Relaxing Saturday& Sunday

I think this is the first complete day off, so I have relaxed on the verandah doing my online 'working with refugees' course, got my paperwork all up to date and chatted to Patrick, the Irish guy from Canada who has been coming for years.  Today I got my washing back so now I can change my trousers and bra- I did pack light and things here don't dry as quick as you might think.
Then I headed off for a walk to Santa Cruz. I stopped for coffee at a pleasant hotel called Xalli and passed a half an hour whilst a rain shower passed over,  with views of the lake.

I walked down to the beach and met a family doing their washing in the lake. One of the children asked me to photograph her in the water which i did. I gave her a bit of change and waved goodbye.  On my return journey I saw her again outside her house. She took a liking to the purse hanging on my rucksack so I gave her a couple of my Kids and Kayaks cards from inside. She seemed pleased with such an inadequate present.

I found a number of hotels and hostels near the beach and a little market. I looked at the jewellery but discovered a lot was for body piecing! The women selling told me she has a shop at Balgue and that she's having a party on Friday at 7pm.  However judging by the others around, I felt it might be quite alternative and not the dry and restrained lifestyle I have adopted.  I'm not interested in dropping out, just dropping in to the real people's lives here.

I'm leaving at 2pm to go to Dreamland Tours for another new experience.

I met the taxi driver at the local restaurant. Jose is trying to share the work around so different people get business which sees fair.  We picked up Jose and his nephews en route and headed for Santa Teresa. I'm glad I don't have to drive my car along roads as rough as that as I can't imagine the tyres lasting long.

We had a lovely lunch, then later went fishing,the traditional way,  with hooks, lines and worms. I caught a miniscule fish, not even a mouthful and clearly didn't  jerk my line at the right time as the fish ate the worm but I caught nothing more!

 Fortunately there were some proper fishermen on the lake and we bought some fish from them at a very good price. Jose explained that this was how people traditionally fish, that people wait for the fishermen on the beach as they can feed a family quite cheaply, and that most families have a family member who takes responsibility for the cooking.

We had beautiful views of the sunset and the volcano. Another great day!

And Sunday was very similar,  a lazy start,  a coffee at the local hotel and then a lovely walk with Jose along the beach.