Wow,
it's actually raining . Not since Europe and do long ago have we seen this sort
of thing. In fact, we heard that this normal rain which lasted for 2 days has
not happened for 17 years! Just after
the rains, we went to Sunset bay bar at the end of the runway. To get there we
had to drive through flooded roads and click in the video to see what driving
conditions are like, Unfortunately the planes were taking off from the other
end of the runway so the tourists were not being blown away. However it’s
interesting to see them land as well, so please click on the picture to get
this particular video.

Well,
we went to the races. Not the sort that you might know though. Held on the
beach. No. Not sand yacht racing, not like the waiters race that I remember
seeing in Durban when waiters had fully laden trays of drinks and food and had
to race about 50 yards across the beach. The winner was the one who was able to
stay on his feet and spilt the least. Nothing like this. We went to see crab
racing. Real excitement for the tourists in this part of the world .

The
chap doing it made two concentric circular hillocks of beach sand each about 2
feet apart. Each hillock about 15 centimetres high. Bets were taken. It’s
amazing how tourists will bet on the most ridiculous of things, especially in
this part of the world where there are already about 25 casinos . It’s all for
a little bit of fun though. Then he produced the runners and riders, a big
black bucket with a number of different sized hermit crabs; each with a number
painted on their shell; just like a donkey derby. He informed the punters to
make a lot of noise and stamp their feet to make their crab move faster towards
them. (Amazed just how gullible people can be for a prize of a case of beer and
$25 for the 1st place and $10 for second and $5 for third).

Once
all the bets had been taken he asked the punters to stand close to the outer
circle and proceeded to empty all the crabs in the centre of the 2 circles and
then they were off to tumultuous shouting, whistling and stamping of punters
(holiday makers) feet . All the winning crab had to do was successfully
negotiate the 2 small hillocks (to them it must have seemed to be an enormous
mountain). I think it was definitely more entertaining watching the tourists leaping
up and down egging their particular crab on. Good fun. The crab that was
winning got to the top of the outer hillock and then decided to turn back. And
return to the start in the centre. Several crabs had difficulty in starting as
they decided not to bother at all.

The
crabs do this twice and don’t even get paid.

 

Well,
now we’ve seen everything. Yesterday went to Bay Rouge on the French side to a
wonderful little bay where swimming was just ideal. While we were in the water,
A Frenchman arrived with his dog. All, or rather, most of the dogs look the
same. Great looking mongrels and with what looks like smiles on their faces. I
could guess that the reason for this is that they are going into the sea to
cool off. This dog had another trick up its sleeve, or rather up its coat.

The
owner went out into the sea probably about 10 to 15 yards. The dog seemed to be
made out of buoyant polystyrene as it too went into the water. This particular dog
was not going to let her master out of her sight. It followed and went right up
to him and swam round him a couple of times. The owner, a big man, then turned
over and floated on his back; put his arms above his head; technically on the
surface of the water and gripped dog’s the skinny hind quarters. It was just
amazing to watch how this dog was "saving" her master from the water. Paddling
furiously towards the shore; And making good progress. The Frenchman just
floated while the dog continued paddling till they both reached the safety of
the beach. The dog was ecstatic at having “saved” her master and proceeded to
usher him still further up the beach. Just brilliant to watch.

Talking
of wild life and things like that, we’ve just got to buy ourselves snorkelling
gear. It’s possible to feed the fish by hand and they all come swarming round.
Another thing happened yesterday There I was sitting and just staring out at
the yachts, when there was a large rustle right alongside me and the bushes
shook as whatever it was leapt off the raised area and onto the dock. Was I
surprised to see a large gecko. At least two and a half feet long. It stayed
there for some minutes before swaggering back (they walk in a very funny way),
turning right continued along the dock and finally into the slightly denser
foliage. Hope you like the picture of it.

Went
to Waikiki beach on Orient bay. Just in time to join in a birthday bash where
girls in bikinis were dancing on the wooden tables and copious amounts of
alcohol going down. The birthday cake arrived on a bier carried by four people;
one at each corner. The cake had sparklers and everything like that to make it
more glitzy and festive. There was also an acrobat/trapeze artist doing her
areal act using long black swaths of material. She then invited on looking men
to try and participate in her act. Well the macho young men all tried hard, and
some even succeeded in climbing the material and hanging on for dear life.

Their
accents are quite strange and they also have difficulty with ours. For example
the airport, you have “Hairoplanes” pronounced with a very strong H. And they
also didn’t understand when Dyana was looking for the art shop. Suddenly we
realised it had to be pronounced “Hart” shop. Then they understood perfectly and
now we’re getting into the dialect. “HoKay?”

Standing
in the cool water at Friars bay noticed some large fish swimming close by. They
were tarpon which can grow to 300 pounds in weight although these were much
smaller. Only about a metre long. Another couple came over to watch them as
well and we all got talking. It turned out he was a big rock and roll star
guitarist who’s played with many of the big names. Over here, he’s the main
star. His stage name is Ronny Santana and he plays regularly at a venue called Pineapple
Pete’s on the main road very close to where we live. So last Tuesday we went to
listen. Had to book and told the owner that “Ronny sent us.” Got a brilliant
table as “his guests” and he came over to sit and drink with us before the
start of the evening. Well, as we sat down at or table a couple of really good
looking young tourist groupies, who had
dresses that nearly fitted, but not quite, came over and started chatting Dyana
& I up. Hoping to get closer to the “star”. We were not going down that road at all
introducing hot chicks to him when he already had a partner who was already a
model and singer. What a great evening of sex & drugs & rock n roll.
He’s taken to us and we’re going out to another venue where he and his partner
are coming to meet us on Saturday night. Brilliant!!!

Now
yesterday was interesting. Something far
more sobering. I used to be a Rotarian in the UK and thought it might be nice
to meet more people on the island. So I emailed the local chapter and Dyana
& I went to their meeting held at lunch time at a very nice resort called
Divi Little Bay. Standing around talking to members met some very influential
people. The equivalent of MP’s and other business members. Suddenly they
realised that their speaker had not turned up. At that time I was chatting to
one of the organisers about who we were and what we were doing; and she
suggested that I could be their speaker and talk for twenty minutes about our
travels. It went down extremely well and
received a certificate and invitations to some members homes for dinners. Well
done to us.

More
next week. If you like it, please add a comment. Love from both of us.