It’s nice to be settled in down here, but I have been a little homesick last night and today… hoping it will pass as I get into a bit more of a routine. Last night I left the village a little too late and by the time I went to grab the bike at Laurie’s to head back to camp it was pitch black. Luckily I happened to have my headlamp in my backpack it was still a little tricky getting back because there aren’t streetlights and the road back is basically all up-hill and full of hairpin turns. Once I got on the road that Tipi Valley is on, I had to keep turning my headlamp from the road in front of me to the side because the long dirt road down to the valley is hard to find in the dark. Drivers are pretty crazy here too. I´m not sure there´s a speed limit and red lights seem pretty optional.
When I finally got down here, Jodie was in the kitchen bundled up reading so we made some tea and talked for a while before heading to our separate tents. Here’s mine below…
I was worried about staying warm during the night, especially since both my sweatshirts hadn’t dried outside yet but it turns out sleeping in 2 sleeping bags with about 7 other blankets wrapped around your body keeps you pretty toasty. Who knew?
This morning, Laurie didn’t being the other Thai guys that have been working so it was just the three of us. I worked mostly in the gardens, planting some lettuce, zucchini, and cucumbers. I hope I´m here long enough to see some of the fruit trees blossom. I saw a tiny peach today but the apricot trees are definitely my favorite. I´ll try to get a picture of one.
We didn’t start until 10 this morning so I worked until about 3, took a refreshing shower (a picture of our bamboo and cork tree outdoor shower below) before biking back to village. I’ve been trying to call home with this calling card I bought at JFK but turns out it doesn’t work in Portugal (many thanks to my new Portuguese taxi driver friend who helped me figure that out after witnessing my struggle at the payphone). I was able to find one at another shop in the village and finally spoke to my mom : )
When I got down to the valley, Jodie had made a fire but we decided to hang out in here. For dinner I had a weird combination (“weird” being a relative term for my eating habits, I suppose) of the food I’ve been traveling with and what we have here at camp. Tonight’s delicacy consisted of some zucchini, avocado, and cashews, a blueberry smoothie from the natural food store in town (with some of my brown rice protein powder added in) and of course, some chocolate. Not bad. And a meal just seems a little more badass when prepared with a headlamp.
Wrapping up for now. We´re going to explore another beach this week and hopefully on Saturday, will be taking our canoes down a river to the ocean!
Side note: I already found a prime spot for my TRX, hanging from a cork tree. This is the yoga area when guests arrive in May. I´ll have to take some moer pictures of the cork trees that fill the valley - they are beautiful!
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