Activities

Activities

Base personnel can be a creative bunch.  Individuals come up with ideas for stuff to do on the weekends, or after hours during the week for that matter, and then get others to go along and do it. 

Last week, for example, Neil got together four others together and took off in a truck for a double overnight.  They went to the north side of the island and toured some of the villages and beaches.  They found a great little French restaurant and had dinner there.  That night they slept outside in hammocks near the beach. 

Yesterday a group of staff took a boat ride across the bay to Coconut Beach, an isolated area with aqua colored ocean, white sandy beaches and palm trees swaying in the breeze.  It was the epidemy of what a Caribbean beach should look like. 

I thought about taking the ‘cruise’ to Coconut but decided against it for a few reasons.  The day before, Friday, I had been welding in the yard all day.  A mounting bracket on one side of a truck tailgate had snapped off so Kiki and I redesigned it and made a new one for it.  I got a little overheated from the welding heat and direct sunlight so decided not to expose myself to more sunlight on the boat ride.  I had also twisted my back while doing the work and didn’t think the wave tossing boat would help.  I was reassured of my decision when, on Saturday morning, I watched the 17 people, along with the ‘captain’, who wore a ‘bum’ t-shirt, load onto what I would call a very small oversized dingy with a very small outboard motor.  People lined the gunwales as the boat putted away at a very respectable 5 mph towards the distant horizon; life vests not included.  Turned out it was a three hour ride over and the same coming back.  Very intense sun and a very slow boat.  But I think everyone was in good spirits as they were still laughing when they beached well after sunset that evening back at base. 

Later that same evening John, the base manager, started a bonfire prepared earlier on the beach for a relaxing time sitting in the sand and watching the moon and stars overhead. He pulled out a tall bag in the form of an American flag.  At its base was a combustible material that, when lit, would fill the bag with hot air.  Eventually, the bag filled up with hot air and slowly rose above the beach.  We watched it get higher and higher as it finally floated over the coconut trees and disappeared into some clouds.  We wondered if the locals would think it was a new voodoo god floating overhead.

A few of stayed until late chatting about this and that.  We buried the left over coals with sand and then meandered to our respective tents.  Last night, all was well in Haiti.