Day 10

Finally, I woke up feeling back to my normal self and was hungry and more energetic.  It took two full days to feel better, with lots of toast, tea and very plain food at the buffet.

Walter and I packed our beach supplies and headed there by 10:30 am.  By 11:00, people were lined up at the beach bar for “cervezas” (beer) and whatever free refreshments are served!  We passed that booth and the rental booth to secure a spot for the day. 

At this point, we were beginning to recognize certain folks who went to the same area of the beach every day.  A cute older couple, she in a black bathing suit and he with white hat and neatly trimmed white moustache, were just down from our spot.  She passed us several times a day, carrying her sandals, and wearing a permanent smile.  We also saw some more shocking things for Canadian eyes, such as two women snuggled on a beach lounger and a few topless sunbathers (likely Europeans!).  There were some new additions to the beach community on our second week there:  some Italian men who could play a mean game of Bocce ball.  One could easily spend days at the beach and be entertained simply by people-watching!

Walter wandered over to the marina rental booth.  I watched after a few minutes, hoping to see him departing for his adventure.  I gave up, thinking I’d missed him, and went back to my reading.  Then at about 11:30 I saw him and a couple others ride off in a little motorboat.  They only went past the marked swimming area a ways, to where a barge-like boat was anchored.  I had to wait until he got back to know what happened out there.

At about 12:20, Walter was standing beside me and I was surprised!  I guess I’m glad I didn’t go.  He said it was a bit of a claustrophobic feeling and with bobbing up and down in the waves on the reef, he felt a little motion sickness.  On the positive side, he got to see lots of small fish all around him.  The instructor/guide told them to bring bread along, so they had gone back to the bird feeder (where crusts and end pieces of day old bread were kept).  The water was not deep at this particular point on the reef; the coral was less than a foot from the surface of the ocean.  As Walter was floating (with life jacket) he was scraping his belly on actual coral!  He was glad he tried snorkeling – it was another thing to cross off the “bucket list”!

A highlight of our day was Louisjean, our Haitian friend, came by to say “Hello”.  He was smiling broadly and always greeted us with a hearty handshake!  He loved to talk about things of the Lord. We learned he was getting married later this year to a pastor’s daughter he met at church.   He showed us a video on his phone of his Dad’s church worship service-they were singing “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High” in French!  And he and Walter agreed to sign up as friends on Facebook.  Our new friend had to get back to work but said he’d come by and talk tomorrow.

We took our customary late afternoon stroll up the beach, a little further than last time we had gone north.  We came to a shelter looking structure, complete with hammock, table, assorted items, beach junk and even a toy truck!  A swing with a wooden seat hung from ropes knotted on an overhanging branch.  I wondered if it was someone’s home.  Or a play house?  It was hard to tell.  We took pictures and then left, feeling like we were almost trespassing.

I guess we must have been feeling rested and almost restless as we begin to let our thoughts wander to things back home.  So we planned a couple more things for the remainder of our time here to keep engaged in the vacation mode as long as possible!