Wednesday, a group of 4 couples rode our bikes
down to the end of the island to a beautiful beach. Once there, we walked out
to the end of the sand bar &, because we were still about an hour shy of low
tide, put our stuff in a waterproof bag & swam over to a neighboring
Island. Only 1 other couple was willing to make the trek with us.Once over to the island, Scott & Jim headed up to a near-by peak which is the highest point in this area. Though a bit interesting getting there, the views from the top were great
That night there was a boater pitch-in dinner. There appears to be LOTS of organized boater activity in this fun little marina.
Thursday, the marina had a trash pick-up day. We ended up with 31 boaters who collected 40 large bags of trash – wow! They dropped us off in groups of 4 to 6 at various places between the marina and a beach bar.
Once finished, we were rewarded with a glass of rum punch – woo hoo. Carol & Jim had a great, fresh, cracked conch sandwich. Yum
Thursday evening, we went with 2 other couples to the only nicer restaurant on the island. It is a very nice, bed & breakfast type of inn. Not large but oh so good!Friday, they had a barbeque at the marina. Who can resist a $10 plate of ribs, peas & rice & corn. It was really tasty!
Later that night, Jim got his guitar out & joined a couple of other guitarists along with a gal who played tin whistle, ukelele and harmonica. We had lots of fun pickin’ & grinin’ & singin’ along with a number of other boaters. A great time was had by all.
Saturday morning, we had a giant manatee come to check us out. Carol offered him a drink of fresh water – which he loved. Then, he went over to our neighbor’s boat where they offered him a free belly wash. He really seemed to enjoy that!
A little later that morning, when the tides were just right, we took the dinghy a few miles down the coast to explore Shark Creek, a shallow passage from one side of the island to the other through a beautiful mangrove swamp.
At first, we took the wrong
fork & ended up in a tight little dead end.
Once we figured out where the main
entrance was, it wasn’t nearly so difficult.
Saturday night, there was a “Live
Mic Night” where boaters brought appetizers & enjoyed an evening of great
music from local talent.
Tonight, there is a pitch-in
dinner. There doesn’t appear to be any end to the fun things to do here.
This will likely be our last
blog entry for a few months. We will leave Samba here & fly home. We have
lots of family things and meetings in April and then, in May, Jim is doing the
music for a 3 day men’s retreat in Florida and then another retreat in Ireland. Carol
will be serving on the ladies’ teams at the same time in both locations.
We will let you know when we’re back on Samba, sometime in June.
All the best, Jim & Carol.
