Sunset Over the Atlantic

Looking down hill across the lagoon to the surf.

Congo's Cote Sauvage, or "wild coast" lies along the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean, not far from the Equator. My recent visit provided a new experience--watching the sun set instead of rise over the Atlantic. Given the proximity to the Equator, it was not a lingering experience. There is a ball of fire and then dark. Short and spectacular. Followed by mosquitoes.

After a busy weekend in and around Pointe Noire we gave ourselves over to the temptations of a quiet beach resort for five days. Malonda Lodge (www.malondalodge.com) sits on a bluff with views of a tidal lagoon, sand barriers, and wild surf. It offers a beautifully landscaped respite in simple traditional surroundings that fit in naturally--27 thatched roof bungalows with porches, open air bar and restaurant, lovely swimming pool, tennis courts, and lots of beach to walk. French continental breakfast of pastries and coffee with juice was included but omelets were also available to order. Dinners were on offer a la carte and to my delight offered great variety and uniformly high quality. The fresh hearts of palm salad and a brochette of grilled "kareng," a meaty white fish,won for my best menu picks.

Our hut--with air-conditioning!

The brace and hard sand helped on the beach walks.

We found the tide chart on the bar bulletin board and timed most of our beach walking for morning low tide so as to have some relatively hard sand to walk on. I found it easier to walk barefoot and by the third walk or so I was grateful to have my knee brace. Walking on sand--even hard sand--requires more of our ligaments and muscles than we are aware of! The strong undertow and the huge waves were enough to keep me at toe-dipping occasionally.

How many times have I taken this picture in my life?

A reward for coming out at low tide was seeing the local fishermen at work. Keep in mind we never saw more than maybe three people total on the beach. It was pretty deserted. But in the morning the stick fishing polls with line but no reels were in the sand here and there waiting for a strike. A pair of pirogues (narrow but heavy carved out wooden boats) at the edge of the lagoon offered one guy a chance to pole out to fish. Our last two days were national holidays, so we saw a pair of probably city dudes with more serious looking reels out for a day of surf casting. They caught a large sea eel, which they said made good eating. It made me think of the first time I saw live eel slithering in sawdust in the market in The Netherlands--it put me off ever tasting smoked eel (gerookte paling), a national delicacy.

On the occasion when we did see someone, we performed a traditional greeting of a stranger. That is, we raised both our hands up and waved them back and forth. This is a way of "seeing" or acknowledging someone and assuring them you are not a threat. The gesture was always returned. I have observed that in social situations here it seems very important to acknowledge individually everyone you might possibly know and maybe even introduce yourself to someone you do not know. The two-handed greeting wave is slightly less personal but essential.

Most days (also true in Brazzaville) seem to start out cloudy and then get sunny. Our weather was perfect for the beach. The surf thunders in this place. Up close it is loud and even up on the bluff, I was aware of its constancy. In fact when I woke in the middle of the first night I mistook it for thunder and thought maybe we were going to have a big storm.  Alas, we had no dramatic storms--just sunny days. The sun is strong and requires pretty close attention to sun screen. I reacquired some dormant freckles but did not get burned!

Pool Goddess

Malonda Lodge is the dream and vision of a Portuguese woman named Grace, who has been creating it for 30+ years and has visions for the future. She is about to open a large conference center and gift shop.Her French husband Gerard is retired from the oil industry and now supports Grace's vision full-time, ready to help out when the pump goes out (which it did) or the power fails or flutters (a regular experience). They are gracious hosts, able assisted by two labrador retrievers (father and son) who bring guests their bill in a bag carried in their mouth.

The cashier

This is a place to go and stay--not only because of the amenities, but also because going back and forth into town is a slog. The access road is an unpaved, spine-jarring experience, followed by a paved road full of traffic, pedestrians, and lots of very noisy commercial activity along the way. I have learned anew how to ride in a car here. The worst thing one can do it resist the road. It is far better to think of myself as a willow or an invertebrate and simply give in to the bounces and rolls. It does help to be in a vehicle with good shocks, which not all the taxis have.

We left Malonda reluctantly but until we received our bill from one of the house dogs--who walked up with a raffia bag around his neck containing the bill! How could one not pay up to such a charming cashier? But we left in anticipation of a busy fun weekend continuation of the Best of Brazza Tour. Although the return flight is quite short, Stro tried to get us reseated in the exit rows. The flight attendant took one look at me and shook her head, saying "en peu age" (a little old). Oops. That was a first. And she didn't even see my knee brace.