This precious place, Pelee Island, is promoted to tourists as 'the southernmost inhabited place and best kept secret' in the country. Its population is just under 250 people, but expands in the summer to about 1500. Its distance for walking is 22 kilometres on a quiet perimeter road. The tranquility is what i like, and the lack of commercialism. I know, because in '96 I walked it. No motorcycle engines have I ever heard here.
The trip here, by ferry, is 1.5 hours, and is very therapeutic. We met a 16-year-old local girl who just returned from a month's stay in Nepal in an Arobinda ashram, so when she saw our group of about twenty acting like happy yogis, she wanted to connect.
"Are you having kirtan tonight?" she asked.
And yes, we did do some chanting and cooking and feasting and chilling. For those of us on the Rath festival trail, Mahadeva, Annapurna, Gaurav, and I, the nomadic travels hadn't ended. Our travelling troupe continues, this time with some members of Bhakti Academy, and we have some members on board who have never camped before. I mention to Vyenkath that he's not a full-fledged North American until he's got that outdoor experience.
Our whole purpose of this retreat is to slow down with Krishna, to bond with each other (here we have both Americans and Canadians), and to perhaps get a taste of rural Vrindavan-like life. Our chanting, reading, interacting, will ensure that this all gels.
As i lay down to sleep in a cozy rented space with some of us, the balance of our group are contending with overnight rain which is okay, provided the liquid doesn't seep into the tent. I've had my share of that experience.
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