Monday, May 02, 2011
Riding on boats.
Recently I have taken several trips to the other islands. There are three ways to do this: to fly, to take a ship, or to take a vedette.
A vedette is basically a motorized canoe. It is a sturdy, buoyant, fiberglass boat, made locally ranging from 15 to 25 feet. The outboard motors range from 15 to 40 horsepower.
Recently, to economize both time and money, I have taken 4 trips by vedette to and from the neighboring islands. It involves finding a beach with boats on it, negotiating a price and making yourself comfortable for a 3 – 6 hour ride; it’s only about 20 miles, but the size of the motor, the weight of baggage/passengers and the state of the sea have great effect on the duration of the journey.
It’s a bonding experience—a time to talk to people, a connection point whenever I get back to the village, an example that we truly desire to live with and like these people. It is amidst the vomiting, and the fear (one passenger clung to my arm in fear for an hour), and the jokes, and the fishing (sometimes they catch fish on trailing handlines) and the high waves that relationships are built.
