The folks at BSW recognize this phrase, because they used to be subject to them on sunny days to walk art galleries on the Boulder mall or to go fly kites.
Sitting at breakfast, I chat Buo Dia to the beautiful Brazilian newlyweds and they invite me to go with them and their guide to Praia Atalaia. The beach is part of a conservation district and the only way to gain entry is with a qualified guide. No suntan lotion allowed, either, to protect the coral.
We walk/hike about 30 minutes and break out of the jungle into a wide, open mead own that is surrounded by highlands and ends at the shore.
We have to wait for the current group to be done, then we don our snorkel and masks (no fins allowed either) and swim into the water toward the coral(?) break.
Really nothing much – coral is either dead or just starting to form. A few of the usual shoreline fish (although a cute baby flounder) and I head back to hang out in the shallows near shore.
Watching the regular rhythm of the waves and floating with is a great way to pass the time, but I hear a louder noise and pop up to check out the scene. It looks like it’s a typhoon as a series of 6 foot waves come crashing in one after the other. I stand, lean forward and dig my feet onto rocks as I lean away from the surf, towards shore, so as not to be pulled back into the deeper water. The guides, who are watching from shore, yell for all the swimmers our near the coral, to head back in, but they are being tossed around like flotsam…or perhaps jetsam? After this intense, but short-lived series of waves, everyone comes out of the water. Stella has injured her arm and foot on the coral after being thrown around. I have to say that I found it a little scary, but definitely enervating. I wait, hoping for another round so I can film, but when it comes, Evan, my chip is full! Dammit. I hastily erase a couple pictures, but I don’t have enough time for a good one. Would really have loved to video that.
Back to the ranch for a shower, out to lunch on the back of a house, which is aptly named “Veranda”. Overlook the shore and listen to an American couple hailing with a Brazilian couple about Goldman Sachs, etc, and smile to myself. Actually chat with the American couple after the others leave. Very nice. It seems they will be at the same place as me for Carnaval in Olinda. Small world.
Really spend the afternoon chilling in my room (as it happens to be pounding rain). Que problema!
As I am writing this from my pousada in Olinda and have no acces ro a computer, remaining pictures will be posted when I return stateside. Stay tuned.