Medregal Village

I don't think there is a more peaceful place than Laguna Grande, it gets so quite you can hear ants walk around. Yes, aunts as we accumulated quite a few of these nasty little pests. We're not the only ones having them; it seems every boat we've gone aboard over the last year has them. They definitely got on board Paradise in Puerto La Cruz, to numerous times we've seen them crawl up the dock lines. First it seemed we had two types of pests on board, one a tiny sugar aunt the other looked like some kind of mite until I trapped on under the magnifying glass and compared it with photos of ants and discovered the mite and ant was the same and no other than the Ghost Ant. That was somewhat a relief as we were afraid that they could be wood eating ants or mites. They are tiny small and have a white almost see through butt, so when they walk on a dark surface they look like mites and when they walk on a light colored surface like an aunt. On deck we have another type aunt that is double the size and has a read and black body, they are cruising along the deck and cockpit and are seldom seen inside. Are they part of the other ants? Not sure. Where do ghost ants live? They can hide in pretty much anything, cloths, linens, computers, toasters, paper towel or toilette paper rolls, you name it. We tried to track them even left treats out for them just to get frustrated as they crawl along ledges and then disappearing into a hole or crack somewhere on the boat which we cannot trace any further.
Sid was cleaning the deck and moved the bumpers out of the way when he realized something was wrong with them then he saw the nests. Two nests, one in each bumper and sprayed them of course with ant killer. It seems that keeping after them the ghost ants disappeared as well only an occasional one wonders lonely around. It finally seems after one year of battle we are winning. Well, lets hope we are.
Two other boats where here already, one from Nice and the other from Spain "Heritage" with Jordi and Christina we met in Porlamar and again Coche. In Coche we had them over for dinner and Jordi threatened us with an invitation for Paella on Heritage. While here in Laguna Grande they met the local fishermen and they took them fishing inside the bay by laying a big net. What they brought out of the water was more than just fish, so we had the most wonderful paella with shrimp. For dessert Jordi made us one of the best Margaritas we have ever had. Unfortunately they had to leave the following day and two days later we were the only boat in the anchorage. It was just wonderful. Knowing that there is shrimp in the bay we of course took our net out and went shrimping. Many hours and sore arms and shoulders later we hauled 5 big shrimp home and believe it or not but it was enough to make a wonderful lunch to fill our tummies.
The same day we had a little green visitor on board. No worries the Martians are not here yet! It was a baby iguana that must have swam out here climbed the anchor, he was a pretty tough guy as he didn't even mind us getting close to him, he wasn't even afraid of the camera lens that extended almost out to him, instead he just smiled into the camera. He walked around not minding us at all and eventually after about one hour did a swan dive into the water and swam back to the close mangroves.
Fredi the son of a local fisherman comes by every time we anchor here asking for a dive mask and food. I couldn't give him a mask but we did have some food and coffee for him to take home. Maybe next time we come back to Laguana Grande we can bring a care package.
We enjoyed the calm and quite here, we did have another wave come over us bringing us just little wind and rain and the nights were just filled with twinkling stars, phosphorescence in the water and dancing fireflies ashore. After 6 days in this bliss we reluctantly lifted anchor and headed for Medregal Village. The wind was calm and the air was so clear that we could see all the mountain ranges on the mainland and both ends of the Golfo de Cariaco.
The dolphins didn't miss joining us an hour or so playing with the bow and letting the wake push them along side the boat.
We were amazed to just find 8 boats anchored in front of Medregal but the yard that only three months ago had 6 boats in storage had now 30 boats hauled out and one was just being brought out. Wow, great to see that Jean Marc is getting busy. Later we found out that he actually ran out of stands to support the boats and is in the process of having more made. Another wave came over us and spectacular rain shower started on the mainland and slowly inching its way towards us. It rained long and hard and the air cooled down to almost where we wanted to put on a jacket. After the rain it was so crystal clear you could see every crevasse on every hill. The sunset was spectacular, the left over clouds turned a golden red which was reflected in the water. It doesn't get any better than this.