Coconuts And Grapefruits

I wake up in the green hammock I was inhabiting for the time being and look to my left to see the ocean, calm and turquoise blue as ever. I finally manage to do a much needed wash of my filthy clothes which had been gathering dust and salt during these past few days. As I hang them on the washing line I hear a voice shout in german behind me. (I will translate the conversations for ease of reading) "Noah! You're right, you really don't live very far from my hotel." Andreas says with his austrian accent, after not having spoken german much for a long time it was sometimes a little difficult to understand for me. Oh, and to give a little bit more detail on the situation - the day before I had wandered around in search of a nice beach and ended up finding a pretty big hotel which was located right next to where I lived. There I met Andreas, briefly, and after talking for a few minutes our ways parted again. Nevertheless we managed to find one another without having the intent of doing so. "Yes pretty close, especially if you take one of the shortcuts. Anyway, what are your plans for the day?" I reply as I hang the last pair of socks on the branches of the small tree that was now decorated with my colourful clothes waving in the wind. "I want to go for a walk around the island, this is my second and only full day so I want to use it to really explore." He replies and sits down in the blue plastic chair which I had just used to store all my wet clothes. "Sounds good, if you want to wait a minute I can pack up my sleeping bag from the hammock and then come with you." I reply and after seeing his nod of agreement I head to the little palmleaf roof under which I had been sleeping. We start by climbing through the roots of the mangroves at the bottom of the hostel I was staying in to reach a little path which passed by more mangroves to its right and big residential houses that faced the open sea to its left. We continue by the use of the little paths which we choose randomly or using intuition. After one hour of walking we reach bigger properties with bigger houses on them, and in the far I can make out a little island which seemed quite close the main island we were walking on. Hence we start walking through the properties and in the end reach a hotel which was right by the beautiful sea. To our surprise there even was a beautiful beach facing the island we had seen from afar. It felt surreal that this beach was completely empty without any tourists or locals but aided in making me feel like in one of those romantic shipwreck stories (Robinson Crusoe is to date one of my favourite books). After a few minutes of staring at the current before us we decide to swim to the island located about 30m away from the shore. We pass over coral reefs filled with life before reaching some roots which could be used to lift ourselves onto the coral island. And about it being little: it was miniscule! Besides a little roof on a concrete foundation there were two little old trees that had been visibly shaped by the strong prevailing winds and some shells growing on the spiky coral floor. I look out onto the water surrounding us, which had an even brighter shade of turquoise than the ocean by my hammock. Total bliss fills me as I stand on one of the two trees and feel the warm wind brush over my face and through my hair. An energy starts growing and rising within my body to be released through a loud shout of happiness that sounds across the waves of the ocean. Only to be heard by me and Andreas as the vast ocean swallows my voice quickly. We slowly swim back and start heading back to the opposite side of the island where we were staying, passing through the town and then wilder nature. On the way I start craving coconut water as I had swallowed a little too much salt during the little swim. I happened to have passed this way before with Margarita and remembered the heavy duty door that lead to a large, beautiful compound filled with palm trees and an unforgettable sea view. After pushing the door open - it looked like it had been taken from a big boat - you enter this little paradise hidden behind concrete walls. I greet the owners of the land and through my slowly improving spanish and Andreas vaster knowledge of the language we start having basic conversations about this and that. Without having to ask they bring two coconuts and cut them open for our refreshment. After drinking the sweet fresh coconutwater and then devouring the white meat we start heading back - but not without being told to take some grapefruits. In a large tree near the entrance these fruits grew heavy and juicy in the leafy canopy of the tree. I climb through the branches as close to the top as possible and using a long stick I push the fruits of the tree into Andreas's hands below. We continue walking, my messenger bag now pressing hard into my shoulder as it was filled with the delicious fruits. The starry sky starts emerging above us as we reach the sign at which our paths part to our different beds. "Very nice to have met you, take care on your travels and whenever they bring you through Vienna feel free to stay at my place." Andreas says as we shake hands in a goodbye. "And you feel free to visit me up in Edinburgh once I have a place there. Enjoy your trip to Medellin!" I reply and we both walk our different paths home. I reach my hammock and as I rest my head into the sleeping bag I notice that my main problem of the day had been how to get to the coconuts that are stored near the canopy of the palm trees. With that being my biggest concern of the day I must say that life can be oh so very flawless.