Day 165, Year 5: More Banana Bread and Granola, But No Fish
Date: Friday, April 9, 2010
Weather: Weather Unsettled; Squalls Passing to the South
Location: Ile Fouquet, Peros Banhos Atoll, Chagos
Things have been a bit bouncier today than normal. There has been a little more wind than the past few days and sometimes it comes from the NE, sometimes from the E, and sometimes from the SE. And squalls have been passing just south of us all day. We’re hoping whatever is going on will settle by in the morning so we can go back to Ile du Coin, but we’ll have to wait to get a GRIB file and then see how things look in the morning before making the move. Jim and Carol of Napenthe, a couple from Michigan, are the only ones left at Ile du Coin. Carol called today and offered to show us the hiking trails on the island, so I am anxious to get there before she leaves. The bouncy waters also caused our early morning fishermen some problems. Ed, Jeff, and Mark headed out of the atoll at 7:30 am, but by 9 am they were back with no fish and two lost lures. It was a little bouncy for Mark’s lower back, so I don’t think he’ll be heading out again until we have smoother waters.
I spent my day baking more granola and more banana bread. We are all sick of bananas, but we hate to waste what we have. They are getting over ripe and must be used, but without a freezer, two people can only eat so much banana bread. We won’t have bananas again until we get to Madagascar and I’m only assuming they have them there. But we’re getting our fill now, that’s for sure. And since I had to turn the oven on, I decided to do a double batch of granola. I shouldn’t have to make granola again until it is almost time to leave here. I also spent time editing the underwater photos from our snorkeling adventures this week. Instead of zooming in while underwater, Mark just takes all the pictures with a wide angle and we crop them later using the computer. It does take time, but his camera takes such high definition photos that we don’t lose much by cropping, so that is good.
Mid-afternoon, Ed of Constance, Cathy of Mirage, and Mark and I went to shore for a walk around the little island. It is tiny, but somehow we managed to spend two hours walking and talking and looking at all the little wonders on the beach. The sand crabs here are huge and dig holes big enough to lose your foot in, so you have to watch where you step. There are not many shells, but there is a lot of red coral that washes up both on the north and south side of the island. And today there were a number of perfect sea urchin shells on the south side. As I mentioned from our island visit two days ago, there are lots of shells, but they all have legs. Hermit crabs of every size and shape are crawling everywhere. We can look but not touch and are not allowed to take anything from our beach walks. We must leave only footprints, but it is a joy just to walk and see all the sand critters.
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| 100409 Day 165 Peros Banhos, Chagos–Walk on Ile Fouquet |
