George the immigration officer said we had to go into Lata town this morning as he did not have the disembarkation form for us yesterday evening. Rowan sent him a message via WhatsApp to say we would be late because of the pouring rain, he replied no problem, but wondered if we had a bottle of spirits for him! This was hugely disappointing, our first experience of officialdom wanting something. We didn’t know how to reply so Rowan resorted to asking ChatGPT who came up with a brilliant response …….. ‘we would love to give you a bottle but we don’t want to get either of us in trouble’. It did the trick, he replied quickly saying no problem. It was 11 am when the rain finally stopped and Claudette on Profasea came with us into town. Quite a long dinghy ride in, at least a couple of kilometres, our break in the weather held which was a relief. We arrived at a jetty which was pretty inaccessible with a huge wreck on it, so we dodged some rocks and went up on the beach. Sadly it was solid litter, so tragic after pristine Vanuatu. We were watched by the local stall holders, people came to help us lift JeldiJeldi up the beach which was very handy. The only off putting thing is everyone chews beetle nut, giving them awful red teeth, very sinister vampire looking! George had the same red teeth yesterday evening. It is a mild narcotic apparently, absolutely everyone chews it, it was the main item for sale at the stalls. Sadly even the kids were chewing it. Really a different experience here, it all looks pretty run down. We have read that malaria is hugely on the increase again, highest incidence of it in the Pacific. We will have to be careful.
We wondered around trying to find the office, after taking some hairy paths over rocks and debris we got to the right street and found the office. It was firmly closed and no sign of anyone. Luckily a guy in a vehicle said he would take Rowan to George’s house. Claudette and I waited at the office and I got the story of her life. She was actually born in Madera, her family are all from there, when she was seven her parents and her brother all moved to South Africa. She had been sailing an Optimus in Madera as a kid and that kicked started her love of sailing. At 40, she left her son in SA to start his gap year after finishing school and she started crewing on boats. She finally had enough money to buy half a yacht with an older Californian man, he didn’t like passages but enjoyed meeting her in different places. Her plan is to sail back to Greece via the Suez canal in two years. She has inherited properties in Madera she has to sort out. But oh my god it is brave her doing it on her own, she is tiny too. She has terrible sores on her legs from a waterfall hike, that are obviously infected so she is on antibiotics. Happily she picks up a couple in a week, who will crew for her all the way to Raja Ampat in Indonesia.
Rowan found Willy the Customs guy who said he could give Rowan the disembarkation form, and asked for no money, George had said there would be a fee, so it was a bonus getting it from Willy for nothing. They found George at the market who jumped in and returned to the office with Rowan. All very amicable, Claudette had asked him about getting Diesel, but she has done her calculations and thinks she has enough, so all was good. We walked back to the jetty, everything a little jaded, they are not nearly as house proud as the Vanuatuan, who had such lovely gardens.
When we got back to the boat a lovely lady called Hilda delivered a welcome parcel of vegetables from her garden. Turns out she is the headmistress of the school in our little bay. She is in all the Cruiser’s guides, so we knew all about her. She came with her son and daughter, sadly once they were on the boat having a drink, she told us the daughter Melody has flu, which was a bit off putting. Hilda told us Melody is special, and has been assessed by the government, she is not badly disabled so does not qualify for any help, very sad. It was very interesting listening to Hilda. Luckily we could give her lots of gifts which she was very pleased with.
The bay is stiflingly hot as it gets no wind or breeze. This means the flies are out in force! We will definitely move on tomorrow. We invited Profasea and the American couple over for drinks. Jose the American ran a nightclub in Guatemala in the 70’s! Lots of interesting stories. No doubt we will see a bit of these boats along the way as we all follow the same path to Indonesia.
Profasea and the Americans on Alma Feroze
Even the locals were battling in the rain
The wreck at the jetty which made the jetty unusable
The fish monger, we wonder who has the money to buy these beautiful tuna
Incredible blue colours on the fish, sadly it hasn’t come out that well in the photo
Lovely Hilda, with her scary red teeth, and the wonderful welcome basket of veges from her garden
Delicious fresh ginger, tumeric, chillies, tomatoes, aubergine, lettuce, 3 types of spinach,
mint, oregano, limes, lemongrass and a bunch of flowers.
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