Part 19 - The Beach

Part 19 - The Beach

The Smiths were reclining contentedly on the beautiful white sand gazing out to sea. Paddington was deep in thought.

"Do you think I am 'beach ready'?" He eventually asked.

There followed sounds of coughing and choking from Mr Smith, but this was quickly resolved by a couple of sharp slaps on the back from his attentive wife. She'd always been most diligent with the application of medical care he thought, although it probably didn't require such 'diligence' to clear some water he'd been drinking.

"Why do you ask?" He eventually spluttered.

"Well I saw this advert on TV before we left where a rather impertinent lady asked if I was 'beach ready'. I'm not too sure what she was on about, or what it has to do with barbecues. And what's more, how many people have a pool in their garden anyway?"

Having spilt most of the drink down his front Mr Smith decided that now would be the ideal time to strip off his wet shirt and go for a swim. "I'll let Mrs Smith answer that Paddington." he said as he got up. "Over to you dear."

Ten minutes later Mr Smith returned to find a Paddington shaking his head. "You primates have some very strange behaviour traits." he said.

"Ah, don't include me in with them." Replied Mr Smith.

"No," said Paddington, "I don't suppose I should. You seem to be more of a sub species." And with that he walked off to see if he could find some intelligent life.

"Well you walked right into that one didn't you darling!" Commented Mrs Smith from behind her book.

 

The little group had set off for the Isle de Natts (Nosy Nato) to the south of Isle Saint Marie. After an adventurous and wet crossing in a dug-out canoe the party had explored the little island with Alban their guide before dining on Captain fish. During the morning Mr Smith had photographed various scenes, a white and black ruffed Sifakar as well as the guides extended family. Whilst many of the Malagasy have cheep Chinese import phones, non appear to have a camera function and so are really keen to see pictures of themselves.

After lunch, the final scene in what had been a long and busy adventure. Paddington and the Smiths spending a couple of hours on a isolated beach on a tropical island, looking out over a calm turquoise sea. And to cap it all, it was no longer raining!

.

 

Paddington's fact for the day: The dug out canoe is still widely used throughout Isle Saint Marie and Madagascar. Unfortunatly there are no suitable trees on the island anymore so the canoes have to be imported from the mainland and transferred across.