After our six weeks at the apartment in Bain Bœuf, it was time to move on, and we were definitely leaving on a high. It has been the perfect spot for us, from a pleasant stroll up Macumba Lane, past the industrious weaver birds that never seem to tire, to greeting and checking out what the fishermen have brought in from their early morning foray, with a colorful chap ready with his rusty old scale. Most of the small sloops don’t have an engine, instead opting for oars or a long punting stick doubling as both means to propel the small craft, some also with a hook on the end, which I assume is used to help bring the traps to the surface, to aid the diver. Apparently, one of the guys clears the cage of fish while the other chap (usually fishing as a pair) collects algae and sponges that are used to re-bait the trap overnight for the following day’s pick up—a tough way to make a living!
After bidding farewell to some of the people we’d seen most days for the final time, we headed back to the apartment for a leisurely breakfast while we waited for the rental car to be dropped off. We arrived at Les Canonniers (Point aux Canonniers), which was a 15-minute drive northwest, where our gracious host was waiting to welcome us to our new home for the next month. It’s a little larger than our last, newly built, and we are its first tenants. It’s in a great location and very quiet, with just the sound of the birds—perfect!
We’ve had a few tropical downpours, where if you’re out on the road, you need to be careful that you’re not marooned, as many of the roads flood. Unless you’ve got a truck with good engine clearance and not a small hire car, the roads become impassable. But apart from a couple of washouts, it rains hard and fast for a short while, leaving the sun to work its magic and clear the way, driving temperatures up by an extra 5 degrees. As I write this, today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, and I feel very grateful when I think that in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s the shortest. Merry Christmas!
Dream Chasers 