April 1, 2000
Got to Bananarama before it even opened. Everybody was ready to go to Barra
shortly after 9:00. We took the 3 1/2 peso bus today. "Uptown!" No holes
in the floor, no ladies with chickens.
The girls started buying before we
were 1/2 block into Barra. Stacey got a beautiful ring and necklace.
Christy was "just looking". "No gracias." Stacey has taken one year of
Spanish in high school, so she feels pretty confident with her "Cuanta
cuesta?" My problem tends to be that when I ask how much something is, even
if I do hear what the vendor tells me, I can't remember what that number
is in Spanish. But it's fun.
As we approached the lagoon, I spotted Luis. He said he was sorry, but he
would be unable to pick us up in front of our hotel in Melaque on Monday
because the surf is too big there. So, we will take the bus to Barra, and
board at the lagoon. We decided to take the lagoon tour again, as Bob and
family would enjoy it. Same price however many people in the boat, la
lancha, so we all went again. The two highlights of the tour are the huge
Grand Bay Hotel, 
with all the yachts out front,
and the
devastation that
remains following the huge earthquake in 1995. After the earthquake, many
landowners have restored their property, but it seems just as many just
walked away. What was once so beautiful, now remains in ruin. A lonely
For Sale sign, the only hope for the future. Luis says he will take our
fellas deep sea fishing - maybe Wednesday - and he "guarantees" fish!
Sea Masters (Sea Bastards as Cindy calls it) wasn't open at noon. Apparently the cook didn't show up on time today - maybe too many margaritas last night?
I struck up a conversation with a young man about the possibility of renting a surfboard for the kids. He said to just hang out down at the surfer beach and maybe somebody would let them use his board, and show them the ropes. A few minutes later he appeared with this adorable young kid with a surfboard tucked under his arm. Suddenly our girls were very shy, and the surfing lesson never happened.
Home again about 1:30 or so. A little beaching, then Grandpa made some margaritas. As we were sitting out on the balcony, Augustine (our hotel proprietor) came running out onto the beach and was pointing out at the water. Everybody on the beach was standing up and looking out, gestering excitedly. He was saying something that sounded like Ba Yeee Nah! Ba Yee Nah! We had no idea what it could be until someone translated it to Keeeeeler Whale. Once we knew where to look, we did see it surface several times over the next hour or so, out by the rocks in the distance.
About 7:30 or so we headed down to the Zocola for hot dogs, and to see the carnival. Lots of rides, and vendors. Home before 9:00 PM.
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