Yoga pose FAIL!!!

Gavin likes to complain that we never "relax" on vacations, so I begrudgingly compromised that we could relax in the villa until lunch, the go do or see something after lunch. We were just finishing our breakfast when Diane upset the plan by inviting us to go on a walk through the local farmers' plantations. (Thank you, Diane! :) ) We walked up the road a bit, then turned onto a little path through the jungle which soon opened up onto a road where Diane knew a local farmer. The farmer had a grapefruit tree in his driveway, and he climbed up into the tree and tossed down a several pounds of grapefruit for us! He then brought us half of an enormous squash and several fresh papayas! We walked down the road a bit more, then turned into another path through a banana farm. All the bunches of bananas were covered with blue plastic bags to keep the birds away. In the middle of this farm was a guava tree. The ripe guavas were too high to reach, so Gavin hoisted me up to reach them. Diane insisted that the farmer wouldn't mind us taking the fruit, though I was nervous about getting caught and chased away by a farmer with a cutlass... :) Fresh guava is incomparably summery sweet and fresh, though I couldn't stand the big, hard seeds! They are too numerous to take out, too hard to chew, to small to spit. You just have to half chew the fruit and swallow all of the seeds whole. The fresh-off-the-tree one was worth the effort, but I'd never seek it out otherwise. :) We walked farther in and picked some star fruit off another tree, got to see the start of pineapple on a pineapple plant and the start of a pomegranite on a pomegranite tree. I also got hoisted to get some more pink grapefruit from another tree. We also saw beautiful bird of paradise varieties in full bloom, wandered through another farmer's chicken coop and met some of the local fishermen who were actually not fishing, but were selling coconuts on the side of the road.

A farmer picks us some delicious grapefruit!

Grapefruit here doesn't look like what we get in the grocery stores in the US.

View from our hike.

A colorful little Caribbean house on our hike.

Bird of Paradise yoga pose in front of Bird of Paradise plants. :)

On the banana plantation.

Gavin by the chicken coops.

After the hike, Gavin and I headed to Laborie to look for some arts/crafts for our house. We arrived at Laborie's arts and crafts section, and there were no shops open! We asked the woman working in the cafe if they were open today, and she said normally the stores are all open; she wasn't sure why they were all closed. (opening and closing times all seem to me plus or minus three hours here... :) ) While we were talking to her, one store opened, and we bought a little mini painting on handmade banana leaf paper. Then we headed to Choissel to check out the art gallery there. We bought a couple little nick nacks - the paintings were really expensive.

After our little detours from the plan, we finally got back to the villa and hung out on the deck reading and relaxing for a bit. Ken and Diane brought us some fresh young coconuts, and the gardener Martin chopped open the top for us to enjoy some coconut water.

After a couple hours we headed over to Sandy Beach to enjoy the ocean. We played in the ocean a bit while watching a kite surfer glide back and forth in the water, and every once in a while show off with a jump in the air. :) There were hardly any tourists on this beach, just a few locals blaring music on their stereos or playing catch on the beach. The sand was perfect, soft and light brown, and where the tide didn't reach was shaded with beautiful seagrape trees and green with lush, leafy plants on the ground. I tried out another yoga-on-the-beach photo, which ended up being a massive FAIL.

FAIL! Too close to the tide coming in = a CRAPLOAD of sand stuck in my hair... Not to mention an awkward looking headstand. :) I was itching sand out of my hair all night, I coined the term "Sandruff." :)

Sandy Beach.

We had a quiet evening in. We made spaghetti in the villa, shared a bit with kitty friend (She actually doesn't have a name! Diane hasn't named her!), had a Piton on the deck and went to bed early. Overall a lazy and relaxing day.

Gavin watches a kiteboarder on Sandy Beach.

 

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