OR SUNSTROKE HITS HARD AFTER OVER-ENJOYING BEING A MERMAID.
Up close and part of a magic kingdom
You had to be an old mad bird to end up with sunstroke from being too in love with a turtle.
Porcupine fish
I’m a dummy. That beautiful girl, my turtle, took me for such a ride that I hadn’t wet my head once in the half hour I was with her and returning to the boat. This was in the searing midday sun in Indonesia central! I would be more penitent later as the full horror of proper sunstroke waved over me. I should have known better I’d had it before, but this time it was horrendous. I was pretty much bed bound for the next couple of days before I left this island paradise.
Alert: This was posted a year ago. I am now very homesick for my Punta Allen family (in Mexico) especially swimming dog and Sonia. Although I have been considering this idyllic notion of buying a super cheap farm in the hinterlands of Bulgaria. (Of growing my own organic food and storing it in one of the outhouses. Building my own kiln in the garden and creating beautiful ceramic pieces while having the company of the like minded around me when needed.), I am now just terribly miserable without that PA environment and lifestyle. So this is for everyone who is feeling a little blue at the moment to brighten up your day with my first exploration of PA with my broken hand limply cradled in my arms.
FROM MY JOURNAL. 9TH MAY 2021
Pain throughout the night. I had definitely set back my recovery but what to do? More painkillers and sedatives, a tormented sleep only to get up to open the windows in the night after the AC went off.
When I staggered out of my room in the morning the beauty of the place really dawned on me I had only seen the little twinkling lights the night before and it all looked disconnected and really quite scary.
Church for the five hundred population of PA
Punta Allen is an unspoilt village with only very transient tourists passing through. It’s a fishing village and an amazing microcosm. I presume they have been hit by these times but I doubt people really stay here it’s more for the fishing and visiting the Biosphere Sian Ka’an where they have a huge variety of flora and fauna including jaguars if you’re very lucky. It’s at the end of the Boca Paila Peninsula. On that fifty km of rough dirt track down there, live around 500 salty souls.
Morning view when I stepped out from my room each day
Alkida playing the fool
Arriving at family hotel was a stroke of the best luck. It’s such a beautiful place and is appointed twenty paces from the white beach front. David the owner and Sonia have taken good care of me which would never have happened in the more impersonal places here. I was in poor shape but I extended my stay because, well, I felt as if this was the place to recuperate both body and soul. I didn’t want to leave and the huge bonus of love from the doggy too has really made the difference between just having a place to rest your head, and having a caring sort of family. They have massage here and a kayak if you fancy going out on the crazy beautiful aquamarine sea. Indeed someone said in a review that the massage was ‘magical, cosmic and ancestral’. Can’t really get a better review! I just wanted to tell you about this place because sometimes in life, and especially when you’re a damaged old bird travelling solo, you need the milk of human kindness. Sonia also will also cook some tasty food if you preorder.
OR , DON’T BE SHY, JUST JUMP IN TO MAGIC ICY POOLS
Fabulous water and entrance to the underworld under the lip of the pond are the caves
FROM LAST YEAR, A LESSON IN SHAKING OFF THE BLUES
Although I lost my mojo for a few days, I gave myself a sharp talking to. I was beginning to get depressed. I think it was after being chased by the troupe of dogs in this neighbourhood which has now made me walk the long way round to my local shop. Add to that a lot of drunks and crack heads suddenly started to congregate around my street. This meant I couldn’t really go out after six unless I asked Charlie for a lift. I hate being beholden to people so this was getting me down. However all is well again with a few tweaks, I’m nothing if not adaptable.
What they don’t tell you is that it’s miles from the highway. So daring Dan here negotiated for a ride there after buying an ice cold bottle of water and got myself a motorbike ride.
OR, HANG ON A MINUTE EDITOR! SHE’S ONLY BEEN THREES TIMES IN OVER SIX WEEKS?! SHE’S BEEN TO THOSE CENOTE THINGS, LIKE PONDSMORE OFTEN
Yes I’ve neglected the beach rather and been to cenotes, archaeological sites, museums, and going on road trips so now it’s time for the seaside as both office and to go into.
NOW I’M JUST BACK from my road trip, which did indeed feel like Thelma and Louise at times, or just Thelma, I can relax again and start catching up with it all but I thought we would have a beach intermission first.
OR, I DIDN’T REALISE ALL THIS TIME I COULD BE OUT THERE SUPPORTING THEM.
Well blow me over with a feather. I have been a bit of a thicko. Every Sunday the Marylebone Farmers Market is open where you can buy organic and free range. It is a thing of wonder, supporting our chaps and having cheerful companionship while shopping. I mean you and all the folk there have food in common! What better than to chew the fat with foodies and get your seasonal untainted goodies.
Arrangements for the evening promised I dragged myself from my cool darkened siesta room and out into the still harsh sunshine. That throbbing heat of late afternoon when the heat has been absorbed by pretty much everything and is now radiating it back out. Stinging my freshly seared skin from sitting by the pool for half an hour earlier.
It seemed there was much to do in this place and I sipped an icy beer in my usual way and gazed at the sea with islands here and there breaking its surface. It was a chill pill experience and I was really happy to be here.
Old Bird Travels Solo! 