More on Kassa
Carrying on from my latest posts; Conakry, our
building project and seeing that cow get slaughtered…....
We decided after a few days in Conakry, that we
would move over to Kassa, escape the bustling capital city and stay in one of
two small “resort/hotels” available and enjoy the peacefulness of our West
African island. Kassa immediately felt like home.
I was actually pleasantly surprised when I found out
we had a bathroom in our own room instead of complaining that the water was
cold, the electricity only came on at 7pm and the shower was clogged and
flooding. All that was important was the possibility of having such
luxuries available; we were thrilled to once again have running water, a
flushing toilet and electricity! Finding happiness in the simplicity of things
we do daily without notice at home is what makes it so wonderful.
We spent our days
waking up to the sound of birds chirping and soft waves stirring the sand right
outside our hut. We’d throw the door open, jump back in bed and just watch the
glistening ocean. With the place to ourselves we felt comfortable lying beneath
white sheets in each other’s arms, dreaming to the soothing sounds of nature
Love was in the air, even the perky weaver birds
were flirting, busy impressing each other and making nests in the palm trees.
Is there possibly a better way to wake up to the world?
Restfully woken, we’d saunter over to the open restaurant patio overlooking
the ocean, again with the place all to ourselves. We ate stale bread
with coffee for breakfast on the balcony, with the perfect amount of refreshing wind
blowing in. Leaning over the Ipad we’d play a competitive game of Monopoly.
“Sweet your throats better, isn’t it,’ I said matter-of-fact one
morning, inquiring about the sore throat he’d brought on the trip.
“Yes!” he said, sounding surprised. “How'd you know?!?”
“Yes!” he said, sounding surprised. “How'd you know?!?”
“Cause I
have it.”
“No! Really?!?”
“No! Really?!?”
“Ya, and
I was so careful too!”
Thinking
I was so clever I’d suggested using separate water bottles on the trip.
Kees
suddenly laughed and said, “Sweet, you were so careful with your water but then
promptly insisted I use your toothbrush. ‘Here sweet, just use mine!’” he
impersonated.
“Oh
my GOSH! What a retard.” I can’t even believe myself sometimes.
Aside
from the sore throat Kees brought with him from Holland we really didn’t get
sick. We stopped taking our malaria pills halfway through the trip because they
made us feel yucky and there were absolutely no signs of mosquitoes or any bugs
at that! Just leave it to Kees, Mr. Perfect, to find a tropical island with
absolutely no bothersome insects! There were no ants crawling into our hut
to eat our food, no flies landing on our plates and no cockroaches
sitting on our toothbrushes, it was amazing.
Some
days we’d go exploring down the main dirt road of the island to visit our
new neighbours in the nearby villages. Another time we walked along the coast,
up and over rocks from beach to beach, not a single soul in sight.
Unfortunately
on the side of the beach that faces the capital city, there is a lot of trash
that has floated over and landed on the shores of Kassa, fortunately our side
is still seemingly untouched and beautiful. This was a really romantic
escapade, with a single 2L bottle of water in our hands, forget not sharing!
The climb over the passages of rock was difficult for me but the coarse red
rocks, against green palms, white sands and blue sky made it all worth it.
While we stopped to take a break I came across a palm tree growing on an angle
and decided it was the perfect opportunity to impress Kees and prove that I am
indeed the same little Mowgli girl he picked up in Africa five years earlier.
Stripping down and cracking my knuckles I was off and climbing. On all fours, gripping that tree like a
gangly monkey, I realized about halfway up how unbelievably terrified I am of
heights, (I must add that to the 1,000 other things I’m afraid of) and decided
I desperately needed to bear hug this tree.
So
now, stuck halfway up this tree I was screaming, “Oh my gosh, sweet! It’s
falling. The tree is falling. I’m so scared. I can’t go any further. How am I
going to get back down?!”
I
know it sounds pathetic but in my mind the ground was starting to shift and
spin, and I really don’t know whether or not the tree was about to fall, but in
my mind it was already in mid-fall.
“Oh
c’mon Savann, you can do it. You’re a little Mowgli girl. All Mowgli girls can
climb palm trees.”
He
was right! Of course I could climb this dang thing. I really did not want to
and I was dizzy and shaky but I was so determined to impress that darn
guy standing what felt a million miles below laughing at me. So, rather than descending I continued to
inch my way up until I reached the top! And just for good measure, I made a few book advertisements.
“Sihpromatum
– I Grew My Boobs in China”
On the way back down I realized just how sharp and rough palm
tree bark is. Shimmying down backwards on bare legs, belly and arms is a
painful experience but apparently proves to be good entertainment for whoever
you’re with. *grumble*
On days
that we weren’t on an adventure we’d sit either on the beach outside our hut or
at the restaurant working on our computers, the owners black lab keeping us
company. I think I love just sitting under a palm with the perfect wind and
temperature in the shade working on my book. I truly love my “office on the
move”.
Late
nights consisted of crab hunting on the beach strewn with hundreds of crab
holes. Arm in arm, stumbling in the sand, with only a small flashlight and
moonlight to guide us, we attempted to catch them off guard.
It didn’t
always work out because, despite trying to sneak past him, the owner’s black
lab would always join us on our hunt and go crazy scattering all the crabs,
ruining any chance of a surprise attack.
One
moonlit night coming back from our own property, we saw all the bats coming
out. It was so exciting when we first realized they weren’t birds. I love that
moment. There were lots of them all swarming around one big tree. I absolutely
love bats, they are such special animals. The way they land upside down and crawl
on the branches is so freaking cool. I love flying rodents with
that badass reputation. There really is no better accessory to a full moon.
Coming
back to our room the first night we discovered we had a little gecko friend.
When I
caught the first one Kees said, “I can’t believe you caught it! How did you do
that? I’ve never seen someone catch a gecko before. You really impress me.” But
then he quickly decided that it was not my awesome skills but the fact that he
was shining a flashlight in its face, thus making it confused.
“Catch it. Catch it, she says! That was NOT good!!! I'm never catching a gecko again.”
The next
morning while Kees was in the bathroom, I saw a really tiny little baby gecko
and thought, “Hmph! Flashlight my butt. This should impress him.”
Within a couple minutes I had him, ready in my
hands.
Finally,
sincerely impressed, Kees admitted it was not the flashlight. “You are a true
Mowgli
gecko catcher!”
Soooo a
couple days later when I saw another one in our room I told Kees, “Look another
one. Go get it. You can catch it! Catch it, catch it!”
Feeling
confident now, he ran after the gecko, pushing furniture out of his way and
pounced.
“Ooh
no!!! Sweet! Its tail’s off n it's still wiggling. You see that? Oh noo. I feel
so bad. Oh sweet, what did I do!!? Oh, I feel so terrible. I'm a gecko slayer.”
“You just
karate chopped it in half?!”
“See, this
is the reason I never tried to catch one before! I can catch it if I really
want to… but I’m going to squish it!” In between moans of horror at what he
just did I had to laugh. He was so devastated and horrified by himself that I’m
sure he won’t be happy that I shared this story with you.
Luckily
after a few minutes, the body part of the tiny gecko started to move. I was
relieved he wasn’t dead but Kees was still moaning and crying about it. It was
quite amazing how long the tail kept on wiggling about on the floor!
“Catch it. Catch it, she says! That was NOT good!!! I'm never catching a gecko again.”
And so,
it was decided that I was the designated gecko catcher, and he will never again
attempt such an act.
After consistently saying “Oh, just ONE more night,”
our initial plan to stay 3-4 nights on Kassa gradually stretched into a full
week!
Savannah
Ps. Don’t
forget to get your copy of Sihpromatum for only 99CENTS on Amazon or Kobo!
Limited time offer ends Monday April 15th.
posted by The Watkins @ 10:50 PM
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