I didn’t sleep very well and my gaiter mechanism (to keep my mouth shut to prevent a sore throat and congestion) got loose in the night so I guess I was snoring a bit too and my throat got a little sore, but Bryan woke up a bit congested, so hopefully that will clear before we’re supposed to dive tomorrow.

Brekky was French toast and these two male dogs came up as we were sitting down to eat, definitely wanting food but not being rude about it. Jon actually gave them each a piece but only one ate it. The one (and the one we’d met prior) had collars on so someone takes care of them- but they did have some flies on them and one seemed to have fly strike on its ears, although not terrible.

Apparently one of the bathrooms and the kitchen sink in the dorms were giving shocks, so we weren’t allowed to do the dishes, so everyone quickly dispersed to the last bathroom stop or internet check before we got on the truck for todays’ journey of unknown length. Mat said he wasn’t even going to try and give an estimated arrival time, which made us all laugh and thought that was appropriate.

We all get on the truck and Jon made some joke about not hitting the hole- and moved all of 3 feet and the truck was suddenly stuck in the former hole from before. I guess they filled it in but didn’t really pack it down. Everyone laughed and scolded Jon and told him not to speak anymore (in a joking way) and we all got off to wait for the tractor to come pull us out.

It took less than about 15 minutes and we got out and on the road- where Hondo drove like a bat out of hell because he didn’t want to get stuck again. He was going so hard we even drifted around a corner and the truck lurched side to side. Lindsay almost got whacked with a branch- and Jon had the audacity to say he “could see pavement”… and we all told him he wasn’t allowed to make comments anymore.

Not a few minutes down the road and we encountered a police roadblock- and actually went through a few more on our way out of town. Bryan and I rotated to the other side of the truck now, but it means we’re watching the same scenery we did before, vs getting to see the other side- but it’s ok. It’s basically all the same view no matter which side.

In town the people seemed friendly but apprehensive. Some waved vigorously other looked skeptical. One kid had seemingly yelled at us on the way in- one Jillian said a couple of kids flipped us the bird- but in general most people seem curious and will wave back avidly if you wave first- which I often do for kids.

In town the streets got so narrow it was too hard to film or take pictures because the people are only a few feet away and it would be inappropriate to be so obvious about wanting to take pictures, so we don’t. We see a lot of interesting things, but I will just have to be descriptive about them vs getting to see them.

INSERT HERE

We passed some kids playing ring around the rosy as we got more into the country and some others bathing in a creek as their mothers washed clothes. They waved to us excitedly and were very cute. I love seeing them and how excited they can be to see our trucks.

It was a lot more of the same: passing through towns, people watching and waving, sleeping and sitting and selling their wares. I’d been seeing these large concrete wheels about 3ft dia and I wasn’t sure what they were. The opening seemed too small to be the lid to a well. When I pointed it out, Bryan though maybe a lid to a toilet drop- and the next ones I saw I identified the feet position of an Asian toilet. And another had a seat more like a normal toilet. I don’t know how they get the giant wheel of concrete to wherever it’s going when they need to, but it seems that’s a luxurious bonus when it comes to a bathroom.

We got into Vilankulos (sometimes spelled with a c) in the late afternoon. Suddenly a truck pulled out in front of us and we stopped super fast. I thought we must have clipped the truck because a white guy got out (and it’s been a while since we’d seen anyone that wasn’t local) and started talking to Martin. They knocked on the door and had Mat get out- all the signs pointed to something odd….but turns out the guy in the truck was the owner of the place were were staying at next and wanted to help direct us- but first we needed a store and ATM.

Bryan and I saw the bank down the block and started walking and I noticed the alarm was going off. I said, “Is it bad that we’re going to a bank where the alarm is going off”? No one was inside- I think it was a Saturday afternoon- but there were a few people queued for the ATM alarm and all, but it quickly went off again.

The initial screen was in Portuguese and we called Jacquie over to make sure we were not doing anything wrong, but it said just put your card in. Bryan tends to get overwhelmed about the conversion rates not wanting to do too much or too little, and I will say usually I am better at it but I think I left my brain at home this time. However if you divide whatever you see in metical by 63, then you get how many dollars. Or Roughly (using 60) 6000 meticals would be $60 bucks. We’d already gone pretty far on the less than $50 US we’d exchanged at the border with the money ladies, so that seemed fine for now. 

We were waiting for the others in line as we heard singing and honking. A truck turned the corner in front of us with a pickup truck full of men- and I mean full. Then a few cars decorated with ribbons and then a truck full of ladies. I guessed it must be a wedding, which Kerry (the owner of the place we were headed to) confirmed. Marina got a great video of it- and we actually saw the reception happening later in someone’s yard.

But once Bryan and I were done with the atm, the machine gave an error and said it was offline- so no one else could get money…but Kerry said he takes cards and all sorts of money so it wouldn’t be a problem for most people over the next 2 days. We talked to him a bit in front of the store while others were shopping and he said their well was a bore hole 50m down and the water was better than most bottled water you could get, so we wouldn’t have to use our bottled water for brushing our teeth- as we were getting a little low. I think someone else (besides Jon and Kristin) accidentally used our water, but it’s not a big deal. Most people labeled theirs but ours was red and everyone else’s blue so it should have been clear…but again, it wasn’t a big deal.

After a bit more thought the town and onto a sand road we went for about 6 miles, passing small huts and their yards- again kids running out smiling and waving at us. There was a lagoon on one side which we knew was full of crocodiles, people farming and sitting under their trees. We turned into the driveway for Sail Away, is what Kerry’s place is called. It’s on a cliff overlooking a beach and some gorgeous water. There are thatched huts protecting glamping tents (like a tent room about 10×10). The campers had nice pup tents that were good sized and everything was well thought out and executed.

There was no internet however, as the Starlink system Kerry ordered was supposed to arrive that day but got delayed a bit. We joked we could have brought it from Seattle for him as we live right near some of the Starlink/ Space X buildings. I didn’t care about no internet- and most people were ok but some people are super needing to be connected. Even Jon and Kristin aren’t super concerned, which is nice. We don’t want to think about the stress at home!

Kerry said everything ran on solar and there were few lights in the tents etc and to charge anything, to go to his house on the end and use his plugs. It’s kind of an open door policy, which is nice. He said also there is no need to worry about thievery and he doesn’t lock his doors, and that all the people his employs are very trustworthy and they have a long standing relationship with the town and the people.

We met one of the workers there- and the resident dog named Bonnie which immediately picked out the dog people! She looks a lot like many of the street dogs we rescue from Mexico- like there’s some shepherd in there somewhere, then kind of lab-ish but smaller. There’s one we rescued named Sophie, who our trainer Nick adopted after working with her for a few months at Woods Creek- and Bonnie was a lot like her.

Our “porch” had a nice clearing and overlook of the water- and was right next to the 147 steps leading down to the beach. Everyone was quick to throw their stuff in their tents and get down there. I was eager to drink the rest of my mojito mix- and made up a bottle for Kristin and I to take down there. 

Jillian and Marina were down their with their crew and had already been in the water when we got there. The beach had nice sand and some sandstone rocks between it and the water- where there were the coolest shells! Jillian showed me some she found, which were cooler than the ones I’d found on the sand so I started looking with her. Some of the shells were really embedded in the rock but most were pretty easy to grab- and all were empty.

Marina found this big plate looking thing with fingers on it- it almost looked like a moose antler. Jillian said it was bone, which I agreed, because when you looked at the side it was very porous. Suddenly we started finding straighter, “rib-like” pieces and after finding Mat he identified it as a turtle shell! It totally made sense. Each of the turtle’s ribs were visible with about 2 inches of bone on either side and there were a few of those. We still don’t totally understand where the moose antler fit in, but it was cool- and sad. The turtle was probably about 3 feet across when it died.

Bryan was in his element for sure, looking at the little crabs and jellyfish that washed up on the beach and collecting rocks- but I had to go to the bathroom by then and it was almost dinner time so we headed back. We headed to the outdoor table/ bar area in front of Kerry’s house where everyone was hanging and we decide to go up to the roof tower there and watch the sunset. It was really pretty and shortly Alma, Jacquie, Amber and Lindsay joined us too.

I had brought the Amarula, which I shared with everyone and we sat talking for a while into the dark. I talked quite a bit with Lindsay who is a dog trainer and has her own board and train program and she was telling me about how she used to run a 60 dog program but she felt like it was hard to find capable, and careful staff. She said she even had to fire her brother because he brought out some 200lb dog and a tiny shoelace leash. It’s just not safe and sometimes people just don’t get it and you cannot drill it into their heads enough- and they will still be cavalier putting themselves and others at risk. This is a problem we have experienced too. We haven’t had anything bad happen in general, but as Pate and I know (and Lindsay) what can and it can be frustrating when people don’t understand because they trust the dogs too much. You just cannot overly trust dogs and be safe…it’s about a fine balance.

Mat called us for dinner so we all headed over to the thatched hut, open air kitchen with picnic tables. I can’t remember at this point what dinner was but I know it was good. It was only about 730 when we finished, but I was so tired I was ready for bed. We had diving the next day at 8am, which I was a bit nervous about since it’s been so long since I last dove (2018 in Borneo) but I was going over it all in my head so I knew what to expect and how to do all the steps- and how it felt when your face first goes under and you start to breathe with the regulator and know you’re not coming up again. I always have to pause at this point and take a few breaths, then I can start my decent.

I fell asleep really fast and only had to get up once, but I woke up early and started thinking about the day and the dives ahead of us.