We motored north on a flat sea bound for Agua Verde just three hours away. Another in a string of rather uneventful days—days we are always thankful for. Nothing broke, nobody got hurt, Lowe got his nap in, and we arrived in what is one of my favorite bays.
After settling in we headed to town. Unlike most places along the coast the homes of Agua Verde are set back a couple hundred yards from the beach behind a thick tangle of shrub and trees that completely negates any ocean breeze and leaves the homes gasping for breath in the heat. Every time we’ve ever walked around here I’ve felt like passing out of heat exhaustion. I’ve no idea how the locals deal with it other than to sit inside in the shade all day with a fan blowing on your face and a television blaring at full volume.
We walked to the small store with high hopes of ice cream and cold drinks. We were met by a locked door. We rousted a teen from the couch in the home twenty feet away and he told us they’d be open at three. Half an hour, no problem. We sat in the shade and let the kids play with the mangy dust colored mutt. They eventually grew bored of watching us lie comatose and demanded the playground they’d been promised. We moved slowly across the barren landscape to the one functioning swing and the one remaining teeter-totter. I removed my shirt as a buffer against the thousand degree metal seats and we played for three minutes. Miraculously we found a functioning water tap on the side of the police shack where we bathed in the hot water and then discovered that there was indeed a tiny hint of breeze.
With no shade to be found on the playground we instead made our way back to the store. It was now around four but not a creature was stirring. In fact there wasn’t a soul to be seen anywhere in the town.
We sat for a while but had to concede eventually to the fact that we would be receiving nothing icy cold from the store today.
Back on the beach we spotted a boy a little younger than Lowe. We have lots of clothes Lowe has outgrown and have been looking for a suitable candidate for the hand-me-downs. I walked over and talked to the guys. The dad was visibly excited by the prospect and almost before the words were out of my mouth he was offering me lobster in return. Tomorrow we’ll make the swap.
Wilting now under the sun we zipped back to the boat for drinks and then straight to the beach for swimming. Not a bad day.
