On the morning of December 26, 2004, Junie Kovacs took some friends 20 kilometres out to sea on a snorkelling trip. When they arrived on the reef the normally pristine waters were "murky". One of the snorkelers climbed down the boat's ladder and was about to jump in when he was almost torn from the ladder by a strong current. They aborted the plan and started heading back to shore. On the way in Junie took a cellphone call from a friend in London who was in tears, asking if she was all right. That was the first Junie heard of the tsunami which had begun taking the lives of over 8,000 Thais and between 220,000 - 280,000 people over-all. As Junie recalls, the waves out at sea on that fateful day were little different from any other warm Sunday morning. 
 
Junie, who was born in California and grew up in Norway, owns and runs Time for Lime - an on-site Thai cooking school, plus bar and restaurant which each day of the week serves up a different six course tasting-menu for dinner. Farsai, the bartender at Time for Lime, is the inventor of a drink called the Chilli Margarita, and if you allow one of its tiny red ingredients to sit on your tongue you could burn a hole through it in minutes. It's one of those drinks that you consume very slowly - they do very much grow on you though.
 
Junie came here 11 years ago and after seeing the plight of the animals on Ko Lanta, decided to stay. She created and runs Lanta Animal Welfare (LAW) which exists solely through the generous help of volunteer workers, donations and profits from the Time for Lime cooking school and restaurant. Thanks to LAW, 80% of the cats and dogs on Koh Lanta (over 6,000) have been vaccinated and sterilized. For more information about this great organization, go to www.lantaanimalwelfare.com. Humane societies all over the world could learn from Junie Kovacs.
 
.
 
Elenka and I are staying in one of Time for Lime's nine bungalows. There are 15 - 20 cats on the property, and if guests choose to, they can keep one in their bungalow - litter and litter box provided. After checking in, Elenka and I went on a desperate search to find that "special cat" that would be ours for a-week-and-a-half. We weren't halfway through the brood though, when Tipsy found us. She's a small tabby who stares at Elenka or me almost full-time and never wants to leave our bungalow. All of the cats are plump and friendly. They roam freely during the day and are kept safe and sound at night in large "cat homes". Their homes are cleaned and scrubbed daily. The cats and dogs that need special care are kept at LAW's shelter located at the next beach.
 
This past Sunday, Junie took Elenka and I, along with seven volunteers and five dogs to a remote beach where the dogs could run free and the humans could swim and have a picnic. One of the dogs, Sandwich, is missing one of its back legs, (see photo) but can run as smoothly and as fast as the others. Sandwich had been adopted by a local family, but after he was hit by a car and had to have his leg amputated, they didn't want him anymore. He was returned to LAW's shelter and is awaiting a good home.           

                                   ***

Last night I took a walk up to the local mini-mart. There's usually an older woman and a young pretty one working the cash. Tonight, only the young one was behind the register.

"How old you? Mama want know." she said, pointing to the back of the store where mama was sitting on a mattress. It's common in this part of the world to be asked that question. 
I turned and yelled out, "62." 
The young girl punched a 62 onto a calculator and showed it to me. When I confirmed the number she quickly translated for mama.
"Mama 61," the girl said. 
"How old you?" I asked, pointing at my inquisitive translator. I had her pegged at 18.
She punched a pair of numbers in then showed me the machine. It read 40. I was so flabbergasted I started speaking to her in Spanish. After collecting myself I grabbed the calculator, punched in the number 18 and pointed at her again, "Me think you 18."
 
A big smile, accompanied by an enormous blush erupted on the gal's face. Then came a series of Thai thank yous. I guess I'd done my good deed for the day. I walked back to Time for Lime with mixed feelings. Sixty-one year-old mama could have easily passed for 81in my not-so-good-at guessing-ages mind. I wondered if mama thought the same about me.   

                                    
Try doing a google images search for "chimera cats" You'll think I'm pulling your leg with phoney photography, but I'm not. The shots you'll see are real. The link below also tells an interesting story of chimera cats. 

 www.news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/08/120831-venus-two-faced-cat-genetics-animals-science.