Saturday morning I decided it was time for a ‘long run’ so I got up at 8am and headed to the beach. I ran from end to end and back in just under an hour. It was HOT and I was TIRED. I have never run on the beach like that and it was amazing to listen to the waves and feel the sand beneath my feet. With the added bonus of watching the locals haul in the fish nets all along the beach and of course the usual, ‘hello white girl’, ‘thank you Canada’ (my running shirt has a flag on it) and ‘how da bode?’ to which I responded with ‘tired!’ each time. All in all a great run and a fabulous way to start the day.
Spent a while lazing about and eating breakfast. Finally got the internet connection to work at the hotel and had a bizarre one-sided Skype with Jay. Is it ever weird to talk in response to MSN questions while sitting by yourself in a gazebo at a hotel.
Later that afternoon the gals (Laura, Anna, Quirien and I) headed off on the journey to Banana Island. The drive to the beach was amazing with some stunning sites and a paved highway that reminded me of northern Ontario. Manny (Laura’s driver) had some ‘mad skills’ in maneuvering on some harsh roads and delivered us to Kent beach to meet the Banana Island Guest House boat.
The highway to Waterloo, Kent and Bureh.
Manny told us the next day when he came to gather us that he stool on the shore for an hour watching us cross what was perhaps a 3km crossing. The weather was not calm and the sea matched. It was a rough ride to say the least and we were soaked when we arrived on the island. 
The 'shuttle' to the island. That's the islands in the background.
The guest houses were right on the shore in Dublin. There were four huts each with two rooms. The rooms were quaint and well-equipped with nice furniture, showers and flush toilets. The guest house is powered by solar power so, since it was a dark day there was no power but we enjoyed our night anyway.
We ordered dinner and after some typical SLE delay we ate like kings. I ordered lobster and watched the guy pull it out of the trap, let it run for a bit on the beach and then carry it off to be bbq’d. Dinner, rose and UNO led to an early night under a mosquito net. I love sleeping under mosquito nets!
Catching our dinner. Man are lobsters ever dumb.
Sunday was a great breakfast! I ordered French toast which I didn’t have high hopes for but which turned out to be fabulous. We went on a walking tour of the island to see all the beaches, the old and new churches, the fishing port and the new well and hospital that are almost finished. We even encountered a SNAKE but luckily I was in the back of the tour line so it had slithered off before I got anywhere near. YIKES!
We spent the afternoon playing UNO, snoozing and eating and then took a much calmer ride back to the beach and a lovely drive home. I did some yoga and headed to bed. I think I’ll need another day to recover from my weekend.
My camera battery died in the middle of the weekend so for further photos see Quirien's photo album at: http://picasaweb.google.nl/quirienvanstraelen/BananaIslands
1 comment:
Sounds like it was a nice relaxing way to spend the weekend Traini, well done!
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