August 30

Today I woke up to silence. It was because the roosters hadn’t started crowing yet. They usually do so at around 5:45 AM. I don’t know why but I feel so motivated to wake up early here. In Toronto during the summer, I was accustomed to getting out of bed past noon.

I whipped up a quick small breakfast of left over rice and chicken stock with cucumber slices on top. By ten o’clock I was still hungry so I opened my box of Fruity Cheerios and started snacking.

At noon, I left my house to meet up with my new friends to go to the beach. We got a ride there from the wife of a student I had met already. She’s the author of the blog that I read! (tnterickson.blogspot.com). I told her that I was a fan of her blog. She is really nice and I was really happy to meet her.

At the beach, we stripped to our bikinis and shorts and I gingerly stepped into the waters. The sand was black because of the volcano, and it was really glittery and burning hot. The sea was really warm on the surface but cold underneath. Walking into the waters was a little difficult. There were large rocks and pebbles that made walking very slippery and unsteady, especially when a wave came rolling to sweep you off your feet. Once a good way into the waters, there was soft sand. We splashed about for a while before swimming a good part of the beach and swimming back to where we left our bags unattended. I got out of the water and started taking pictures of the neighbouring sites. The beach was notable in centuries ago because it was an important site of trading and commerce. There used to be many houses all along the shore, but because of hurricanes, all of the buildings close to the waters got knocked down, so that only parts of the foundations were left. You can see pieces of walls of the ruins sticking out of the sand or the soil.

We then started walking down the road towards the south-east end of the beach. We passed through a construction and shipping site, and followed a narrow path that hugged the cliff and the shore. It was a difficult to walk because I had my flip-flops on and we were treading over large unsteady rocks and pebbles. There was so much sea shells and coral skeletons littered amidst the rocks. I thought it rather eerie and cool that we were stepping on skeletons of the sea-bed. At the end of the rocky trail was another ruin known as Cook’s Castle. It was a small area the size of an office. We had a great, unfettered view of the sea from there.

On our way back we stopped at a diving place where we got some information on the island’s diving. Apparently the diving here is world-class famous. From the photos I’ve seen it looks amazing! Like out of Finding Nemo. You can even see huge sea turtles in the waters at night! I’m not sure if I want to dive though it seems kind of dangerous being underwater for so long and all. Maybe with enough convincing…

I also bought a handful of pretty postcards from a nearby store that I plan to mail back home.

I was so exhausted by the hike that by 7 PM I had to take a nap to regain some of my strength. The heat in my living room didn’t help. I might have to consider moving my laptop and router into my room where I can actually feel the AC.

I think tomorrow I will just relax in the comfort of my house. I don’t want to get any more tanned than I already am. Tan lines keep forming everytime I step outside my house!