to reality of Arizona. To put that off as far as possible we took a
little vacation to Sarodrano -- a little fishing village on a sandy
peninsula south of Tulear.
We stayed at Chez Andrea. It's a little hotel with a few bungalows
that have no electricity or running water. It's actually pretty nice.
There really isn't anything at Sarodrano, just you, the beach, and the
village, so electricity isn't really necessary. There was still cold
beer, so we were good. We had candles and kerosene lanterns for light,
and outside of the first night there wasn't anyone else there.
Chez Andrea is an eponymous hotel run by a really nice Italian guy.
He's been in the area for about 20 years and can be a bit of a
character, especially when he was telling us about another guy on the
peninsula who is rumored to be a pedophile and abuser of the
handicapped-- but he's not one to gossip. Andrea made sure that we had
great food (all delicious seafood -- fish, octopus, squid in a variety
of sauces, but mostly tomato) and that we were generally happy. Since
we were the only ones around, that probably wasn't too much of a
burden for him.
It was pretty great. We did nothing. We walked around the beach and
mangroves and sat around and read. The only downside was that it was
crazy windy, so there really wasn't any swimming or beach time. It was
windy enough to keep us from going on any boating excursions, but we
were okay with that.
Sarodrano is an incredibly sandy place. While there are huge sand
dunes (with really nice sand), when the wind comes whipping up from
the south, it's not so comfortable. Most afternoons would find us
sitting in the one corner that was in the sun and out of the wind, and
just big enough for two chairs. When we walked around the peninsula we
were usually joined by the 5 dogs that lived around the hotel. It was
pretty funny to have this pack of dogs follow us around, barking at
the other dogs and leaning on us for affection. While they ran far
away from us when we were away from the village, as soon as we came
near anyone else they stuck to us like glue, probably to avoid being
kicked, hit, or harassed by the other people around.
One of the amazing things about Sarodrano is the concentration of
shells on the beach. There are shells everywhere -- some that are
gigantic. Most beaches that I've been to, even ones that are pretty
out of the way, seem to get picked over pretty well, but Sarodrano
beaches are still pretty rich in shells. One of the down sides to the
beach near the village is that it's used as a latrine. Best not to go
shell hunting there at low tide.
We took a pirogue back from Sarodrano to Tulear. It was a really
pleasant sailing trip. The wind wasn't so strong that we got soaked or
so weak that we didn't move. We had taken this guy's pirogue over to
the peninsula as well, but I didn't notice until we were walking the
beach at Tulear with him that he was missing his big toe on his right
foot. Looks like it was chopped right off. While he might not have
been so great at soccer, he could still sail a boat though.
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