26/01 arriving at palmarin dumping stuff in room and going for a quick look at the sea at last light. Sense of surreality.. the brightly painted pirogues hauled up on the beach bright against the rich blue sea. terns fishing and then a pomarine skua in amongst them…. and then bat like flitting over the still inner waters… a petrel… then several of them.  The sound track the evening call to prayer from the muezzin blasting out of loudspeakers.

In the afternoon back to the beach … looking across to the shell mound and all the fishing boats gathered below. …men gathered around the centre of large pirogue, dividing the catch… the most obvious fish the large pink rays… the length of a donkey cart and a weight for the guys who ferry them to the shore on their heads. ( a cushion attached with string to the top of the head and then a plastic fish tray)… the only other obvious species was a silvery pipefish type… sword at front… maybe a foot and half long.
Constant activity… poling the boat offshore… baling out.. handling the tiller… clearing the nets. mending nets with some kind of shuttle for threading. .
The boat that came in later had the net all folded stretched most of lengthe of boat and this had to be turned back (like making a bed) to reveal the catch beneath (was this under some kind of large board? to keep it out of the sun.
Donkey carts, horse carts weight… girl leaning on boat watching elegantly…. goats and chickens foraging through scraps.
Out on the pier grey headed gulls loafing. … caspian terns snatch large fish and bark out their calls… smaller terns (common, sandwich lesser crested milling around)… all a mellee of sound and colour… the spectrum basic colours painted onto the white worn pirogues. … beach covered with all kinds of filth… horrible amounts of discarded plastic.