The first night at Blue Mermaid started with a bit of difficulty. Christine had upgraded the room I'd booked using email to an air conditioned one, but the air conditioner kept on cutting out. Finally she called a man who diagnosed under voltage and promptly started a generator. After that it was fine.
After breakfast we went for a swim and to examine the rocks at the headland. They are massive laterite deposits, much like enormous thicknesses of the pan iron ore from the Cretaceous greensand back home. Weathering has produced a hackly surface which would rip the bottom out of any craft that ran into it and wouldn't do swimmers much good either.
The rocks were alive with crabs of all sizes, and as the tide retreated the bases could be seen to be clad in a mass of serpulid worm tubes.
On being told that my medical condition requires regular meals, the kind lady owner of the Blue Mermaid arranged for lunch to be provided for me for the duration of our stay. That lifted a weight of concern from us as only half board is available and there is nowhere at all close to get food.
In the afternoon, after another swim, we walked to the other end of the beach where we found a cave hollowed through the laterite leading to the beach beyond the headland. It was only a couple of feet high, but Christine wriggled through the ten yards on her tummy and I followed once it was clear that she hadn't encountered any fearsome creatures on her way.
We didn't stay long on the other side as the tide had turned, only to note crystalline veins, very distorted and interrupted, running through the lateritic rock.
We managed a beer at sunset overlooking the sea. A viewing platform has been built specifically for this purpose and as we stood there, one of the staff brought us two chairs to sit on. They are incredibly thoughtful and attentive here.
Supper was again superb. Spicy fish with rice and a variety of local Keralan vegetable dishes to accompany it.
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