Gala Dinner, Sabu

Our last planned day on Sabu was very full. The open truck with the two seats met us in the morning and took us to John's village in the east. On the way we saw the site of a huge Dutch fort and drank milk from green coconuts cut from the tree in somebody's garden. Lunch was provided for us at a clinic, where John's wife worked as a nurse. Our last stop was at a swimming/washing place where Liz and I changed behind some trees. We washed our hair and had a refreshing dip in fresh water. Our guides, Julie and John, were very helpful. Back at our boats, we had just enough time to change before the gala dinner. We were joined by four members of the crew from the yacht "Canela". As the guests of honour we took our places on the stage, under spotlights. We were served a meal of soup, rice and meat which we ate sitting on lontar palm mats, watched by quite a large audience of local people. The Regent's representative entertained us with a song and then invited us to perform! We were saved from a joint rendering of "The Leaving of Liverpool" by one of the Brazilians, who sang a song. We joined in traditional dancing on the beach, then resumed our seats to be entertained by children practising for a talent competition. We danced on the stage and listened to speeches. Once again, Jeremy was called upon to give a speech of thanks. Julie translated for the audience. Unfortunately Kathy left her "underwater" camera on her bag not in it and it walked. The discovery led to a plea from the compere for it to be returned.

We left Sabu the next morning for Raijua. Nearly there we received a call from Julie. Kathy's camera had been found could we return for it. We set off back and Ellida turned too, into a 25knot headwind. Their engine failed to start and Sal Darago towed the 16 ton Saltram the ten miles back. They had turned back to help us as our dinghy was still defunct. Julie and the Culture Director returned the camera which had been taken by a boy, but turned out to be too hot to handle. There are few places in the world where we would have had our camera returned. Sabu is a gem of an island, with much that is traditional. It is a fascinating destination.