • August 11, 2026
Little India is a neighborhood in Singapore that I wanted to explore becase I love Indian food and their Temple's have such unique gods and Architecture, super colorful and detailed. Below is the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, Singapore's first temple dedicated to Veeramakaliammam or the Kali , a fierce incarnation of Shiva's wife and the "Destroyer of Evil" .

SINGAPORE - Cooking Class

By Pat Patrick • August 10, 2026
Other residents had a great experience at Singapore's Food Playground on prior visits, so we wanted to try it out! Our first day in Port, twelve of us signed up for a fun afternoon, where we got to enjoy our creations as a yummy lunch. Front row (L to R) is Ellie, Rick, their visiting friend, Sue, Christy and Angela. Back Row - Me, Bosco, Delia, John, Terri & Lori.

KOH CHANG, THAILAND

By Pat Patrick • July 26, 2026
We just relaxed on the Island of Koh Chang, Thailand. It's one of the largest Thai Islands in the Gulf of Thailand and it has a dense, steep jungle & National Park covering the interior of the Island, which extends off shore, to coral reefs. The coast line is dotted with beaches and villages. This was a tender port, so we decided to stay on the Island for 3 nights, to be able to experience the nightlife. Turns out, it is low season, so nightlife was pretty sleepy. However, we did find a new favorite night time activity! Any Guesses?!?