Happily, the breakfast at the Reef Resort remains the same – so today I tuck into a full English – proper toast and joy of joys, Heinz Baked Beans – little things can mean so much! After that, I needed a walk so off down to the beach – things haven’t changed here either. The track down to the beach is still full of rubbish, odd little bars and restaurants and the hotel that was being built last year hasn’t moved on much! And the beach is the same. No idea why I like it so much – yes, it has got white powder sand and yes it has blue sea. But the white powder sand is covered in beach beds and 60’s style round cane chairs belonging to all the bars and restaurants along it so you can’t see much of it. There is a tide mark of rubbish, beer bottles, fag ends and god knows what else left over from last night’s beach parties. The beach is heaving. The sea is full of people and tyre inner tubes being used as floats. There are children, adults and dogs having a swim. There is loud music from each bar vying with the one next to it to be the loudest! There is the powerful aroma of diesel as the various small wooden boats vie with one another to take you to the outlying islands. But there is a life about it that I haven’t found anywhere else.
And it’s a veritable beauty spa brought to you beachside. Any type of massage – head, foot, body, Thai. Facials, manicures, pedicures with or without nail polish. Wooden and plastic bracelets and sunglasses on sale by kids of under five. And a first today, threading – i.e. hair removal using cotton thread. A girl of about ten was removing the leg hair of a French lady next to me this morning - lovely! I haven’t yet seen a Brazilian, but am sure that’s available too! And they also offer (albeit unwittingly) colonic irrigation…. Every type of seafood is on offer – precooked and placed in a plastic bag and carried around for hours in the heat (crab and prawn a speciality) or squid half cooked on a portable bbq that really didn’t look hot enough….. Pre prepared fruit salad and ice cream from a man on a bike with a polystyrene box and a bell. I’m sure you get the picture…..
And it’s a veritable beauty spa brought to you beachside. Any type of massage – head, foot, body, Thai. Facials, manicures, pedicures with or without nail polish. Wooden and plastic bracelets and sunglasses on sale by kids of under five. And a first today, threading – i.e. hair removal using cotton thread. A girl of about ten was removing the leg hair of a French lady next to me this morning - lovely! I haven’t yet seen a Brazilian, but am sure that’s available too! And they also offer (albeit unwittingly) colonic irrigation…. Every type of seafood is on offer – precooked and placed in a plastic bag and carried around for hours in the heat (crab and prawn a speciality) or squid half cooked on a portable bbq that really didn’t look hot enough….. Pre prepared fruit salad and ice cream from a man on a bike with a polystyrene box and a bell. I’m sure you get the picture…..
