We decided to save money by hitchhiking to Cane Garden Bay instead of taking a taxi. Walking east down the road from Sebastian's, we came to Bomba's Shack in a couple minutes. We stopped to look around (from the outside -- it was not open so early in the morning), read some of the many signs ("Bomba created the Full Moon Party for all to enjoy. Bomba created ..."), and take pictures. A collection of panties hung from the ceiling, junk was nailed to the walls -- madhouse decor.

Our first ride was from a slender black man who lived in Carrot Bay. He left us at the far end of Carrot Bay, by an overgrown field with a parked bus and a goat, at the foot of the big hill. We waited a few minutes. A few cars passed. Finally a caravan of three rental cars stopped -- a large group traveling together, heading to Sage Mountain.

Liz, Beth, and I each got into a different car. I got into the last car, a Jeep with a young man and young woman. As the driver was going around the first curve up the steep incline, his left tire went off the pavement into a rut and got jammed against a stone wall on the side of the road. The young woman and I got out, but we couldn't push him out -- the tire just spun in the rut.

A man came out of a house to help us. Then people from the other cars came back to see what was keeping us (was that last hitchhiker a desperado?). We all pushed and finally got the car out of the rut. They drove me to the top of the hill, where Beth and Liz were waiting.

Our third ride was from a man with a British accent and his wife, in a Jeep with carpet-like covering on the seats and no doors (it was easier to get into and out of, especially with all our gear). They lived around Long Bay. I commented on his accent, and he told us he was originally from London. I said, "So you noticed my T-shirt?" I was wearing my British flag T-shirt. Yes. "That's probably why you picked us up," I joked. No. ... My joke fell flat. He dropped us by Myett's.

Beth asked in Myett's office if her sunglasses had been found. They said none here, but check at the bar. Beth asked the bartender and got her sunglasses back. At least she thought they were hers, maybe. If not, close enough -- black frames.

Liz wanted to stay in Cane Garden Bay. Beth and I planned to continue hitchhiking to Brewer's Bay. We agreed to tentatively meet Liz later that afternoon if we should be back early. Otherwise, she would go on back to the hotel without us. Liz made a spa appointment at Myett's.

Beth and I started down the road, one sticking out a thumb, the other a finger, so either culture would know what we wanted. We walked to the far end of Cane Garden, past the beach developments and the Jungle Mafia wall, where the close-packed dwellings across the road ended.

There was little traffic, just a few work trucks pulling into the industrial yards at the end of the bay. We sat there a while, on a low stone wall between the road and the beach. Finally, someone stopped, but he said he was only going a short way to his house and it wouldn't help us much. We thanked him for stopping and let him go.

We sat a while longer. Even if we got out to Brewer's Bay, would there be any traffic to get us back? We decided to give up, go back and find Liz. We walked back along the beach.

Beth ventures into Jungle Mafia territory

Beth and I sat at a table at Myett's and talked. We figured Liz was probably upstairs getting a massage. She was. What we didn't know at the time was that she was almost directly above us and actually heard our voices while she was having her massage. So she knew we were back before we even saw her.

Beth and I wandered over to Olivia's gift shop. Mr. "True Love" was hanging around. He said he was not going to bother us because he already knew we didn't want any CDs. Right.

We wandered back. Kareem came and said hello. We told him we tried to hitch to Brewer's Bay but gave up. He offered us a ride there. I said we weren't sure now if we wanted to go because even if we got there, we weren't sure we'd be able to get back. He said we could call him and he'd pick us up. We thanked him and said maybe we'd take him up on it.

He told us he was going to go and start working on labels -- he'd just gotten a supply of bottles for his coconut massage oil venture.

Beth seemed down. I went into Olivia's shop and returned with a gift for her -- a bowl of seashells, a starfish, and a (plastic) turtle keychain, which she liked.

I was hungry. I said to Beth, let's order lunch now. We expected Liz to appear soon. So we ordered, and before we got our food, Liz came down. Beth bought her a Margarita. Beth had a Painkiller (rum, pineapple juice, ... ?) and vegetable roti again. Liz had hummus. I had a Mahi burger.

After lunch, the three of us walked down the beach. Beth wanted to buy a beach towel. We went to the same shops we visited earlier in the week, the shop with the slit sunglasses and the "migraine" lady's shop (the dark place). Lydia wasn't there today -- her shack was empty.

Beth found a towel she liked at the dark place. But migraine lady said she didn't have change for a $50 traveler's check. "Come back later and maybe I'll have change."

Beth was sunburned from yesterday in Anegada. She and Liz stayed in the shade on the beach while I went snorkeling. I walked down the beach to where there was a large brownish area of water. It was about 50 feet wide and not far off shore. I thought it was rocks or reef or weeds where I might find some fish or other creatures.

I put on my mask and snorkel and swam toward the brown mass. I didn't find any rocks or reef, but I swam into an enormous cloud of small fish, a school of minnow-like fish swimming in unison. My best estimate is that there were on the order of 100,000 fish. They parted and moved away -- in unison -- as I swam through the mass.

The experience was mind boggling and thrilling.

Then I was through the school and out the other side. Still no rocks or reef. Could the brown mass I saw from shore have been the school of little fish? From in the water, I really couldn't see if that was the case. But the idea excited me and I had to find out. I turned back and again swam through the cloud of fish, the boundaries of which I couldn't fathom while I was inside the cloud.

I swam back to shore and hurried out of the water, running and waving and calling to Beth. A Rasta guy sitting on the beach called, "Hey man, did you see a shark?" No, a school of tiny fish! Another man, who was walking down the beach, told me when I described them that they are called fry.

I reached Liz and Beth and said, "Beth, come here, check this out!" We walked back to the brown area and I explained that I would swim out to it and she should watch and see if it splits into two or moves.

Again, I found the cloud of fish and swam through it. The fish moved away from me, like magnets repelling, but the cloud was too large for me to cause it to split into two. It just swirled around me like a bubble. I came out the other side, turned, and called to Beth. She answered, "Yes, you swam through the brown area."

Later I snorkeled along the shore toward the rocks on the left side of the bay, hoping to find other creatures. As I got near the rocks, around the last few beach dwellings, the water started getting cloudy. I couldn't see very far around me. A fog closed in on me.

Then I ran into a bunch of little, identical things in the water, each about one inch long. At first I thought they were plants, seedlings or something. But they were not on the bottom or on the surface; they were suspended in the water. Then I realized they must be little jellyfish. Afraid of getting stung, I immediately turned around and got away.

Liz and Beth had moved all our stuff closer to the end of the beach where I had been snorkeling, watching after me, because I'd swum so far away. Beth was wearing my hat. I told her she looked cute in it.

I saw my sunglasses, but said "Where are my glasses? They were in my hat." Beth froze, like uh-oh. She hadn't noticed my glasses in my hat, and they fell out when she moved the stuff.

Beth and Liz went back to where our stuff originally had been and looked for my glasses. I had to leave my prescription dive mask on as I looked through our stuff at the new spot. They combed the area for about 20 minutes. I was very upset and went over to them in a panic. Liz was explaining how she was searching systematically. I snapped at her, "I don't care how, I just want to find my glasses! They are like my eyes!"

Beth walked back to our new spot. On the way she found my glasses about 20 feet from the new spot. I thanked them both for looking and apologized to Liz. Beth felt bad. I tried to reassure her that it was alright now. I was just relieved.

I changed into dry clothes in Myett's washroom.

We picked up. We went back to migraine lady's shop. She said she still didn't have change. We found it hard to believe. Her shop was right next to a bar and an ice cream counter (all under the same roof), and we'd seen her behind the counter of the ice cream shop. I think she thought Beth would cave in and fork over a $20 bill or something. Beth said to Liz and me, forget it, and we left. I almost left behind Beth's seashells, wrapped in my beach towel in a plastic bag. Beth spotted the bag on a chair when I started walking out.

We started hitchhiking back and walked to the outskirts of Cane Garden. The late afternoon sun was lowering and the trees made pools of shadow. Dogs were barking up ahead as we approached. We stopped there, before the road curved uphill, next to a small beach bar, and stuck our thumbs out.

Traffic was light but eventually we got a ride from a woman who was from St. Thomas. Her parents were here, and she had been living here now for three years.

We asked her if the Bananakeet Cafe was open. She didn't think so, but we stopped at the top of the big hill and found that it was open for dinner, so we thanked her and said good-bye. A gift shop off the parking lot was closed. We continued up the walk and into the restaurant.

The restaurant was open on three sides. On one side, next to the tables, was a small swimming pool. On the other two sides, was a view over miles and miles, from the green mountains sloping down to the ocean below, along the coastline, where somewhere in the distance was Sebastian's, and out over the open ocean to the jumbled humps of distant islands.

Northwest shoreline of Tortola, from the Bananakeet Cafe at twilight

First we took pictures of the panoramic view of Carrot Bay and the ocean. Then we sat down at a table next to the bar and looked at menus. The late afternoon sun slanted in from over the ocean to our table all the way in the back of the restaurant, illuminating the lower part of Beth's face.

Beth ordered a Painkiller, and Liz ordered a drink with vodka and cream of coconut. The entrees were expensive, so we ordered appetizers. Liz and I snapped pictures of Beth, pretending she was a celebrity.

Liz said she was having a strange reaction to her drink. It started with a tightness in her chest. She said she's not a lightweight drinker and she knows how alcohol affects her and this was not from alcohol. She said someone must have drugged her drink.

She fell into hysterical laughter punctuated by worried looks. "What did they put in my drink?"

Beth and I smiled, attentive but skeptical, and tried to calm her. Liz said urgently, "Just look at their slogan: 'The higher you get, the better the view.' Find out what they put in my drink!"

I turned my camera on Liz and told Beth, "She's more interesting at the moment."

Our food came, and eventually Liz calmed down. I got nachos, which were good, and a side of garlic mashed potatoes, which were too dry.

After we ate, they brought us complimentary shots. I took a taste and poured the rest into my water so Liz or Beth wouldn't drink it.

The sun had set.

When we left the restaurant, the gift shop off the parking lot was open, so we went in. I got a BVI 2009 calendar for half price. Liz tried on skirts. It was dark outside and I was impatient to get going. Finally Liz made her purchase and asked the shopkeeper to call us a taxi. The shopkeeper called three different taxis before she got one who could be there in under 20 minutes -- and who was willing to make the short run to Sebastian's.

We waited a while for the taxi to arrive. It was between 8:00 and 8:30 when it came. The ride home was short. My apprehension about potentially drunk companions was for nothing. Liz and Beth were hardly annoying. I was the high-strung one who could have used a drink