Almost Private Beach

We spent today at the beach. We had considered going to a swanky resort with chair service and food service etc. but instead opted for beautiful coastline - few people -no chairs - no restaurants. Most of the day we had the beach to ourselves and when we didn't we shared it with only a few people whom we never came in contact with. We had a wonderful time enjoying the water, the ocean creatures, the sand, the sky, the fresh air, the mountain and tropical scenery. There were also sailboats, yachts and even cruise ships out away from shore a little bit - so we also enjoyed seeing how they managed things. We took the cushions off the lounge chairs by the pool at our villa and covered them with beach towels. We built up sand in an area to elevate the backs of the makeshift beach chairs. It worked really well and was really comfortable. We used lots of sunscreen in lieu of an umbrella. When we arrived and got settled on the beach, it started to rain. As we have been here a week we knew that the rain could pass ...so we put everything back in the trunk of the car and sat it out about 15 minutes. We were rewarded for our patience as the clouds passed and the sun came out and it stayed that way virtually all day long. This was a great way to pass the last full day of our vacation.

We had brought our own snorkeling gear and found a really nice area to hang out with the fish. We viewed many fish and even a purple snake in this crystal clear water. It is so peaceful to swim with them. The slower you go it seems the more you see. A teaming world of activity - all different types, shapes, sizes, and colors.

We have eaten dinner tonight at Le Haut - it is a family run hotel and restaurant in the rain forest. They serve local fare and have enlisted the help of the entire family to serve their guests. We had a buffet style meal tonight . At first we weren't too excited about that because buffets are on the list of things we don't do. We first surveyed the buffet offerings and realized quickly that we could have unlimited salad and steamed vegetables. Winner! So ...we ate buffet tonight. The options consisted of pumpkin soup, green salad, coleslaw (nasty thick with mayonnaise), Red beans, rice, green papaya gratin, sweet potato gratin, jerk pork, chicken on skewers and Dorado. The protein was topped with a choice of sauce - either barbecue or a special local sauce consisting of garlic, peppers, oil etc. Dessert options included carrot cake, coconut creme brûlée and bananas flambé. Most everything was delicious - I especially loved the red beans. Ron was a fan of the papaya gratin. We have learned over the course of this week that this really was pretty standard fare for the island. We are dining al fresco as we have every meal that we have had for a week - breakfast lunch and dinner. This local dining experience however is missing the cats. Cats? Yes...almost every dining experience includes 1 or 3 or 4 cats wondering around from table to table. Not on top of the tables mind you ...but in the dining area. They are completely acceptable and part of the culture. Many guests would pet them and call them during the meal, even offering table scraps to them. We never looked a cat in the eye and did our best to ignore their presence. Back at our villa the resident plantation cats were always coming around ....that is until Ron threw some rocks at them (Ron is currently saying ..."should we call them pebbles?") He didn't intend to hit them ....only scare them and it worked. After that - he only needed to lift his arm to throw and they were gone. Still - the cats did rob us of our enjoyment of leaving our patio doors open in the evening to the rain forest ....they would have snuck in and ended up in our bed if we had done so. Ugh! We didn't risk it. Animals are everywhere here. Dogs, cats, goats, chickens, cows. They are on the city streets, yards, plantations etc. They are not aggressive, and are mostly gentle. We've taken a few pictures of some that we encountered.

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