The sun was already low in the sky when we packed our tent and belongings and again boarded our boat to take us to nearby Martha Island. We thought we had the island to ourselves as the white sand beach, connecting the two islands, was deserted. Once on dry land, our boatmen left us, promising to return the next morning to pick us up. We were soon setting up our tent and was just about done doing this when boats, one after the other, began unloading local tourists, with the same mindset as ours, on our tiny strip of beach. I guess there’s simply no escaping the maddening crowd.
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| Martha Island |
It was too dark to go swimming, so we just settled down in our tents, ate our packed dinner and spent the rest of the night playing cards. Jandy and the others slept inside the tent while I slept outside, on my rubber mat. I thought I came fully prepared for camping but I forgot one essential item – Off Lotion. There were no mosquitoes around. Instead, what bothered me during my sleep were nasty sandflies (locally called niknik). The ground I was sleeping on was also lumpy. Sleep didn’t come easy to me that night, if at all.
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| Relaxing under the shade |
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| The island’s beach |
Come morning, we prepared our breakfast of coffee and sandwiches. Luckily for us, the rocky outcrop beside our tent shaded us from the morning sun. Right after breakfast, we donned our swimming attire to go swimming. The waters by the shoreline wasn’t as clear or as inviting nor its slope as gradual as the beach in Romulo Island. Poor visibility meant no snorkeling. Still we made do with what was before us. Our boatmen arrived earlier than expected, so we packed up our tent and belongings and boarded our boat.
