A pretty awesome thing happened

to me yesterday and I doubt the story would actually do the event justice. And as always, I never happen to have my camera when I need it most.

Just yesterday morning/afternoon, we were talking about how in the months we’ve been here we’ve only seen about four or five different types of birds. While all beautiful, none are toucans or parrots or the super tropical cliché birds you’d imagine. 

Last evening while on our way to sunset on the beach, I waited for Travis outside the grocery store by our house with a banana in my hand. I heard some “one” whistle at me or in my direction from a two story house and looked around but saw no one. Then a bright green parrot with a red head and yellow eyes flew from the house and landed on the roof right above me, looking curiously with a cocked head. I could tell he was eyeing my banana so I held out a piece and he flew in front of me again and landed on a bike tire 6ish feet away. I walked over and knew he obviously wanted my banana. So as leery as I was of sticking my fingers in a very pointy beak, I held out a piece between my fingers. He went for it, he took and was cautious not to bite the hand that fed him. On the contrary, the funny thing was that he actually made the sound of “Thank You” every time I gave him a new bite.

After three quarters of my nanner, he flew off into a small shrub tree near by and began cleaning his beak on the branch. Bananas can be messy and all. Well I thought maybe he was finished with me so I threw the last bite on the ground in front of him and crossed the road to our beach trail. He followed. Landed on some power lines right above us and started whistling. I thought it was cute and wondered if he’d continue to follow. He did. Every twenty feet or so, he’d fly to the closest tree we we were approaching and every time I’d stop and whistle back at him. I kept holding out my hand encouraging him to fly down and let me hold him, but I think he still just wanted banana. He was the cutest thing and would whistle in response every time I said something to him. 

We got to the beach for sunset and two hummingbirds landed on the branch next to him. It was a tropical version of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Everyone at the beach was amazed to see una lora. 

I really hoped he’d follow us home and I even promised him more banana, but we started our walk home from sunset and got so far before we figured he was done following. And then we heard him laughing from the beach. Crazy, I know. Obviously not laughing “HA HA” but in the way birds do.

It was really an awesome experience for us, and kind of random. But God always seems to reach out to us in the most creative ways here. It was beautiful.