TARA'S FIRST CLIMB!!!

She made it up not one, but TWO climbs WHOO-HOO!! It was quite a feat and both myself and our new friends were really excited. Her first climb is chronicled in the collage above and you can see from start to finish how she progressed. It's a 25m climb and very tricky in some spots. It's called the Groove tube ladies and gentleman - and at the top your hard effort is rewarded with a sit in a little (natural) steeple with a view of the beach, cliffs, ocean and horizon...truly worthy of a painter's brush. By far the trickiest spot is the start. You have to overcome about a 5m bulge of rock (and an intimidating bulge too!). Spotters usually stand behind you b/c if you slip you'll deck (aka splat) due to the flex in the rope. After a few tries she made it up this and steadily made her way to the sky. From the start the meat of the climb begins...the tube. As you climb higher you become more enclosed in the rock, it's like a giant termite, drunk from too much seawater, burrowed through the wall in half tilt. The pictures can be deceiving but make no mistake, the last several meters bring on a small feeling of claustrophobia as you become enclosed by almost 270 degrees of rock! This creates a very intimate climb, you're tired and it is as though the wall is not a wall but some giant stagnant beast slowly devouring you with it's craggy arms...and then just at the right moment you pop out of the tube and there is one last ledge to negotiate before the top. If you look at the 2nd to last picture in the collage you can see her little head sticking over the ledge and she's waving to the camera...and yes if you look closely she was smiling (make sure to click the picture to bring up the larger image!). Would you guess she is afraid of heights?! I wouldn't! I was very proud and in that moment my smile was as big as hers. She did it. ^_^ Beginners luck some might say...perhaps a need to prove that she could indeed do it. Well, I think it was something different. I believe that she not only cherished the moment and realized what she accomplished (this was evident in her 10min sit at the top!) with a sense of pride, but she actually took to the rock. I saw it in her eyes, the way she settled at the bottom - exhausted, exhilarated and best of all eager to try again. She completed her second climb about an hour later when we hiked over to a spot called Melting Wall (called so, b/c it is only climbable only after the sun has gone over the ridgeline in late afternoon). That night we hardly chewed our food.

Jonathan and Tara

P.S. My scabies are almost completely gone. After a series of washes and creams that stung like the dickens I've found much relief. I expect to be completely clear in a day or two.

P.P.S Thank you to everyone who left suggestions for cooking. We just finished our second market day (which was not as good as the first since we opted for the afternoon market which is considerably smaller and with less selection) and are looking forward to trying them!