Victoria
After the first decent night’s sleep in 72 hours, we felt ready to tackle a visit to Victoria. Once again my sense of scale was off, and what looked like a “short bus trip” on the map was in actuality a half hour ride into town. We beeped the bus pass that Pina had loaned us two times and took our seats amongst the commuters. The diesel engine roared going up the hills and the air brakes weezed going down. We disembarked at the main terminal and tried to find our way out through a maze of small alleys and busy narrow streets.
Not really sure which direction to go, we stopped in a little shop and bought some water in hopes of staying hydrated. A woman working a traffic security gate nearby wished us a good morning, and we asked her if there were any a nearby bakeries. She pointed us in the direction of a bustling commercial district that was full of small shops on narrow alleys.
We shopped and wandered for a few hours, eventually making it out of the warren of little shops and open-air market onto the main commercial street with newish looking bank and government buildings, as well as a very large, very new library building. It was getting hot and we were beginning to wilt, but Colleen was determined to go see the botanical gardens, so we forged on, walking in shade wherever we could find it. For a modest sum we were able to enter the gardens, which were shady and a few degrees cooler than the street. The highlight of the visit was being waved into the enclosure of giant tortoises by one of the employees, who showed us how to pet and feed the massive, primordial creatures. If you’ve ever left a ball of dough uncovered for too long and the outside dries out while the inside remains soft, that is similar to the rough, loose skin of a tortoise neck.
At 2 p.m. we met the rest of the crew for the first time at Eden Island Resort south of the city for a lunch together.
