My "Tropical" Vacation

E and I stayed at a hotel that was accessible only by boat. The idea of being somewhat isolated from others was appealing, well, appealing until we arrived and it proceeded to pour rain almost every day, making the 20-minute motorboat ride (sometimes an uncovered boat) back and forth from the hotel a rather interesting experience. Needless to say, after about four days I refused many voyages because I was simply sick of being soaked through to the bone. So much for visiting during the dry season.

Fortunately, there was a coral reef off of the hotel beachfront, so we could snorkel every day for a couple of hours. At a depth of five or six meters there were coral cliffs that we swam between, and we saw new species of brilliantly colored tropical fish every day. Snorkeling there and by some of the smaller islands was definitely the highlight of the trip.

E was game for travelling to other islands, as for some reason he consistently believed the marketing nonsense about places being "the most beautiful beach in the world." After seeing about three of "the most beautiful beach(es) in the world," I preferred to sit on our front porch in a recliner and watch the tiny ships be battered by the strong winds, pelted with rain, and tossed about in the violent storms.

We also had on-site entertainment. Our hotel was owned by an Italian company and thus was mostly populated with young Italian newlyweds. Imagine a skinny 100 pound Italian man with curly hair and pirate-like hoop earrings, wearing a red speedo (on the street!) and a matching red T-shirt. Now imagine him whooping and barking like a dog... On many evenings after dinner, he could hardly contain his enthusiasm (for what, I have no idea).

After five days, I was desperate to return to Paris.