Camp Tribulation

After our 8 am pickup at our hostel, we piled into a very full shuttle bus. I sat next to a nice boy from Italy, who was from La Spezia, a place I had been through. He was very interesting to talk to, as he had lived in Sydney for 8 months + was traveling the east coast for 2 months. Our driver was very entertaining + informative. An hour or so later, we arrived at a cute little restaurant in the middle of nowhere + I enjoyed a roll with egg + bacon (what has come into me.) We got back on the bus.

I continued to occupy my time talking to the interesting boy next to me. We arrived at at the river (to cross over to Cape Tribulation) + took a 30 minute boat ride to explore the crocodiles. We weren't as impressed as the other people, as the river was full of crocs, mangroves, + herons + it seemed just like the everglades, but with mountains in the background.

On the river cruise

We took the boat to the other side of the river (2 minute ride between the sides) + were on our way. We soon got to our hostel/resort, called Cape Trib Beach House. We shared a 5 bed dorm with 2 other girls, nothing special to write home about.

Our quaint bunks remind me of camp. We have to go to a shower/bathroom house a little bit away, but the showers are very decent. After checking in + dropping our stuff, we walked down the path to the restaurant. It's so beautiful here. We are literally in a rain forest on the Pacific Ocean.

We got some sandwiches + then went down to the beach to enjoy some sun (shade) + reading. We read for a little + then I woke up to find Laura + Lindsay gone, but their towels still near me.

How I spent most of my time in Cape Tribulation

The beach was covered with these sand balls made by crabs

I laid around for a bit + then saw in the far distance 2 people walking down the beach. I soon saw a dog + realized I misjudged them being my friends. However, as they got nearer + nearer...I could make out the exact outfits they had been wearing earlier. Low + behold, they had adopted a sweet doggy named "Pony". Well that wasn't really her name. She was so pretty + big, and luckily had a collar.

Couldn't be...

Oh it is

I walked on with them in the other direction. Pony was up ahead but stayed dutifully close by. After a while though, he was very far in front. At one point laura + I were a good distance away from Pony when she went running towards a little doggy. The little doggy freaked out + tried to run away while the dumb owners didn't even pick the little dog up. So Pony freaked out + the little dog ran down the beach. We pretended we didn't know Pony after that.

We continued our walk for a good hour longer + headed towards the other hostel we had passed earlier on our way to our own. There had been a store next door, so we headed there to get more pb+j. Ours had been stolen at the last hostel...the nerve!

After getting to the store, we realized we had a long walk home. We walked along the road instead of the beach + luckily it took about 2/3 the time (about 45 minutes). We came upon a sign "The beach house. Please Keep Out" after 30 minutes. Our feet (unprepared to walk this long in flimsy sandals) were ready to be done, so we went down the road. After about 8 minutes, we came upon some old trucks + open houses on stilts. We were a little confused, as we thought we were on our way to our hostel + this didn't appear to continue on past. As we pondered where we were, several big dogs ran out of the house barking like crazy+ chasing us. Lindsay sprinted + Laura + I followed suit. Luckily Laura decided we shouldn't run + so we (not Lindsay who was scared shitless running way ahead) stopped + walked calmly back. The dogs stopped running after us + when they were no longer in view, we ran up to the main road.

About 10 minutes up the road was the sign "Cape Trib Beach House". Ya, how about they change that first sign to "Beware killer dog/creepy house" + not "Beach House".

Beach House: Please Keep Out

Cape Trib Beach House

We got back to our cabin, soooo happy to be done walking + alive, + took much needed showers. Then we headed down to the restaurant for dinner. I got kangaroo with a cajun potatoe that was absolutely delicious. Well the sauces + potatoe were wonderful. The kangaroo reminded me of good steak, but I'm not much of a meat-eater so it wasn't the highlight of my meal. It really just reminded me of steak + the restaurant is really good so of course they made it yummy.

Kangaroo

After dinner, we went back to our rooms + feel asleep by 10. We woke up around 10am (back to my normal 12 hour routine!) + had some peanut butter + banana on toast. Then we went down to the beach to read + tan. I made it about 20 minutes in the sun, with spf 50, before heading to the shaded spot. We read for a bit + then headed up to the reception desk for our exotic fruit tasting. We got picked up + took a short ride to the fruit farm up the road.

We had a really great time at the fruit tasting. We tried 10 fruits... The western lime (to cleanse our palate), pommelo, abiu, sapodilla, rambai, longar, yellow sapote, attemoya, rollinia, + soursop/guanabana. My favoritres were the abiu, which tasted like creme de carmel, the rambai (in a grape-like thing, 3 pieces of tangy fruit stuck to seeds), attemoya (custard apple), + rollinia (lemon custard). My favorite was the rollinia. It literally tasted exactley as described. The owner of the farm told me he thinks they can grow in Florida, so mom + dad....get going. Most of the fruits aren't commercially sold for a number of reasons...they look ugly, have bad shelf-life, can't be transported far. After our tasting, we took a tour of the orchard + saw lots of trees, including their main crop the mangasteens.

My favorite, the rollinia

They took us back to our hostel + we did some laundry, went on the computers, + played some boggle while we waited for our clothes to be clean. Once the laundry was done, we could finally take showers with our clean towels. Ah. Afterwards we went to the restaurant for dinner. I got lamb, which was really yummy. The sauce wasn't my favorite but the lamb itself was delicious.

Our evening activity

As routine goes, we got in bed by 9pm. All went well until we awoke to a scream at midnight. Lindsay was across the room from her bed freaking out. Apparently she had woken up because she had to pee +then heard a noise nearby. She tried to ignore it, but finally looked over + saw a rat on her bag. Hence the scream. We turned on the light + saw a cute little mouse eating its way through lindsay's purse. Apparently she had left a bannana in her bag + hence the mouse. As I had the top bunk, I had the honors of sharing my twin bed with Lindsay for the rest of the night.

We woke up at 9am, once again very well rested + checked out of our hostel. We are currently on the beach until our shuttle picks us up at 130pm.

Its pretty weird because I only have 2 more nights with Laura + Lindsay + then one more by myself until I go home. I really feel like I could do this for another couple of months, but I'm actually really ready to spread out in a queen size bed + shower without flip-flops on. It also helps that I get to look foward to relaxing for a couple days before moving into my new apartment in Gainesville + starting med school in less than 3 weeks. And I get to see my family, friends, + adorable cavalier king charles spaniels.