There’s Something In The Kitchen
There’s flies in the kitchen
I can hear them buzzin’
And I ain’t done nothin’
Since I woke up today
Lyrics from “Angel From Montgomery” by John Prine
It arrives precisely on time. All the weather apps had said that the tropical storm would hit around 9am and, sure enough, rain starts to clatter the roof at 8:55 and five minutes later thunder is crashing and we have to raise our voices to be heard above the sound of the rain. Three hours later it’s still hammering down and we are mopping sections of the floor at various points: this is when you discover that these quaint old houses aren’t watertight.
Between the living room and the kitchen there is a small internal garden open to the elements – the walkway through it has a Perspex roof but the rest is open. In some parts of the house, we look directly up at the underside of the exterior roof tiles, and floor levels in the kitchen are lower than the courtyard behind the house with steps down into the house through a doorway of mesh. All of these create indoor pools as the storm crashes through and the house reveals numerous leak points crying out for the mop which is conveniently stored near the fridge. Outside the front door, the steep cobbled street has become a river fit for white water rafting.
Our Thursday plan is by necessity shelved as it involves exploration of an open air gallery and we remain trapped indoors until hunger takes over and we trot up the hill to Bar Do Ró, another great little neighbourhood establishment where the quality of the food far exceeds its modest price. But it’s not long before the rain returns and the whole day is a washout, through till an hour after sundown. Good time to catch up on some admin and start planning the USA part of this trip. Instead of doin’ nothin’ like Mr Prine.
Bar do Ró
Seemingly, the deluge is to wildlife as petrol is to fire. When we first arrived and saw the open plan design of the house with the open garden in the middle of the property and only a grille for a rear wall, we couldn’t understand why the place wasn’t overrun with bugs. Admittedly, on day one, an errant hummingbird had flown into the kitchen – I cupped the tiny thing in my hands gently enough to avoid disturbing its plumage and set it free outside, only for it to fly straight back in and repeat the process – but apart from that the house remained remarkably critter free. Until the rain.
A tiny frog in the kitchen. A larger frog with the freaky ability to hop vertically up walls without losing its grip, making its way towards the living room ceiling. A centipede long enough to pass itself off as a small snake. Several billion vermicelli-like flying things with a predilection for white linen – in other words they’re all over the bed and the towels. Suddenly they’re all here, all uninvited, all apparently given fervour by the rain. Our walk to our evening meal, after the deluge has abated, is accompanied by a ridiculous frog chorus where the calls are anything from squealing schoolgirls to an Aussie wobble board with some porcine grunts in between. We try hard not to mention Paul McCartney.
Of course, it’s all gone by Friday, as you would expect. The streets are dry, the sun is shining and the humidity is ramping back up after yesterday’s cooler interlude. Those flying vermicellis are still very much in evidence, but now lay dead where they fell and wait only to be swept up and thrown into the garbage en masse. If these things are like Mayflies and have a lifespan of just one day, but only come alive when it’s pissing down with rain, then their lot is not, we conclude, a happy one.
With the drama over and the blistering sun once more directly overhead, we take the 90-minute journey down the coast to the resort town of Porto de Galinhas where half the world has come to sit beneath parasols on the narrow strip of sand. Our first sight of the beach is actually quite hilarious, as the tide is at its highest point, restricting the huge body of people (and some people with huge bodies) to cram themselves into the tiny available area of beach which remains – some groups sit on tables and chairs the wrong side of the strand line, feet in the water and minds perpetually on guard lest their picnic gets a soaking.
The tide recedes, the beach expands. The Atlantic is a gorgeous blue and has a real warmth as it wraps itself around our thighs. The fresh fish at the beach bar, breaded and served with a mango and cheese salad, is delicious. Porto de Galinhas itself, unashamedly and proudly a beach resort town, shows off its pedestrianised streets of tat shops, boutiques, eateries and bars with a brashness that only a fiercely popular resort town could muster. We find ourselves smiling. It’s good here. We like it.
There’s absolutely no doubt you wouldn’t want to get stuck in Porto de Galinhas for too long, but it’s an engagingly stereotypical tropical beach town and we can’t help but be whipped up in its vacation vibe before the sand is even sifting through our toes. In fact we would happily call time on Olinda, lovely as it is, right now, and spend a weekend here in this beach town before we move on: that’s how much it’s made us smile.
The ten foot tall guy renting out beach chairs says we can have ours free if we buy two caipirinhas. That’s about £6 for two cocktails with two chairs and a table thrown in for the next few hours. It would be rude not to.
We could have had a fun weekend in Porto de Galinhas, that’s for sure. But for now it’s back through the ridiculous traffic congestion to our little house in Olinda, frogs back in hiding and bugs mostly gone.
Tomorrow we’ll go see Recife.
25 Comments
Monkey's Tale
Sounds like an interesting rental!! And a nasty storm, all in the joys of travel. 😊 Maggie
Phil & Michaela
A lovely little house despite the games it’s played!
Toonsarah
Wow, that’s some storm, and a long one too! I could live with the frogs in the house but the flies don’t sound so appealing. As for the beach, £6 for two drinks and the chance sit by the sea sounds like a bargain to me 😀
Phil & Michaela
Indeed so….
Helen Devries
You needed a spell at the beach after that lot!
Phil & Michaela
All good fun huh
Alison
Just catching up on my emails and noticed I hadn’t read this. Rain like that would bring out any creature! Shame they came to yours. The colours of your photos are amazing and despite the rain still looks like a fantastic trip
Phil & Michaela
Oh it certainly is, and the rain was only one day…..just ALL day…
Travels Through My Lens
I have a feeling that the storms will only intensify in the coming years, and critters will be seeking shelter wherever they can find it. The joys of travel!
Phil & Michaela
Yep, all part of the fun!
Lynette d'Arty-Cross
Every country has its creepy crawlies that emerge unexpectedly and weren’t mentioned in any of the travel information. That sky is an amazing blue! I can see why you wanted to enjoy it for a bit (as well as the price!) Cheers.
Phil & Michaela
We like a good storm too but that one did hang around a bit too long!
Andrew Petcher
Quite a day. I don’t think I would like that beach for longer than fifteen minutes.
Phil & Michaela
Ah well we walked along till we found a (slightly) quieter bit.
Flywaybetter
Thanks for your beautiful photography, your photography is attracting everyone to read the post.
grandmisadventures
What a contrast from the rain to the bright colors of the beach! I am loving seeing more of this beautiful country with you 🙂
Phil & Michaela
Thank you, Meg – there’s so many places to visit in this huge country, we may have to return!
wetanddustyroads
It sounds like you’re describing East London where we’re currently staying: Here the critters also come out when there’s a thunderstorm — frogs and snake-like centipedes (like last night). Wow, the sky is amazingly blue in your photos – beautiful! As for the ten foot tall guy … he’s my my person of the day!
Phil & Michaela
I wonder why 😂
WanderingCanadians
Sounds like an interesting experience to be there during a tropical storm! Glad the rain cleared though and you got to enjoy the sunny weather again.
Phil & Michaela
It was only a day, after all!
Annie Berger
Granted only a day but the massive numbers of creepy crawlies you experienced would be enough to give me the willies! Wishing you drier days ahead.
Phil & Michaela
Cheers Annie. We’re now in the Amazon region in the middle of the rainy season so there’s more to come!
leightontravels
I thought experiencing the tropical storm sounded like a cool experience until you mentioned the creepy crawlies. We had a frog in the bathroom once in Siem Reap and a huge snake falling off the tree and landing inches away from our pool and garden door. That is all bearable, centipedes and flies not so much. But you lived to tell the tale and you’ve been compensated by that amazing blue sky and hummingbird visitation.
Phil & Michaela
All part of the ride, so to speak!