Coconuts Bread and Fish

All during the night we listened to the restless wind, and the waves somehow seemed louder and closer. We had no idea what the outside looked like and how far the sea was from the campement and that made it all scarier. I must admit during that first night I lay in bed feeling very small and at the mercy of the elements that felt so forceful and angry. The blessing was that I didn't hear the mosquitos buzzing around me but I sure felt them feeding on my blood, just to add to my agitation.

I must have finally fallen asleep because I awoke to the morning light peeking through the curtains and a blissful calm. The wind had changed to a breeze and the sea was grey and quieter. We jumped out of bed and went straight outside to explore our surroundings, and not really to our surprise discovered that the sea was right on our doorstep. It was magnificent. Although the sky was grey with thick clouds and the wind cool, it was all so much more than we could have ever wished for and we had two weeks to revel in it. Yaaay!

Just outside the campement there were coconut trees heavy with coconuts and I can just read Tony's thoughts while he is looking up at them: "I absolutely need to find a way to get these down to eat?" He found a way and had a coconut a day, they were ripe and delicious. First you drink their milk and then you break it completely open and eat the flesh. Mmmmm.

The view of the sea from the porch was unobstructed and it seemed to go on forever and to my absolute delight there were two benches waiting for me to join them.

Tony says: "look, there's the sea!"

It was quite chilly outside but it didn't stop us from making coffee and having it on the porch, looking out.

Cathy has a smug little look on her face while enjoying her coffee and knowing that there are fresh baguettes coming (an older man on his bicycle comes every morning, selling bread and baguettes to each campement, he rings his bell and we go to the road to choose our bread for the day...how luxurious, yet simple!) We have a chat and come back arms laden with two big, fresh, oven-smelling baguettes. What a way to start the day.

Jocelyne arrives and we tell her what we would like for dinner and she gives us a list of what she will need to make it. She also tells us that there is a fisherman who comes regularly to the campement to sell his freshly caught fish. Excitement! He comes and we buy an octopus for Jocelyne to make a curry, with (of course) rice and lentils. We are happy!

Later we walk up the driveway to the road, and there, many busses and taxis come past, you can take your pick. For our first outing to the shops, being the brave, fearless, chance-taking travellers that we are, we take a taxi and 10 minutes later the taxi driver drops us outside a supermarket where people are milling around, chatting, chilling, shopping, on bikes, on foot, barefoot, tourists, locals, Creoles, Indians, Chinese, Muslims, whites, dogs. We walk around letting this new culture seep warmly into us and examine all the exotic and different foodstuffs, fill our nostrils with all the spicy aromas and our trolley with appetising food for the week. We take a taxi back and make a mental note that we will definitely try the bus next time.

After our shopping experience Cathy retires to her room to send a few emails, or rather try to as the signal is erratic, Tony retires to his (our) bedroom to do his Karate training, and I, feeling contented and peaceful, go and sit on one of the benches outside to look out and dream.

Later I try to send some SMSs and I find that the best reception I can get is if I walk up the driveway, stand in the middle of the road and hold my cellphone up high above my head. Looking out for cars and feeling more than a bit silly, the SMSs get sent.