Sea-U Guesthouse

The Sea-U Guesthouse in Bathsheba is a great place to stay if you can get a room. It's actually about a five-minute walk uphill from the rest of the town, but its elevated position affords great views of the ocean and a stiff, constant breeze.

Breakfast is provided, as is dinner, if you add your name to a list before 11 am. The food is very good (though I usually require more fibre at breakfast)--one night we had an eggplant appetizer, flying fish and macaroni pie.

There are two cats on the premises. They are both very sweet and not at all shy about begging. One has a perpetual grimace on its face, as if to say, "Come on ... but why not?" From the dining area, which overlooks a thick tangle of mangroves, you can see them picking their way over vines and gnarled, adventitious roots. I'm glad our cat Eddie doesn't come with us on holiday or he would think his indoor life very ignominious.

We also had daily visits from a pair of sparrow-like birds called grassquits. The female was quite bold--she would hop her way into our room while her husband watched anxiously from the doorway.

The long verandah with its Muskoka chairs (or Adirondack, depending on where you're from) and the common dining arrangement makes this a rather social place to stay. This is good or bad, depending on what you think of the other guests. Luckily, we liked most of the people we met and came away feeling we had made a few friends.