Another Day in Montezuma

I'm still in Montezuma and I think I'm going to go ahead and stay until Sunday (it's easier than doing anything else and I'm still trying to recover from my fall).

I'm at the beach and will stay here until it starts sprinkling.  (The weather was nice and clear when I arrived, but the dark clouds have come in and I'm expecting a lot of rain.)

Isla Bastimentos 5.27.2011 - 5.30.2011

Monday, May 30th, 2011

It’s my last morning on Isla Bastimentos and it’s raining. I had planned an early morning trip to the beach one last time, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen unfortunately.

~~~~~

The rain has stopped and I’ve checked out of the hostel. I’ve gone back down to the beach one last time. Because of the rain, the ocean is overflowing. The tide is coming up much more than it usually does at this time of day. And I’m left, sitting on a fallen, bleached tree, feeling very sad. I’m sad to be leaving; the beaches here are probably the best I’ve experienced. I’m sad I’m all alone and lonely; I have no one to share this experience with. No one I show pictures to later will understand.

I have so much to tell of my experience here on Isla Bastimentos that I don’t even know where to start - I suppose I will write chronologically, starting with the water taxi gone wrong.

From Isla Colon, I hopped on a water taxi to Red Frog Marina on Isla Bastimentos. Sadly, I was confused. Pretty much everything on this island is named for a small red frog with black spots on its back. For example, I am now sitting on Red Frog Beach. The hostel I’m staying in is owned by Red Frog Resort. So of course when the guy asked if I wanted to go to Red Frog Marina, it sounded right.

I arrived in the tiny village, called Old Bank, expecting to see a sign directing me to the hostel. Unable to figure out where to go, I asked a woman passing by. I was on the wrong part of the island and would have to take another water taxi to where I wanted to go. She pointed to a red boat a short distance away. A man on the porch of his stilted house intercepted me and said he could take me on his boat for $8. He said $8 was the best he could do for 1 person, gas being as expensive as it is. He wouldn’t be able to take anyone back on the return trip. Realizing I had little choice, I agreed.

The man readied his boat (which meant he emptied the bottom of water). I got in and he started the boat. After about 30 seconds, the man stopped at a stilted building a few doors down to get gas from a man sitting in a foldup chair. Most buildings are on stilts on these islands. The man zipped through the mangroves and to the correct dock. 
 
From there I easily found my hostel - there isn't much on that side of the island.
 

~~~~~

 

I settled in and then put on my swimsuit.  I didn't want to waste any time getting to the beach.  I put on sunscreen and then set off down the path through the jungle to Red Frog Beach.

The beach is quite amazing.  I wasn't sure what to think at first.  I went down to the beach around 10.30, but there was no one else there.  It felt strange to be the only person on the beach at a completely reasonable hour.  Rather than turning right (which would have taken me to the beach lounge), I turned left.  Still  sunburned from Playa Estrella, I wanted shade.  I found myself a little nook between some trees and settled in.

"My" spot on the beach.

Despite applying sunscreen and spending the day in the shade (and moving with the shade), I became even more sunburned.  Painfully so.  I am over being sunburned, I really am, especially since I've been making an effort to NOT become sunburned.

As soon as I noticed I was burned, I went ahead and packed up to go back to the hostel and take a shower. I had planned on spending the whole day at the beach, but I only made it until about 3pm.

Budva

17 June 2009

[curtain opens] So today I’m off to Budva to the beach. The Woman in Red offered to take me and I stupidly agreed. If I just get a ride, perfect. I save 3 Euro. If she wants me to tag along on business…

[Aside] Why is it that nothing in Europe that looks like a cinnamon roll actually is a cinnamon roll? I am currently eating what turned out to be a poppy seed roll. I’m not crazy about poppy seed, but I’m not going to starve like yesterday.

[Fade out to Flashback] Not only was I trapped, but I was trapped without food. Pero and the Woman in Red both had pizza. He went out to get it for them. I was hungry enough by that point that I would havwe loved some pizza, but nobody asked. I didn’t have any food that was ready to eat, only uncooked rice, a bag of sugar, salt, and some oil. I thought about excusing myself and chugging some oil, but I decided against that plan of action. So I didn’t eat. I wasn’t able to obtain food until about 11PM and even then it was one sweet bread stuffed with Nutella. Not enough.

[Fade in; later that day] [Aside] I wish I knew how to properly write a play. If I did, I could write in the directions properly instead of just writing what I hope sounds good.
The Woman in Red worked for two years to start a radio station. Unfortunately, she had to sell her half of the company to her partner in order to purchase a flat in Budva. “Her” radio station was playing Lauren Hill and the Fugis.

And Pero is a very imaginative, creative, and sensitive guy who only needs a chance to prove himself. He will be able to pick out the colors of the walls for the new hostel he is the manager of.

And it is so difficult to arrange and organize all things hostel. And fortunately the Woman in Red has a great staff that can accomplish all that she wants done.

And on and on and on.

After what seemed like an eternity, we arrived in old town Budva. She pointed out the best beach (I wouldn’t have found it otherwise) and the best bar and a few other Budva bests. She showed me to her dress shop. Apparently, she makes wedding and special occasion dresses for locals. The dresses were pretty, but nothing particularly special.

Finally, I was free. She let me go. I spent only a few minutes wandering around old town Budva. It was okay, but after spending time in Kotor, I wasn’t impressed. I headed to the “best” beach. The best beach was fine, but nothing compared to the beaches in Mexico. The beach was still pebbly, but the pebbles were significantly smaller. The water and sand and sun were significantly hotter in Budva than in Dubrovnik. At least my toes didn’t fall off from frostbite.

I spent a couple of hours on the beach, but the beach isn’t nearly as much fun alone. I tried listening to music and reading, but the sun was so strong that the glue holding my book together lost it’s stick and my book fell apart. I tried reading individual pages, but with the micro rocks and the sweat and the glare from the sun, it was nearly impossible. I eventually just left. I was too hot and the beach too crowded (this was definitely the most popular beach). I spent over an hour trying to find the bus station. There were no signs (except for at the bus station entrance). The station wasn’t so far from the town either. It shouldn’t have taken me more than an hour. The Woman in Red had told me to go back to the intersection and ask somebody. That was useless. She wasn’t thinking that I do not speak any Serbian. I purposely asked younger people for directions thinking that they would speak English, but I was disappointed. One person told me one direction, so I walked in that direction. Apparently I overshot because the next person I asked (who did not speak English) gestured and told me in Serbian to turn around. I wasn't positive I was going in the right direction, but I walked and walked anyways. Finally, I saw the sign at the station entrance. All my troubles were over (so I thought!)

I asked for a ticket to Kotor and didn't bother to look at it to make sure it was right. Big mistake! My ticket was actually to Tivat (which sounds nothing like Kotor). Fortunately, after about 15 minutes of crazy confusion, I was taken to the right bus and made it back to Kotor in one piece. The bus I boarded looked like a podunk rundown bus from the outside, but was a bumpy wiggly party bus from the inside. The driver was pumping the electronica (which was fine, except when combined with the wobbliness of the ride produces motion sickness). I kind of wanted to bus dance...

[Curtain Drops]