Weekend in Le Cap

Life in the tropics I must say just adds that certain zest to life!!!
I had been missing terribly - no matter how much I love spending my time in Vancouver and discovering that life candian styleeeee kinda suits me!!!
...this however is an adventure of quite different sorts and proportions... first off it's french... and those of you that know the french just about know what that means ;o)
Truly alive and well - with highs as high as they can go, and lows obviously that can be quite dark too, though I've been lucky not to experience anyone's wrath (yet!).
Sometimes I truly feel I must be living in a dream - so surreal and beautiful this place is ... so warmly I have been received. I truly feel so so so so fortunate and lucky!!! :o)

This past weekend was spent halfway up the western part of the island - in a place called Le Cap. Jean Louis and Claude own a place there, or rather manage a 475 ha large estate for a family who now lives in France.
The place is breathtaking: undulating hills, lots of green spots, though most of the forests have been transformed to pasturelands. Driving in you see happy cows munching away on what appears like tasty grass, looking slightly bewildered at the approaching car. The 'hut' itself is basic, but boasts all the amenities you can possibly dream of - even hot water and electricity!!! Quite the luxury indeed!

Upon arrival, after a three hour drive on thursday night we had a simple dinner and went to bed relatively early as friday was field day.
Got up early the next morning - put togetehr all the snorkeling apparel, got the boat ready to rock and roll, and drove to the mangrove. From there it's a 10 min fast ride down the river to the ocean. I simply cannot put into words the thrill experience to sit on that boat, cruising through the mangove and seeing the waves crashing onto the reef a short distance away. We were lucky weatherwise too as the ocean's surface was smooth as a mirror, and there was not a breath of wind, making work rather easy. We spent about an hour silently watching dugongs and green turtles surfacing above a vast expanse of seagrass to catch their breath. Quite the clever little devils they are always popping up behind your back!!!!

Then off to work we went -- got geared up, jumped into the turbid waters and surveyed the sites we had plotted on the map the day before -- aka seagrass seagrass and more seagrass! - but exciting it was as so much more diverse than anything I've ever experienced in the Caribbean in terms of flora ... and fauna! Lots of fishes zooming around -- and here and there big coral heads with literally a million of little fishes and bigger fishes hiding out!
Lunch consisted of baguette, camembert and saucisson sec -- ah mais oui on est francais apres tout -- thus when you eat, well, you might as well and better eat in style :o) ... i have to confess I've had to call time out on my vegetarian tendencies whilst out here -- (i) i would have never survived and (ii) I probably would have been by now forced fed some form and shape of meat by flabbergasted frenchmen who would have thought I was completely and utterly mad and thus most imminently brought to reason!
More seagrass discoveries in the afternoon - more fishes and some snorkels above large coral heads --- the diversity of just about anything and everything is mind blowing --- i must grab on tight to my snorkel to not breathe in tons of saltywater from all the jawdropping I am doing ;o)
I've given up on the shooting to the surface and wiggling and letting out a multitude of sounds of excitement, realising that people here WORK in the Pacific and thus this crazy diversity and variety of things is 'normal' to them --- including the 5 sharks you see on a dive, the blue, purple, green, yellow branching corals - true FORESTS of them --- the dazzling coloured reef fishes - oh I could go on and on!!!!

...but back to my seagrasses....
so we do some more surveying, rescue a small shark caught in a drifting gillnet .... untangle, or attempt as best we can the 150m at least of net caught in the branching coral and pull it up into the boat... and drive home... welcomed by Pierre and Celine who have just arrived to join us in the celebrities that will be taking place this weekend - in honour of Jean Louis who is celebrating his 60th birthday!
Lavish dinner -- we've come to expect no less....

Saturday we go on a long hike through the forest - Jean Louis knows his estate rather well -- taking us through vast plains, dry forests, the naouili forest, and swampy bits too -- the trees are alive with birds chriping, whistling ... a true cacophony .... my friend John would be in 7th heaven!
More food is had upon return --- 5 types of cheeses, wine, grilled meat, and a huge salad; desert is a chocolate and walnut tart. Yes, quite the feast!!! as I said we are dining with the french after all! Lunch is shared with the other folks that have just arrived - Greg, Patricia, Julie and two of Jean Louis' friends, Jojo and Alain.
Before nightfall (the sun sets early here at around 5h30pm) we set out on a trek again to go see a batcave. Jean Louis leads us at a record pace - man i want to be that fit when I turn 60!!! - up the hills, through the brush - his sense of orientation is bedazzling - and into the cave. It is absolutely PITCH BLACK of course, and with our headlamps we can see millions of small bats whizzing through the cave... you can feel them brushing past you at full speed too!!! We don't stay too long -- thank goodness, caves do make me a little claustrophobic, clamber back out and take another path back down to the house. The sky is ablaze with pinks and orange clouds.... hmmmm I really do love this place :o)

The true festivities are about to begin -- champagne flows with a variety of apperitifs; red wine for dinner with raclette!!!! The food is out of this world, the stories too -- we laugh and laugh and then laugh some more. My belly aches and I am not sure if it's from all the laughing or eating!!! The sky has cleared so we go out and stare at the stars --- go for yet another walk and see LOADS of small deers -- they are considered a pest here and thus hunted.... Jean Louis dabbles in quite a bit of that too...
Finally, exhausted, round bellied and with a huge smile on our faces everyone collpases into their beds ... or tents...

The next morning we pack -- chit chat, help clean up and Serge, Julie and I set off relatively early as we want to stop by a few sites on the way home - La Roche Percee and la Baie des Tortues... quite the stunning views despite the low clouds and greyness of the sky... we have a nap on the beach and drive home, sharing stories of travels and adventures, work ... and generally conclude that we're quite the happy, enthused, motivated and incredibly lucky bunch :o)