Yes, I realize the tropical zones don't have the separation of seasons we are used to, that was why I put Winter in quote marks
At those latitudes, the marker of seasons is usually how much it rains and what critters are more plentiful rather than what month it is. I was on ICQ with my friend Ricardo, who lives in Bahia, when he suddenly excused himself and didn't return for more than 20 minutes. He apoligized for the interruption and explained that an anaconda had come in the kitchen door and was trying to eat the poodle! He had been beating it off with a chair when his brother arrived and together they shoved the thing back outside again. I wouldn't like to meet an anaconda, but I adore geckos after living in a house full of them in Tucson. They bark and hiss at you and their little feet stick when they walk over your arm. Cats love them too, they put up a good fight when cornered and then leave their tail and excape. I found a tail in the sun room after my cat brought it in so I put it in the ex's coffee cup. It almost scared him sober
I dunno if Lookout wants to play with geckos on his vacation, though.
(Mari: You gotta read La Guerra del Fin del Mundo (The War of the End of the World). I read it in the original Spanish but it's been released in English. It's about the bloody peasant and slave revolt of the 1890s in Bahia. There are fantastic descriptions of the buildings and culture in that area. I think it's one of the most stunning historical novels ever written and you'd really enjoy it.)