After an eggy bread, melon, instant coffee, chemical orange juice and stodgy pancake start to the day, we headed out on boat tour to Emerald Cove on the opposite side of the island. It was beautiful. Even the boat ride there was spattered with turquoise waters and excellent scenery.
Getting to Emerald Cove involved swimming in through a cave with a low ceiling in the dark by the guide's very dim torchlight. Penetrating deep inside, we were rewarded on the other side by a secluded sanctuary - the cove. Rosa - I hope this comes at least a tiny bit towarrds me doing caving!
Once in the cove, there were some interesting flowers on display. We had the cove entirely to ourselves, which was just as well - as we set to leave, a tour party of about 25 people arrived through the caves! I had a little go at climbing on the rocks at the side, but they were too jagged for bare feet. The second picture shows the tight hole that we had to enter (about a third of the way from the left) - it was pretty scary at first, since you could not see the light on the other side when you entered. The emerald name is shown to be very apt amazing due to the colour you get from the sunlight when you are coming back the other way and are about to emerge.
We were dropped off back at our beach. Once again, I had an afternoon swim. And once again, the wildlife was more exotic than at home!
Ling and Lang, the couple who were looking after us during our stay, were a beacon of (free!) hospitality. Lang is a fisherman, and he told me how yesterday he had caught crabs. He and his wife offered us an massive intricate hermit crab shell as a present, and then insisted on climbing a tree and getting down a coconut for us to drink and eat from (after hacking it).... they were BIG!
Getting to Emerald Cove involved swimming in through a cave with a low ceiling in the dark by the guide's very dim torchlight. Penetrating deep inside, we were rewarded on the other side by a secluded sanctuary - the cove. Rosa - I hope this comes at least a tiny bit towarrds me doing caving!
Once in the cove, there were some interesting flowers on display. We had the cove entirely to ourselves, which was just as well - as we set to leave, a tour party of about 25 people arrived through the caves! I had a little go at climbing on the rocks at the side, but they were too jagged for bare feet. The second picture shows the tight hole that we had to enter (about a third of the way from the left) - it was pretty scary at first, since you could not see the light on the other side when you entered. The emerald name is shown to be very apt amazing due to the colour you get from the sunlight when you are coming back the other way and are about to emerge.
We were dropped off back at our beach. Once again, I had an afternoon swim. And once again, the wildlife was more exotic than at home!
