No noise ordinances for the animals

It´s day 11 in our Colombia stay, and the time is passing quickly. Today, Tuesday, was nothing like our action-packed Sunday - or even our far more relaxing Monday, which saw us eating at a brand-new local, Italian-themed eatery called Anttonina’s.

The food was better than average, the prices were cheaper than similar types of Spokane eateries and the service was super amable. So we give it seven thumbs up.

Anyway, that was yesterday. As for today …

5:36 p.m. June 30 - I startled an iguana today, causing the yard-long lizard to scurry through a row of bushes and up the side of a nearby tree. Holy Godzilla, I thought, there is wildlife here in Cali.

Not that five minutes of any day doesn’t provide some sort of reminder. From the red squirrels to the birds that screech like tortured human infants to the choruses of dogs barking as if someone were removing their claws with pairs of pliers, the sounds here are varied and … well, loud.

Nothing was as loud as the rain that fell in a torrent last night, rain that was accompanied by so much lightning and thunder that it seemed as if Thor was in the house. This raised the humidity to the point where people actually were complaining about it this morning.

But to tell you the truth, I’ve found the weather to be far more pleasant than the guidebooks led me to believe. It cools off at night (thanks to those Pacific Ocean breezes), and even the sunny weather hasn’t proven unbearable.

I don’t think the birds agree, though. One of them is screeching even as I type.

Maybe he’s warning his pals that an iguana is in the house.

Or in their tree.