Rivers and Tides

After another wonderful breakfast on the Sun Deck, we headed off through the forest with Felix. On the way we passed some of the pineapples that grow all around the lodge, which was once a pineapple farm.

We also passed a huge termite nest up in the branches.

Felix stopped to show us a tree and scraped off some of the bark for us--it was cinnamon!

We passed a man coming the other way on the trail with freshly caught fish on a pole--possibly our dinner.

A few minutes further along the trail we reached the landing where a canoe awaited us for a ride on the Tampolo River.

The river was quiet and peaceful as we floated along, in and out of the shade.

We saw several birds. This one was protecting its nest on the rock.

This kingfisher was flitting from branch to branch, posing for us.

And this crested drongo was nicely silhouetted against the sky.

There weren't a lot of fish and it was hard to photograph the ones we did see, but here is a pair of striped damba.

After about an hour we reached the end of the navigable section of the river.

Our canoe turned around and headed back toward the mouth, where we were dropped off for a swim on yet another spectacular beach.

When we had swum our fill, we hopped out to dry off and I found a tree to perch in while we waited.

Felix walked us back to the lodge for lunch. The zebu quesadillas were my least favorite of our stay (though still good) but the starter gazpacho was nice and the lemon pie with a graham cracker crust was Alice's favorite dessert (sadly no photo).

After an hour's rest we set off with Felix again. As we went down the path right by our bungalow I was proud to spot this panther chameleon.

We walked through the forest and back out into the beach, forded a small river (didn't get our shorts wet, though it was close) and passed through a grove of ancient wild mango trees.

At last we came to the village of Ambodiforaha.

We passed L’Hippocampe, which seemed to be a bar built around a tree.

Next we came to the primary school, where the kids were at recess and all came running to demand high fives from us.

I didn't take a photo then, but this was the school later, when we could hear the students back in their classes.

We walked on by the edge of the water, which was lined with the dugout canoes that they use for fishing and transportation up the coast.

Notice the fish drying at the far end and the solar panels in the middle.

We saw lots of village animals.

A chicken with her chicks in a nest by the path.

A couple of zebu.

Ducks on a mission.

Felix also showed us some of the trees they harvest for food and cash crops.

Papayas

Bananas

Jackfruit

One of their biggest cash crops is cloves. Felix showed us the trees and picked a bunch of fresh ones to show us.

They dry the cloves on mats that we saw spread around several houses.

We also got to taste fresh black pepper.

Inside the green skin they are white.

Many of the houses looked much like this one.

At the back of the village are the rice fields, with the rainforest behind them.

There was a lot of smoke in the air, as they were smoking the day's catch. We saw a group of women sorting through baskets of smoked fish.

As we left the village we ran into the German father and son who are also staying at the lodge, bringing their soccer ball to play with the local kids.

Having made a full circuit of the village, we headed back up the coast. Overall I was left with an impression of people who are very poor by American standards and who work very hard, but who also live in great natural beauty and abundance.

Felix and some of the other staff have talked about how relatively well off this area is, compared with the southern regions of the country that have been almost totally deforested, where food is much more scarce.

I was very glad that we had the opportunity to see the village and get a sense of how people live in this place we have visited so briefly.