Is it rare? I had no idea. I thought it was just a funny-looking tortoise, which I suppose is just what it is. I will now go round and boast about it. Thanks, Bill

Wow! You got to see a star tortoise!
https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/1296674814

Hi Jacquie

Thanks for that. I have, as politicians put it, clarified my statement. In other words, I got it wrong and I've put it right. Thanks again.
happy days
léo

Here in the Vancouver (Canada) area, where there's a large Indian community, roti is a flatbread and the word is pretty well interchangeable with chapati.

Hey, I’m interested! Thanks for the insight, in this and so many other things.

Léo: You may have slowed down on the bike, but not at the keyboard. Glad you’re still touring and writing. Always look forward to the next.

Thanks, Mike. Nice to hear from you again

G'day Leo

Leviticus permits the consumption of fish with fins and scales (which therefore excludes shellfish which can as with pork go off quickly as evidenced by the Australian saying "Off like a bucket of prawns in the sun"
The bit about eating fish on Fridays came in much later and was introduced in the early Catholic Church.

Cheers
Mike

So glad to see you back out on the road, and writing. Now I have something more to read than stuff about COVID-19. Take care, and keep the rubber side down.

Jonathan

Ha ha! No! I will certainly not be offended. I hope I did not offend you. I just like to help folks find the accepted identifications of nature, especially on bike touring journals because I've been there and know how hard it is to come up with a good identification with limited internet, limited time and limited energy.

I much admire your journalism, and have for a number of years. Thanks for all the efforts, and thanks for posting a nature shot! Most cycle tourists don't seem to notice nature, and if they do, they rarely photograph it, let alone make the effort to post the pictures. Thanks again!

Hi Bill

We did meet a French couple who said, at rather too great a length, that perhaps they weren't iguanas. Or maybe some other sort of iguana. We just let them ramble on. We don't have iguanas at home and, if this looked like what I thought they looked like, then I was happy with that. Will it offend you if I leave the caption as it is? If I've really blundered, just say and I'll put things right.

That fella is likely a Bengal monitor lizard.

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/39415-Varanus-bengalensis

Nice to see some nature photos!

Oh, and as always, I do enjoy your writing.