North Point Surf Resort has fallen into ruin and now looks like a scene from "Apocalyse Now", it is a quiet spot with a golden sand beach surrounded by coral rocks. One of those places that you are likely to have to "help out a local" though.
Tried and tried to capture a good photograph of this lizard but he was always too quick for me, not a sharp photo but the colours just do it for me, and with that expression I can live with my failure.
Could not bring myself to crop the image so cheated and rotated instead. Driftwood not only has a natural beauty about it but is also in some way mysterious...how did it get where it is ? How far did it travel ? How long was it as sea ? Some people seem to make a living out making sculpture from it .... appears Canadian may be the best ?
Dead coral is normally associated with pollution or human damage but Barbados is an island made from coral (unlike its volcanic neighbours) so the beaches have many pieces lying around.
I was wondering what the motivation was to build a house here, perhaps it was a cafe at one time, or maybe just too much run or sun had taken hold of the builder. Looks like nature has fought back and is winning the battle. The link in the previous post is Wikipedia's list of population densities for those that like lists.
After what Micki said about coconut personality I was thinking that it reminded me of Tom Hank's companion Wilson from "Cast Away". This is down the coast from that spot, which is at the top right of the picture. It is the east coast of Barbados, which is ranked 8th on the most densely populated countries in the World (can you guess which is ranked top ?).
My introduction to the coconut was in the Coconut Shy (is that just a Britsh thing ?) at the local fete. This one was sitting on a deserted beach in the Caribbean, Robinson Crusoe seems more real now. For some reason the Disney movie Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. sticks in my mind, must have been a very early trip to the cinema as I don't think the film is that good.
This is Sammy, he is older than 30 years but not sure by how much. Surprisingly tortoises are quite fast when they get going. Sammy has been left behind while Annika has gone back-packing, just because he can't surf :-)
People laugh at the British for always talking about the weather, but that is because it is so unpredictable and becuase we have now travelled to places that actually have more than 2 consecutive days of sunshine. We have now had over a week of sunshine so it is a good time to go a visiting.
Cornwall is a great place to visit in the sun and, as it seems to have its own micro-climates, it has some interesting gardens open to the public. Plant collectors have planted many exotic plants, not normally associated with our less than exotic climate.
One last self-indulgent volcano post before returning to the present. This is Stromboli, made famous by the film....Stromboli. Stromboli erupts lava bombs about very 20 minutes, these can just about be seen in this photo, above right of the crater.
Not too many miles away from Mount Etna on Sicily are the Aeolian islands, one of the islands is Vulcano (from which the word Volcano is derived). It is possible to walk up to the crater to get a great view inside and of the rest of the island. There is a path around the whole crater, which has not erupted since around 1900. In some places the sulphur smell and gas means breath holding is a good idea. There are hot mud baths at the sea's edge and in places the water in the sea gets very hot.
