We're Back!

Thanks to Hurricane Irene our stay on Saba was extended by a week.  Irene paid us a visit early last week, before it headed to New York and Jet Blue decided is was prudent to cancel our flight rather than flying into "weather"  (isn't everything out there "weather"?), but I digress.

Eliza had a grand time with her Saba cousins, German cousins and Saba Best Friends.  I had a pretty good time too with family and wonderful neighbors.  At last count we barbecued about 40 pounds of ribs, 50 pounds of chicken, untold ears of corn and I even made fungi (polenta to you Americans) with the help of my neighbor Melisa.

We took a nice walk on the Dancing Trail before Hurricane Irene paid us a visit.  There are spectacular views and Eliza was quite good about not falling off the cliff!

We also ventured into the world of traditional handline fishing off of the Fort Bay Pier with some cousins.  Eliza caught her first fish and while it was definitely in the "catch and release" size category, it was a bit bigger than the fish her mentor Leonardo caught.

Hurricane Irene was nothing compared to Earl of last year.  There was a bit of wind, but no so much as to stop the Hell's Gate Women's Club from our usual 6 pm cocktail hour.

Eliza's swimming has improved and she was finally willing to give up her tube (unless it was for relaxing!).  We split our time between the Fort Bay and Cove Bay.  The Cove Bay was nice until it was inundated with seaweed.  So if you don't believe in Global Warming, just visit any Caribbean island and you can see that they are all awash in acres and acres of seaweed.  The kids didn't seem to mind though!

She does look a bit like she is adrift off the Titanic though!

 Beers on the beach:

Filling a dingy with the seaweed:

Sargassum Seaweed from the Sargasso Sea in the mid-Atlantic (the only "sea" not to surround a body of land) is all over the Caribbean, likely due to a change in currents and the warmer temperatures:

Despite the seaweed Eliza and her best buddy Maya enjoyed themselves everyday and particularly liked their sleepovers and were inseparable everyday.

While Eliza has not quite outgrown her hammock, I think it is fair to say she has outgrown taking a bath in the kitchen sink:

But despite the seaweed, the hurricane and the too tiny kitchen "tub" we enjoyed some beautiful rainbows and spectacular views everyday from our front porch.