secret garden

"it looks like the secret garden and we think its magical and full of mystery and good thoughts"

i wrote this while i was on an island on friday that actually was the secret garden. but i guess also it could be the secret island.

justine natalie rebecca kayla and myself decided to go to l'ile ngor on friday, to get there we got on a janky bus called the (or what sounds like) a jagon jy. we didn't exactly know how to get to this beach we wanted to get to but we have heard some good things so we thought it would be best to explore. the bus let us off and we were like young explorers, ready to find new things. except whoops because we were in a land fill. not kidding we were dropped off in the town garbage dump. so we decide to do the logical thing and walk through it. this turned into us getting lost simply trying to find the beach but it was also very nice. we were walking through alleyways and narrow streets with people hanging out of windows and small children giving us high fives and yelling "toubabs!" it was like our mini parade.
finally after some wandering we found the beach. we walk out of this alley and take in our surroundings. to our right, a herd of blue sheep. no idea why the color change was necessary. but then all around and in front of us in the water were these fishing boats that painted the water with bright colors.
you have to buy a ticket to cross over to the island so we did that and climbed in these shaky boats with oh i dont know like a hundred other people. but it was definitely amusing.
we get to the island and chill hard. we are under the sun and swimming in what seemed like our own personal lagoon. at one point kayla became friends with a stray dog apparently named bob and he was a haggard looking dog but he loved her a lot so he stuck around. after a while we decided to explore the island with bob leading the way. he would jog ahead and then turn and make sure we were still following and if we stopped he would wait patiently for us to catch up. what a cutie.
i called this place a secret garden because we would be walking through these overhanging trees and flowers along cobble stone paths and then out of nowhere there would be a bright yellow door and it looked like there was probably a beautiful garden behind it.
there were also cliffs and just beautiful rocks and waves and grass and wind and benches on the other side. people took pictures so i will upload those when i can.
for a while we just stood on top of the cliffs and the wind was blowing and everything just seems so much bigger than ourselves. it was lovely.
then the rain started.
we were eating at this little place right next to the edge of the water and the sky just dumped on us. basically we were stuck on the island because boats stopped coming but we weren't upset, and also we had fish and beer for lunch so that wasn't bad either.
finally when the rain stopped we were able to leave and made our way back through the little town to find a bus home. except the town was under water. sewage and water and garbage came up to our ankles as we forged our way back through the alleyways and roads. at one point we came to this puddle (but really i mean lake) of garbage and water and there was just NO WAY to cross is unless we were waist deep in water. no thanks.
then this couple pulls up next to us in a pick up and the guy rolls down his window and asks in french if we want a ride across. even though everything we learn is basically dont get in cars with strangers blablabla we were like absolutely yes we would like a ride. they turned out to be awesome and also restored some faith in the goodness of humanity.
we made it home finally and of course the power was out and it was the hottest day ever but i think it might have been my best day of adventure so far and i am very thankful for it.