It was a very hazy sail in this morning. Although verde means green, everything was brown today. The locals said it was a storm but there was no rain. We dealt with strong trade winds all day today which were probably blowing in the sands from West Africa. It never improved the entire day.
There were no free shuttles today, mainly because they allowed us to walk out of the port area and it was probably a mile to exit the port. We turned left with the only intention to check out the local mercados. We were on the lookout for Dr Pepper … that’s a given, but also looking for Cheerios. I started the cruise eating bacon and eggs every morning. When I tired of that I switched to an English muffin. And when I tired of that I switched to Cheerios. They ran out of Cheerios 3 days ago. To say that I am sick of cruise food would be an understatement. But cereal isn’t the only thing they have run out of. They are also out of Jeff and Pat’s beer, but trust me, they have managed to find suitable substitutes!
Our walk to the left took us through the more modern part of the island. We passed a school where the kids were coming out on the street to food vendors for a snack – their equivalent to our vending machines. These area also included very nice homes but they are packed in tight. We are on a volcanic island so we were trudging uphill. I had the town on a map on my phone and 2 mercados scoped out. We passed the first one hoping the second one would be larger … it wasn’t. Their markets do manage to cram a lot into a little space – think smaller than a 7-11. These stores have very little fresh produce and carry everything from canned goods to cleaning supplies. There must be a huge profit margin in wine/liquor because all the store devote at least an entire aisle, floor to ceiling, to booze. No cheerios or DP, so back to the first store with the same result.
The walking isn’t the easiest. Most sidewalks are like the cobble stone walkway below or some kind of pavers that have usually been broken up by tree roots. The curbs are also high, so you definitely have to watch where you are walking.
Our next stop was a nice beach area. We walked out to the water and I’m thankful we cancelled our beach break excursion here because the water was chilly. There were a few brave ones in the water but it was mostly desserted.
We headed back towards the pier and then continued on the other directions past a marina and into the older, “colonial” part of town. The houses are painted in bright colors and the streets are cobblestone. In a different direction from the more modern part of town, there were a lot more people on the streets here. Fish was being processed everywhere and fruits and vegetables were sold right on the street corners. You could still visit a mercado for canned goods but everything else was sold on the sidewalks.
I ended the day with over 21000 steps!
