Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
scorpion on the label. This firewater was made from the same fruit and was extremely po-
tent, as I would live to testify in days to come.
Seconds were piled onto our plates and our hostess would not take no for an answer, she
knew how hungry sailors got, and fussed around Herman and Paula in particular. After pay-
ing the woman and thanking her profusely, we trooped into town where we found the mar-
ket selling fresh vegetables and fruit. We bought some fresh loaves of bread, some sweet
potatoes, and huge bananas. We returned to Déjà vu some hours later and were able to
launch the dinghy and row back without incident, as the wind had died out and the breakers
had subsided somewhat.
We awoke the next morning to the sight of a new arrival and recognized it instantly: it was
the couple on the concrete boat, “Horizon,” from Cape Town. We rowed across to visit and
were invited aboard for coffee. We warned them of the rollers, describing with great theat-
rics our landing and our trip to town the day before.
During the day, two other boats sailed in and dropped anchor in the bay. Suddenly the
neighborhood was filling up with boats! The whole atmosphere changed from one of quiet
contemplation and peace to one of activity, socialization, laughter, and parties. Within a
week there must have been six or seven other boats all tethered to the sea bed, all nodding
their bows in unison.
Outboard engines whined back and forth, and dinghies were landed on shore, sometimes
upside down, amidst roars of laughter and girls screaming in fun. The island took on a
different air as well: the locals started driving down, picking up cruisers and taxiing them
around the island, showing them places, and taking them to buy from the local shops.
Whirlwind romances were fired up with some of the locals, and there was a party atmo-
sphere about the place. Eating now at the little home tavern required waiting outside in the
courtyard for an available setting around her crowded oval table, and many a hearty meal
with good company was enjoyed in that dining room.
The one site that was closed to all visitors held the most fascination and beckoned enti-
cingly to the more daring ones. This was the set of rough iron rungs set into the rocks lead-
ing to the top of El Pico where the lighthouse was situated. The lighthouse was almost
always shrouded in clouds and looked like an enchanted castle.
According to the locals, the only people allowed up there were the lighthouse maintenance
crew. Several people had slipped and fallen to their death at the jagged rocky feet of “The
Peak.” An unfortunate American sailor had perished, and there had been a national enquiry
from the ambassador of the United States. The lighthouse had been closed to the public
soon after the American accusation that it had been the island's fault for being negligent.
This, however, was not enough to deter Herman and I, and we decided to attempt to scale
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