Another leisurely start, as Martha had some early errands to tend to. Upon her return, though we were ready to rumble -- setting off for Chacala, a town well south of yesterday's destination. It's sugar cane season, the roads are lined with tall thickets of cane ready for harvest.
All along the roadside there are trucks and tents with foods and handcrafts to sell
This road was the same one we had ridden earlier in the week, so we were happy to revisit some beautiful views of the surrounding hills...
...and the sweep of agricultural lands in the valleys. Pretty heady stuff for us flatlanders!
We reached our destination and picked out a nice, shady table under a palm roof. Even though we were facing westward, the sun was not going to encroach on this retreat!
Naturally, we started our LUNCH with chips, guacamole and a cold beer. But the best was yet to come...
Martha ordered a beautiful shrimp plate ...
Carolyn tucked into a sauteed chicken breast with tasty mushroom gravy and crisp vegetables...
Linda reprised the Coconut Shrimp (Marisco) she'd been dwelling on for some six years now...
and Claudette knew to order a whole red snapper even though it wasn't on the menu.
Fresh and wonderful, every one!
We were looking out at a sheltered cove, with a number of private vessels moored well out in the water. Several came and went; various watercraft were deployed and some intrepid souls were demonstrating their crawl in the deep water.
Closer-in, there were lots of kids and parents frolicking in the surf.
Further down the tide line, things got more tranquil.
Linda (the photographer) and Claudette enjoyed a stroll along the beach ...
and agreed that this would be an idyllic camping spot!
Meanwhile, Carolyn got some stitching done while Martha blissed out ... and EVERYONE enjoyed the sea breeze.
Somehow, there always comes a time to go home. We had some interesting plants to observe, including this palm tree...
...this yaca (if you look REALLY close you can see the large, bulbous green fruit hanging from the right-hand side of the middle tree)...
...and bananas!
We often saw white-painted tree trunks: it's to deter the red ants, the paint is too slippery for them to climb up. Who knew??
and cows (both photos). These at least were within their fence ... on our way in from PV, we'd seen a big white steer just ambling up the road like he owned it. Glad we didn't meet up with him closely!
We were on the lookout for sugar cane, and it wasn't hard to find ...
...including recently-harvested fields right up to the roadside.
Harvested sugar cane is piled into trucks, which are heavy and S...L...O...W. On these 2-lane, twisty roads it's inevitable that you'll wind up inching along behind one of these guys for at least a little while. It's hard to find a stretch of straightaway where you can pass safely.
But finally we were back in town, where the trucks take the local lanes and we enjoy express.
A few errands later, we were back home just at dusk ... with a restored wine inventory and bus tickets for Monday morning in hand. A little wine to settle our jangled nerves ... and then pretend we're going to get some sleep with the music from the nearby fair pumping the airwaves. Well, sleep we did, though just about everyone could testify to the fact that the party was still going strong at 3AM. Oh, to be young and wild, eh?
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