JAMES: Got up this morning to what we soon recognized as a constant offshore wind. It's like there's a fan on. It is constant and never seems to take a break. It's a nice warm wind. You get used to it but sometimes sitting on our porch was like sitting in a wind tunnel! It seemed to be not so bad on our beach and we had two pools inside the hotel walls to get away from the wind. Another thing we noticed was that, unlike Mexico, everybody speaks English. In fact they speak both English and Spanish with a little Creole thrown in. Sure makes communicating easy.
SUSAN: We are staying at the Banana Beach Resort. it is an older resort that is right on the water. Our living space has a full kitchen and there are three bedrooms each with it's own bath that are connected by a hallway that lead into the ktichen / living area. It is on the first floor and as we step out the kitchen door it's about 20 yards to the water. It was lovely to sit outside our rooms and sip coffee in the morning, looking at the morning sunrise. The dock for the resort looks like you can just walk out onto the water.
JAMES: We made ourselves busy, killing time until the Harmons arrived. We went to The Bakery, a little mom-and-pop place just up the road from us. It is run by a couple with what sounded to me like a Dutch accent. John thinks Scottish. Nice, homey feel. We picked up some awesome cinnamon rolls and a loaf of wheat bread. Next stop was the market for staples and the neighborhood fruit stand. Had a nice breakfast of eggs, rolls and coffee and then set out on a quest to locate bicycles with the idea of exploring the island. Along the way we saw some brightly colored stores and businesses and some impressive jungle foliage.
We saw some great, colorful sights but several hours and extremely tired feet and legs later, we trudged back home. On the entire island there are not four bicycles available. Solving this issue will require a strategy. Along the way we ran across a guy in an alley who was having a "game meat" cookout. Gibnut is a local delicacy. It's actually a large, nocturnal rodent. It smelled good and no, it doesn't taste like chicken. Never did get a chance to try it. I still regret that.
SUSAN: I had never heard of Gibnut. I understand it is a nocturnal rodent that is native to this area. I did not try either item! Jim wants to try the Gibnut. After our long walk we made it back to our hotel and rested under palm trees near the water.
JAMES: We arrived back at the resort, ate a big lunch and at long last, the Harmons miraculously appeared! [24 hours after they were supposed to arrive] They looked tired and road-weary but extremely happy to be here. We gave them time to decompress and then took a long walk up the beach. We had only walked on the road so walking on the beach was a nice, picturesque, calm walk.
Then we took a refreshing dip in the pool, got dressed and walked uptown. Our restaurant of choice was Wild Mango, a very cool place right on the water. You sit on a veranda. We started with tropical drinks, Margaritas and Clay's favorite, the Mojito.
We all got exotic dishes: fish, shrimp, or in my case, Pork Pibil. It was good, not quite up to Elvi's standards, but that was about to change. Dessert was the bomb! Christine and John ordered Mexican Margarita Caye Lime Cold Cake and the look on their faces and the groans of pleasure emanating from their table convinced us to share one as well.
We also got a chocolate cake with chocolate sauce and walnuts. The Margarita Cake was practically orgasmic, so much so that Clay ordered another that he ate all by himself. Along with the amazing Mojitos, I doubt I've seen a man enjoy himself so much with his clothes on. That's why we love him!