It's winter in Mauritius

Yes, it is winter!

I'm sure you'll be thinking; 'hm... winter in a tropical island, that's not possible'! It is possible, but ofcourse it is not what I'm thinking of when I hear the word 'winter'. The locals say 'winter', but to me - who is used to real winter with snow and darn cold - find it ridiculous! I'd rather say 'the cooler season'.

The 'coldest' months are July & August, when the temperature drops 10 degrees or so; from about 34-35C/93F on the coast / +30-32C/87F inland to +26-27C/80F / +19-21C/68F and during the nights it can go as low as +8C/47F in certain places. Earlier this week we had +14.5C/58F one morning and when the humidity shows 80-90%, it feels so cold! We also get the 'winter-rain', which means rain and sun every second hour or so... At least it feels like that! :) During the 'winter' season we get wind from the Antarctic too - brrrrr! I'm freezing! Love to warm my fingers and body on a hot mug of tea with cardamom! And I'm wearing wool socks and wool sweater! Do you believe me?! :))

We're living halfway up on the plateau and therefore more exposed to rain. This is how it looked like this early morning... gray with rain...

...and when the sun was shining I spotted this amazing rainbow....

Rain! Rain! Rain! Wet! Wet! Wet! We need rain! The reservoir - Mare aux Vacoas - is down at 30% of its full capacity.

Don't know if you have spotted the flowers to the left? The neighbor has a big Datura in their garden, with apricot colored flowers.

Meet 'Henrietta the 2nd'!

She has become kind of 'pet' now. She lives just outside our kitchen window and I have to check every morning if she's still there! It shouldn't be any reason why she shouldn't, because these spiders rarely leave the web for the ground. I have noticed she is most active before noon. I've seen her hunting other insects and today she was busy repairing her web. I think you can see the 'thread' from her belly if you click on the pic to enlarge. Amazing!

You may wonder why on earth I have given the spider a name?! Well, I do not suffer arachnophobia, but I kind of don't like any kind of insects inside our house. Well, spiders are not insects though, but still........ Our first 'Henrietta' was another kind of spider that comes inside looking for small insects to eat. 'Henrietta #1' stayed in our bedroom for some days and it felt a bit more safer after giving it a name - lol! I know it sounds very silly, but that's part of me in a nutshell! :))

Did you miss this comedy/horror film with Jeff Daniels? :)) Hilarious!