Neighborhood Explorations

I've already posted several stories recently about the adventures I was able to take during the week off from school following Easter. I thought I'd write this posting to cover a few of the other hikes in my neighborhood from that week, and share more of my pictures. For example, here is a picture of me at a point southeast of our village that overlooks a small offshore island.

The next picture also shows that same small island. However, notice the steep drop-off to the water nearly straight below. It is a long way down!

The Blenhim River empties into a bay not far from our village. No one lives in this area, probably because of the potential for flooding. However, it is still a beautiful sight. Notice the river water flowing into the sea from the lower left corner of the picture, with its current affecting the waves as it enters.

Just down the coast is another small village. However, their bay has some shoals offshore where the waves break, leaving calm waters next to the coastline. This allows houses to be built right next to the shore, and palm trees to grow close to the water. An example of both can be seen in this picture of the Sea Breeze bar.

I've always been interested in old cemeteries, and so I hiked to check one out. The view looking up the coast was beautiful. The large cross is about 20 feet tall.

Besides this hike down the coast shown in the pictures above, I finally got to explore the tidal flats along the south side of L'islet. It required wading through the surf at low tide to get around the vertical wall, but it was worth it. To give you an idea of the territory, below is a view of the south side of L'islet from the top of Mont Rouge, followed by a look towards Mont Rouge taken that day from those same tidal flats.

Next are a couple of pictures looking down the coast from different spots on these tidal flats behind L'islet. In both of these pictures, you can see the gray rocky point in the distance on the right side that we refer to as the “lion's back,” because it appears to be the back of a sitting lion, with the green trees forming his mane. I love watching the waves crash upon the rocks and then drain off back to the ocean.

I liked this picture of a lone tree precariously clinging onto the side of the cliff (I don't consider it to be a metaphor for my Peace Corps service). You can also see one of my students directly below the tree.

There was a rock wall where erosion had created a “window” hole. This picture was taken through that hole looking north.

This picture is a bit out of focus, but it gives you an example of how every now and then, larger waves roll in and can surprise you (this is how I ruined my first phone). You can see the unexpected wave crashing behind us in this picture (just prior to me getting splashed), reminding us of Neptune's power.

To finish this post, I'll share this picture taken as the sun was going down on yet a different hike that week which went up the hill north of our village. In this picture, you can see the school (and its playing field) on the left side, along with many other buildings in our village. I also think that conical hill which dominates the skyline just south of our village is interesting. Perhaps I need to hike to the pinnacle of it someday.