4/25/2010 SUNDAY , A DAY OF EXPLORATION

Sunday morning we awoke to the sirens from motorcycle police escorting the lead bicyclers in the San Andres Triathlon. The course ran back and forth in the street in front of Nene’s.

RACERS

After Dan revamped his fishing rod holders and moved them to the back of the boat, we took off for a day of exploration. We rented a cute, red “Golf cart” and revved off to see what there was to see. Passing the San Andres Airport we spied a local Arapa cart and couldn’t resist trying them. We shared 3 different ones and they were all tasty. It is kind of a masa dumpling stuffed with various fillings. We had chicken and vegetables, pork with potatoes and the third had a meat and an egg inside. Good meal at a great price.

OUR RED RIDER

ARAPA CART

While ambling from the airport area we passed numerous churches filled with the Sunday congregation. It is a friendly island with people waving and greeting you as you pass. Dan caught sight of something that intrigued him and made a quick “U” turn. We found an old horse powered Sugar Cane grinder. The lovely gentleman there was gracious enough to explain how it all worked and showed us the end syrup product. It was much like the process of making our Vermont Maple Syrup. They use old coconut husks to stoke the fires under the bubbling pots of juice extracted from the cane.

CANE GRINDER

BOILING POTS

Further along our trek we picked up 2 young boys who were ecstatic to be riding in the back seat of the cart. About that time we crossed paths with Adam and Reuben on their rented scooters who hoped we weren’t trying to replace them with a younger crew.(ha!)

As we continued on our journey we found a nice beach near town to return to later and enjoyed the calm waters. Dan dove down and found an empty Sea Urchin shell and brought it to the surface. I saw no fish but Dan saw a couple in the sea grass that covered the bottom. We bought coconut bread from the “Coconut Lady” and encountered the local Rastafarian bum who played his “stick” for us and sang his Coconut Lady song. Some of the local children borrowed our snorkel and masks to explore the sea bottom. They were sweet and polite, thanking us profusely.

After returning our “day rides”, we all enjoyed a scrumptious dinner at La Regatta, setting right over the water.