“but my friends call me Mango”

Heading to the beach on a Sunday morning starts out full of promise, but when the surf breaking on the first beach was the distinct colour of a “double-double” (coffee with cream and sugar) and on our way to an alternate second beach we drove through a tropical storm, it was hard to remain optimistic about the planned beach day. But since we had arranged to meet my sister and her English boyfriend who had just flown in from France we were determined to at least meet them before calling the whole thing off. After some wrong turns we met at a beach on the Bukit Peninsula called Geger Beach. Can't say hopes were high, but we hid out in the beach side restaurant and ate lunch while the heavens opened and rain poured.

But just as we finished our meal, “out came the sun and dried up all the rain.” The beach was white shell sand, the water crystal clear and the picturesque surf broke on a reef in the distance making for calm inshore waters. Alex rented a kayak, we flew our kite and we all had lots of time to catch up with my sister.

A couple of things happened at the beach. First, it became clear just how much Alex misses his work. He told me that he'd been walking past a surfer who was bleeding from his heel who looked Alex in the eyes and, for some reason asked him “are you a doctor?” Alex examined him and discovered his Achilles tendon was nicked so he advised him to get some sutures. Instead the guy picked up some gauze and bandages from a nearby store and Alex advised him on how to make the best of it with what he had.

It happened that this affable man and his friend were sitting in the beach chairs next to us and so we began to chat. He is from Maui, Hawaii and lives in the town next to a friend of ours. We talked about some favourite spots like Paia's Flatbread Pizza and we asked his advice about good beaches for kids to learn to surf in Bali. He clearly knows the water inside and out as he could explain minute aspects of the surf such as slight leans of the waves based on some ocean current. He was very outgoing and made sure to know all of our names saying to Ava, “Hello Ava, my name is Christopher, but my friends call me Mango” and was very courteous to everyone introducing us, who he had just met, by name. This leads to the second noteworthy aspect of the afternoon.

Our friend in Maui has shown us DVDs of surfers doing unbelievable, gravity-defying acts. These experts make surfing the waves look like being out for a gentle stroll. We also saw a movie about some men who developed Stand Up Paddle boards and hydrofoils. When this man told Ava that he is also known as Mango something tickled a memory from those DVDs we watched with our friend. In a very understated way he mentioned to Alex he makes stand up paddle boards and would give Alex a deal on one if he is interested - this was another hint.

When we got home we looked on Google and it turns out that we were sitting with Christopher “Mango” Carafino one of the men we watched on those surf DVDs with another famous surfer, Laird Hamilton. He invented something called a hydrofoil and has been very big in stand up paddle boarding. He has his own company that makes kite surfs, hydrofoils and stand up paddle boards. We've seen "Carifino" paddle boards fairly often. Once we realized this we had a giggle since Alex had innocently asked if this guy had ever tried paddle boarding which is a little like asking if Mozart ever heard the song “Twinkle Twinkle.”

But, I must say, couldn't be a nicer guy!

Anyway, just wanted to share another day in Bali...

Riah