Island Life

It took only five days in the Bahamas to forget about the rat race and clock.  Tony’s watch batteries hastened relaxation by dying on day three.   Which means the Turtles wake up when Tiny climbs on top of them, prying their eyes open with her little fingers. “Hello Pappa!  Hello Mamma!  Stand up.”  She then continues to pick Tony and Myrtle up by grabbing hold of their shoulders and pulling.  The first four mornings started in this manner at 3am, 4am, 5am and 5:30 am.  This morning the older Turtles (and the more tired of the Tired Turtles) were spared until  7am! This didn’t mean an uninterrupted night’s sleep, mind you.  Tiny still does not sleep through the night (yes, we know, we are failures as parents by not getting her to sleep through the night…) but the older Turtles have taken to afternoon naps like British tourists take to the sun.  With gusto and without fear.  The difference is that the Turtles do not have to go to hospital suffering from sunstroke….

Other relaxation techniques the Turtles have employed to help them get into the Island Way are:

1.        No more razor blades (for Tony.  Myrtle still has to use the odd blade, cactus legs just don’t go well with summer dresses and shorts).  Tony’s beard is starting to resemble the famous pirate of old, much to Myrtle’s delight (dangerous biker-look, don’t ask questions…).

2.       Kalik.  The Bahamian beer of choice.  Not too bad, not too bad at all.

3.       Taking public transport.  This takes the form of minibus taxis (well known (and much hated) by South African readers) and they can be flagged, and will stop, anywhere.  They sport numbers which are indications of the route they follow and as soon as they come to a screeching halt, you hop on and sit down (quickly).  They then take off again at the speed of light, barreling down the road.  All this while the door is still ajar.  It ain’t workin’ no more, mon.  Payment is made when you alight, which can be at the end destination or when you yell out “please stop at xxxx!”  Due to the limited number of routes the Turtles decided to rent a car so they are now doing some barreling of their own.

4.       Not getting upset when the wi-fi is down.  It has been down for two weeks and nobody knows when it will work again.  Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe never.  Myrtle is now blogging on Word and will paste and post when she gets anywhere near a working wi-fi connection.  Tony and Tiny are swimming while Myrtle is sitting under an umbrella next to the pool, writing.  When she looks up from the computer screen (which is often), she sees the different blues that colour the ocean, about ten palm trees and a couple of clouds.  Oh, wait, a cruise ship in the distance!

So far, the Turtles are having a great time.  Myrtle misses her friends but possibly not as much as the missing Tiny is doing.  Her little face lights up when we mention her little friends’ names and unfortunately there aren’t many toddlers around. She’s stuck with her parents, poor little thing!