Sunday, May 29

We started a lazy Sunday like we might any other lazy Sunday on which we don't have a sporting event to attend, at the hotel restaurant breakfast buffet. In all fairness, we probably wouldn't be at a hotel, nor would we probably go to a buffet. But since we are at a hotel, and they were having a buffet, we went. The buffet itself was pretty much what you'd expect at a buffet; silver bins filled with breakfast foods, salads, chicken, and fish. They also had a made-to-order omelette and pancake bar.

I made a pass through the buffet and grabbed some eggs and french toast slices, and a little bacon and SPAM. Yes, the food kind. I took Grace and Claire went and made a pass. She went for seconds and returned to report the pancakes were cooking, so I asked, and she grabbed me some with her second pass through. We returned to the room and fed Grace a little more. We dressed and prepared for a day at Lora beach.

We met with the family downstairs, who had been in contact with the family from the other hotel. The farther away family was running a little late because they were going to bring their birthmother and some of her family with for the day. We were just going to meet them there. It took us long enough to actually walk out the door, that they saw us as they were approaching our hotel, so they swung in to start a caravan.

Lora beach is on the “far side” of the atoll. Drive clockwise around the C-shape atoll until you reach the end, and you'll be at Lora beach. Surprisingly, the drive takes about an hour. We have to drive past the airport, and the president's residence, and a slew of other homes. There are brief spans of “wilderness” between the houses, with spotty patches of palm trees and other growth.

Their van was much newer than the car we've been riding in. The car the family downstairs has rented has a broken odometer; it broke at 408K miles. The van the other family rented was catching up, though, with just over 300K miles. One has to wonder how cars get so many miles on an island that's less than 30 miles from end-to-end. That's 10,000 trips in the van going tip to tip—13,000 or more for the car! The speed limit on the island is 25MPH, so that's practically driving nonstop. The adopting dad from downstairs suggested they must get used cars from elsewhere, but I have my doubts.

The car has a hard time on the speed bumps, especially when loaded down by four full-grown Americans, one school girl, two infants, all of the packed bags, and the trunk full of bugs. The van started pulling away, and somewhere beyond the airport we lost sight of it for quite a while. We got really close again just as they turned off to fetch more family. We paused to discuss whether we should follow and keep the caravan together, or not as we weren't invited to that party. We decided to continue to the beach, find a spot, and probably get set up just as they arrive.

The beach itself is a horseshoe of sand surrounding a heavy wooded area split up with driving and walking paths. We pulled into the first one on the left after entry, to make it easy for the van to find us when they made it to the beach. The other family had been here a few days before, but had gone to the right, where they reported the beach was cluttered with tremendous amounts of litter and clutter. They had then walked over the crest of land in the middle of the park to find the nicer beaches on the other side. It's probably the case that the flow of water into the lagoon was trapping the flotsam right there around the bend.

We pulled our bags out and set them on the rickety, weathered tables and benches underneath a gigantic tree; it looked to possibly be the oldest tree on the island. The trunk had to be more than ten feet thick at the base, and immediately sprouted in all directions into branches thicker than of the other trees around.

We wandered from the car and tables, out from under the shade of the tree, and dipped our feet into the lapping waters. The atoll, of course, is made of coral built up over the ages. Bits break off on the reef and are washed up on the shore. Smaller bits give a sandy appearance, but they're not small enough to really be sandy beaches. An enterprising person could tend the beach just a little bit and make it a bigger draw just by raking some of the bigger chunks a little farther from the beach. Of course, one can argue this would both be an endless job, and also take from its natural-ish charm. At the very least, I'd tend to the bits of litter and rubbish that float ashore.

After a bit (that's an accurate measurement in “island time”) it started to rain. Then it started to heavily rain. The grown-ups took refuge beneath the tree, shielding the infants from the sudden downpour. That was sufficient for a while, and then the rain started passing the leaves in the right spots, so we took refuge in a line under one of the large branches. The schoolgirl did not yield to the rain, and continued scouring the beach for interesting shells and coral bits.

Probably a full half-hour after we'd gotten there, maybe ten minutes into the downpour, the van pulled up to the spot next to the car. The other family got out, along with their birthmother, another adult relative of hers, and thirteen other little kids! It was like one of those cars at the circus, where they just kept coming. The kids all huddled together, shyly after exiting, and once introduced en masse, they split into two groups; the slightly older kids hiding under the tree with the adults, and the younger kids dashing for the surf. After another bit, the slightly older kids caved and also joined in the foray at the waterfront.

The rain subsided, and the adopting mother from the other hotel broke out lunch fixin's. She had some loaves of bread, jars of peanut butter and jelly, fruit to slice, and a selection of juice drinks. There was a bit of a fire pit at the beach, so it seemed like cook-outs might be possible too. Back home we might invite a bunch of people and pile the baby Weber grill in the Jeep and burn some dogs or chicken. I'm not sure how I'd cook there, since we have no portable grill, but I bet we could find something workable at the Best Hardware store across the street.

I liked that, and felt a little bad we didn't think ahead and see if our birthmother and Grace's sisters and cousins could have joined us. Maybe in the near future. I think the kids are out of school, and I'm not sure what Emi does during the days. It'd be nice to combine it with someone else who spoke English and could help translate for us.

We cleaned up our area, and bid our farewells to the crowd as they climbed back in their van. We took off from the park together, but the van continued forward at the first turn while we made the turn. At this end of the island, at least, there's room for a few roads.

We made a leisurely cruise back, taking in a few more sights and snapping some photographs. Everyone was wiped out from spending the day in the sun and rain. We got back to the hotel and disappeared into our separate rooms. Although we'd only been in the water to our knees, we both felt a bit sticky, so we dashed through very refreshing showers.

Rejuvenated, we realized we were hungry, so we decided to take in a late supper, and maybe visit bubu. We had a good chat and after a couple salads, we were back to the room and ready for some well-deserved rest.