Phil and I went on a five-hour hike up the mountain. We started out following the very steep curvy and surprisingly newly paved road to Scarborough. The humidity was at 100% as we walked into clouds of mist on our way up hill. At the crest of the mountain ridge the road forked. A breeze from the east blew over the crest and we could see the distant beaches on the lee side of the island through the mist. By now we were drenched in sweat and getting thirsty. We had not planned to be out so long.
Phil found a coconut and husked it with his pocketknife. A couple of minutes later we were drinking its water. Coconuts are nature’s canteens. I am always surprised at how much water you can actually get from them; about six to eight ounces per nut. It tastes like unsweetened, tangy water with only the aroma of coconut. It’s no pina-colada and it is certainly an acquired taste; but when you are really thirsty, it hits the spot.
We took the fork in the road that lead further up hill and hiked on. As we continued up the lush mountain we discovered an abandoned house with a very steep and muddy trail leading down through a forest of birds-of-paradise plants. The trail lead to an abandoned farm and a beautiful rocky creek. Phil caught a land crab, which we later cooked up in a crab and crawfish sherry soup.
Parrots squawked and humming birds buzzed around us as we explored and admired the rainforest flowers.
Phillip caught these parrots on camera, one of which is putting on the airbrakes when coming in for a landing on a branch.
Fruit trees were sprinkled throughout the forest. We collected avocados, limes, sour oranges, guava and coconuts. We also came across a few cows who had left landmines all over the road. “What ever you do, don’t step back” I told Phil for this shot.
We started to make our way back down the mountain to Charlottesville. In the bay we saw a new boat had arrived. It was our friends on Kejia II. By the time we reached the beach they had pulled anchor and were putting up their sails. Phil and I ran to the dinghy dock to try to catch them before they left.
As we hurried down the dock a sudden realization came over us. Our dinghy was gone. “Dam it”. We had even locked it up. The shock slowed us to a drugging walk. Our legs tired from the hike now seamed even heavier than before. As we approached the spot where we had cleated up Rubberducky, the locked cable was still attached to the piling. My eyes followed the cable looking for the frayed end where it had been hack sawed it two. It lead under the peer. We looked through the cracks between the well-worn planks and there she was, our dinghy squashed between the rising tide and the unforgiving dock. Memories of Samana and our British friends on Loon came to mind.
Fortunately, the dinghy engine had escaped the dock’s grip. It had been pushed through to the other side, underneath the concrete government peer with more clearance. We managed to slide Rubberducky our from under the dock with no damage. The 50 gallons of sea water pushed her down as we stood on the pontoons and pulled her free.
By know Kejjia II was already on the horizon. We motored back to the Adamo with our fruit bounty as Sue was on the verge of getting worried about us. We asked about Kejjia II. They had only tucked into the bay to do a quick repair to their davits. They were on the move because a potential storm was heading our way. As it turns out it never made it here though the tropical weather is very apparent: squally, hot and humid. The low last night was 85 degrees.
For relief, a routine has developed where the Adamo crew dinghies to our favorite waterfall every afternoon for cool showers in the rainforest. Even Sue has gotten into skinny-dipping in the falls. At her insistence though, the camera is always well stowed for that.
