Another Day in Paradise

As I prepare for cocktail hour I retrace my day and know I am in paradise once again.  The resort is picture perfect in the brochures and in real life.  It is mind boggling.  Tomorrow we walk with the lions.  I can hardly wait.
Yesterday as we drove through Port Louis and saw for ourselves the old, basic run down buildings where the residents, mostly Hindus live.  Did Arnan drive us through the poverty hit areas on purpose or was it just part of the trip?  Reminders of Bali, Asia and China flashed through my mind.  How do we help people to live in better quality living conditions?  What can I do to help and be reassured the money is not pilfered into another's pockets?
I know the resort in itself is helpful to the locals.  It provides employment to an array of locals and tourist guides. The locals are beautiful people; gentle, polite and always willing to help.  Surely there is something else I can do?
Today I read my sister's email.  She tells me she visited Merv with Mel at the respite centre and he is well and coping OK.  I am happy to hear this.  I have not heard from Mel though I have sent her emails.  She never sends emails while I am away.  I suppose it is how she copes, but it makes me sad.
I have a day to myself.  I enjoy a walk in the sand before breakfast and realise the sand is very gritty and sharp on my feet.  There is no-one else around and I enjoy the solitude with nature before immersing myself in a bubble bath.   Relaxation my inner self craves.  I spend the morning reading and decide at 12 noon to take a dip in the pool.  Some of the girls and Annette are around the pool and after my swim we head off to Horizons restaurant for lunch.  We sample the heart of the palm. There is a particular palm where they take the 'heart' out of the palm and slice it.  The palm can be pickled or fresh.  Ours is simply dressed and crunchy in a salad.  The palm gives up its heart and dies.  Hmmm well the heart was delicious!
At 3pm we crowd into a glass bottom boat to check out the local coral and fish.  We spotted a few coloured corals and small fish.  It is not comparable to Queensland's Great Barrier Reef, where we snorkelled in 1998.  It was pleasant chatting to a South African family and found they will be on the same flight to Johannesburg on Saturday morning.  After our boat ride I took the opportunity to swim as the ocean beckoned me.  A wonderful day to chill out and remember who I am and what I can give as a person.