[BPL888]

The next morning, Sunday, we boarded a guagua to go back to Playa Nayajo. A friend of ours is building a house in the hills overlooking Playa Nayajo and we were meeting family there to inspect the progress and to take some photos to bring back to the States. The whole family met us at the worksite and we spent several hours as sidewalk (?) superintendants. They were pouring the cement for the second floor and I gained a lot of respect for what hard work that is. There were 15-20 laborers working on this because once you start the pour it is very time sensitive and needs to be completed. I was given a tour of the construction and escorted up to the second floor where the cement was being applied. The cement was mixed in a gas powered mixer on the ground an then sent up to the second floor via a power derek type device. Once on the second floor it was dumped into a hopper that was used to fill individual wheelbarrows. The workers on the second floor then muscled the cement to the correct spot and screeted (sp) it till smooth. I'm glad it wasn't me pushing around wheelbarrows full of cement in the sun that day. They worked very quickly and very hard, and it was very hot. When we had seen enough we all headed down to Playa Nayajo for some lunch and a swimming. Playa Nayajo is much more crowded than Playa Palenque and the music added to the atmosphere. The family I was with carefully selected fish from the restaurant which was then cooked and brought to us with rice, papa frites and salsa. We also bought some chicken for the kids that did not like fish. The whole shebang along with some corn and several rounds of grandes and refrescos came to around 900 RD for 4 adults and 2 kids. After lunch we bought a couple of small floats for the kids from a wandering vendor and jumped in the water. I think I had more fun than the kids ! Oh to be young again !! The fun was interupted a few times. Once a 10 year old kid cracked his head on the rocks that make up the breakwater. He seemed dazed so we helped him to the shore and tried to find his parents if they were there. This was not easy as the beach was very crowded and chaotic, he was dazed and I was trying with broken spanish. Eventually someone he knew appeared and escorted him to what looked like a first aid station, a little bloody but otherwise OK. A short time later I was hailed loudly from the beach by one of our party to " GET OUT OF THE WATER NOW!!!". This was repeated several times loudly and I notice lots of people were quickly exiting the water. I collected the kids and headed to the shore. What could it be? Sharks?? Barracuda?? Giant Squid?? I was not waiting to find out, I just hustled to shore. When I asked what was going on I was told " no se ". It was a typical mob reaction. When some people suddenly bolted out of the water everyone else, especially watchful parents, followed suit and rushed to get everyone out of the water. On further investigation it turned out to be a fight in one of the dancehalls along the beach, though not close to us. The excitement ended with several of the combatents being marched up the road by the local authorities, I think the NP. With the excitement over we returned to the water with the kids. After an hour more of splashing around it was time to board the next bus back to Playa Palenque. 20 RD and 25 minutes later we were back at the Hotel Playa Palenque for a quiet evening around the pool. To be continued.........