Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Not So Arena Blanca

Arena blanca would, in most places, translate as white sand. Here, something apparently went a bit haywire. It's the name of a beach -- actually, while we're maybe trying to be accurate about things, it's probably more correct to refer to it as the beach, since it's considered to be the only really publicly accessible beach on Bioko island -- where you might expect to find some white sand. But there's not any. Which really shouldn't come as that big of a surprise, given that it's a volcanic island.





In any event, our ongoing adventures took us there this past weekend. I'm glad we went, so I can now at least say that I've been to the beach here. But I'll have to confess that I really didn't frollick around in the water much. Okay, make that none at all. But there were others who did, and seemed to be enjoying themselves.


To be fair, though, there really are other beaches here. One of them is probably just the continuation of the Arena Blanca beach to its south, and is supposed to also be available to the public -- just that there's no real road to get you right there.


And then there are the beaches at the southern tip of the island, inhabited more by all sorts of interesting turtles than by humans. The sand down there looks more inviting; it's just a question of figuring out how to get there. With no roads, it's pretty much a matter of finding a boat. Or backpacking there through the bush. I'm thinking I'm probably going to just have to settle for the National Geographic photos.

2 comments:

Hubs said...

Hi Clark been on travel for two weeks and thought I would check in. Are you making any trips back to the US for the Holidays? Don't see any Club Med type investments soon with that beach.

Clark said...

Sam -- I have to agree with you. The beach here may not be worth the cost of an airline ticket, or even the cost of the gallon of gas it takes to get there from our place here. As for the holidays, I'm looking forward to spending them in Tyler, or at least somewhere not too far away in Texas or Oklahoma.