I did have some rules to abide by, as I was taking the bus to Charlottesville in Tobago, so I did have to follow the bus schedule. I started the day with a run on the beach near my new place (I have moved to a little guest house because the lady I was staying with had to go into Trinidad for the day...I'm quite enjoying my new place! I have a TV that isn't tuned into the religious channel, I've yet to even see a mosquito and the beach is mere moments away). Ready for the day, I was able to get a ride into town and attempted to patiently wait for the bus to arrive. The drive was...winding. And the bus was...practically broken. BUT, I made it to Charlottesville and started the trek to Pirate's Bay, which ended up being the most beautiful walk I've taken yet. Ever curve showed a new view of the ocean, each displaying a new shade of blue. First it was the aqua, pristine blue-green, then it was almost clear and you were able to see the coral beneath, and in the distance it was the darkest, deepest royal blue I'd ever seen.
Descending the 157 steps (yes I counted on the way back as my butt was killing me!)I found my way to the beach, which was only inhabited by 3 other people and a flock of sand pipers squawking and chasing each other back and forth. The water was of the clear blue kind, I could see all the way to the bottom. There were practically no waves and I floated around, basking in the sun light (which I am now paying for since I put sun screen everywhere but my thighs, which are now bright red). I read, I walked along the shore, it was pure bliss. I then went to a recommended restaurant and had shrimp and creole sauce, yum yum yum yum yum. Top it off with some homemade chocolate ice cream and you can't go wrong. Then I got the bill...it was about three times as much as I had expected to pay for it, but I'm trying not to dwell on that fact. My inherent cheapness creeped in when I saw the bill and I took out my wallet tentatively and wide-eyed. But I'm trying to learn that money isn't everything, and the bliss of this meal went a long way in furthering this lesson.
It started raining as I sat to eat on the covered deck and stopped as I was walking to catch the bus back, boy is that timing. Waiting for the bus as well were 5 or 6 elderly Tobago-ites that I know were speaking English only by the fact that I could understand every 10th word. The rest of the 9 were completely slurred together into one, long word. I think between the 5 of them, there might have only been 30 teeth. I've found this is pretty common here in Tobago, as are free roaming chickens and goats, strong Christian convictions and mango trees. I thought Trinidad had a lot of mango tress, but there are so many mangos here that I think there might be a law about the number of mangos each person must consume daily.
On my walk back to the guest house, I passed a cemetary and the headstones said "Sunrise" instead of birth and "Sunset" instead of death, and I thought that was the most beautiful way to describe life. And it makes me think that more of our life should be like my day...we always have things we have to do, things we are supposed to do and things we do do because of others instead of because of ourselves, but we should take more time to forget about the shoulds and have tos and take pleasure in the life that is around us. Beauty, joy and laughter are everywhere, just look!
My wonderful meal that was way too expensive but worth every penny!
These are the steps that I happily climbed down for the beach...and then drudged all the way back up!
One of the views from the walk to Pirate's Bay.
Some of the goats and chickens that roam around town...these are both taken in the middle of the largest town in Tobago, granted the largest town, which is half the population, is 20,000 people!
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