August 5

We didn't sleep too late and after breakfast (and tea) we got our bathing costumes (swim suits) on and went down to the beach. It was really windy and Charlene had brought a kite she had made in art class. This wasn't the dinky diamond shaped kite I was thinking it would be. Oh no, this was a parachute type kite with two handles at the end. It takes some practice to fly it and the wind is so strong you can jump up and it will carry you a ways. It was so fun flying it. We played with that for a while and then got into the water. It was pretty cold, but not unbearable. The Indian Ocean is warm enough year round to be able to swim in it even in "winter." The water is pretty blue, but rough so it churns up the sand, so not completely clear. The beach has a good amount of sand but there are rocky patches. Also the area is very undeveloped so after the sand there is all this green growth- plants, trees, it is very natural looking. We were in a sort of cove, surrounded by rocks on two sides. We all took a turn on the long surf board, but with the wind it was pretty rough so we didn't last long. We layed out and dried off and then headed back to the house. Charlene's friend who has a beach house near by came over and we all sat around and had tea. After she left we started cooking dinner. James had brough a big fish he had caught from a spear fishing trip in Mozambique. I was a little skeptical of eating this big fish, but once we cut it up, battered, and fried it, the fish fillets were quite good!
After dinner we all went up on the roof (which is flat) and watched the stars. We were all starting to fall asleep eventually so Charlene, James, and I snuck down to leave Neal alone on the roof. We thought it would be so funny for him to wake up in the morning and be by himself on the roof. He has a great sense of humor, and apparently realized he was the only one up there half way through the night.