Guest Report

[Gavin Nicol]

I stayed with my wife and three children in the upstairs apartment at Birdie's nest.

Prince came and collected us free of charge from where we were staying before (Castara) which was very helpful. Once we had settled in he also took me to the supermarket and during our week at Birdie's also took us around on a couple of other occasions.

The apartment was clean, spacious and well equipped. The a/c in the two bedrooms was lovely and cool and kept the mosquitos away - but these were not really an issue at Black Rock (unlike Castara!). The balconies (especially the greenheart one) are lovely for taking the breeze and views during the cooler times of day.

The fantastic location means that you walk straight out and onto the beach, which we had to ourselves most of the time. Just in front of the house a flat ridge of reef a few metres out in the sea forms a lovely shallow pool right on the shore. This is ideal for the kids - fantastic as a place to try out snorkelling, as there are many fish in there (even a baby octopus!). We also snorkelled immediately behind the this reef (2 - 4m deep), where we were treated to a huge array of good sized fish which kept us interested for days. The beach as a whole shelves quite steeply, and there are rocks in places, so care should be taken if the waves get up.

We saw turtles laying on 3 of the 7 evenings we were there - one huge one right in front of Birdie's at around 11pm. This was a really special experience for all the family.

Some nice - reasonably priced - handicraft / drums/ souvenirs (and essential groceries!) can be bought from a small shop reached by walking along the beach for 75m towards the black rock itself, then going up the steps by the fort. The shop is visible up the road, 50m on the left. Recommended.

All in all, Birdie's is a great place to stay and good value too. Another bonus is that it is one of the few locally owned guesthouses we came across, so the money you pay does not go straight out of the country to Germany or the UK etc. Also this means that you have a bit more of a "local experience" by staying there.

Thank for everything, Prince - hope to see you again one day!