September 6, 2018: the one year anniversary of the hurricane

We just got to spend a day at Club Orient while on our Eastern Caribbean cruise. We were in the first wave off the ship and headed straight to the taxi stand. We waited for another couple heading to Orient Beach and then headed off. As we approached the entrance to Club Orient we could see the devastation. Very few of the palm trees remained and there was a big empty space where most of the circle of mini suites used to be. We continued down the access road to the beach until we got to the parking lot that used to be Pedros (it is completely gone, including the foundation). There was still a chain blocking the turn around next to the new Perch Lite, so our driver took us around to drop us off at Orient Village. The other couple got cold feet and ended up staying in the taxi to head back to go shopping, but we got out and immediately noticed we could see all the way down to Club Orient from the end of the street. The Yellow Submarine pizza place was gone and there was new construction going on in its lot. On the beach on our left the Bikini Beach Club was open, but on the right the Kon Tiki was gone. There was construction going on, so eventually the Kon Tiki will be back.

We started heading down the beach and ran into Luiz who ran the Marlyndx swimwear shop. Since the hurricane took out all of the new shops he has been making and selling pareos on the beach. We bought two and talked for a bit about what had happened then continued down the beach. When we got past the rocks to the nude section at around 9:30 we were greeted and got two chairs and an umbrella for $15. After we set up I realized the umbrella was maroon and we had rented from Pedros, so I guess it lives on. After a quick swim we went to the Perch Lite for a couple of Margaritas. We paid with Euros instead of Dollars partly to use up some leftover Euros from last years Mediterranean cruise but also to give them a little extra. After more swimming we eventually had lunch at the Perch Lite as well (hot dogs and a coke). After lunch, we walked down to Papagayo's and then through the Club Orient property itself. It was even worse up close. We found our favorite Mini Suite (156) was still standing but was missing half of the side wall, all of the back wall and the wall between the two units. The Mini Suite next to it (158?) is the only one made of concrete after a fire forced it to be rebuilt to new construction standards and the two are the only ones left. The Mini Suite Deluxes seemed to fare slightly better and most were still standing. The Beachfront units didnt fare well at all and were smashed. According to Louie, it wasnt actually the hurricane winds that did the most damage, but the 30 foot wave that washed over Green Cay and through the property and cleaned out everything in all of the units. Every building that was standing was completely empty inside. Looters took care of anything that was left, except for the treadmills and stationary bikes in the gym... they were still there.

The sport of watching the Lookie Lou's from the cruise ship was still fun, but this time we had the added possibility of running into someone we had met on the ship since ours was the only one in port. It is funny to see them come down the beach and pretend they are not looking. In years past there would be a welcoming committee that would interact with them so they couldnt pretend they didnt notice the nudists, but there werent many on the beach... maybe 20 or 30 with only about 1/2 nude. The rest were probably from our ship. September is low season anyway, so I dont know if that is a normal count or if the hurricane is still keeping people away. It was one year ago to the day since the first hurricane (Irma) hit. Several taxis did stop throughout the day with tourists getting a drink at the Perch and then continuing on with their sightseeing tours. By 2:30 we thought we should start looking for a cab back, and got lucky enough to catch one at Club Orient so we wouldn't have to walk back to Orient Village. All in all it was a nice way to spend our Anniversary on shore, but my hopes of Club Orient reopening by the end of 2019 died off completely.

I'll post some pictures we took on the property once we download them from Mrs. J&C's phone.

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