Semana Santa, a Roman Catholic holiday, is the Thursday, Friday & Saturday before Easter Sunday, which means it starts in two days. West End has been a hive of activity in advance of the expected throngs from the mainland. Several new restaurants have opened, many establishments have new fences presumably for improved security, and others have a new coat of paint for improved curb appeal. The number of men and women sporting "official vendor" t-shirts selling hammocks, bracelets & necklaces, massages and hair braids has increased; they now make the rounds on the beaches in groups; before it was a onesy-twosy stroll. Other vendors are renting newly out-of-the-box sun umbrellas & beach chairs. Brightly painted new wood signs stating "you are now in a protected area. call xxxx-xxxx to report an incident" have been tacked to power poles. In the Coxen Hole grocery stores, people have been buying literally a car- and truck-loads of food and beverages. Just the other day I saw a military / police purchase that filled the beds of two large pickups. Lots of people are expecting to feed many more mouths than usual.

We did the last of our shopping and errands today, which is good because the military have established several checkpoints between the dinghy dock and Coxen Hole and are spot searching vehicles which is creating extra long back ups and delays. Local buses are not allowed in the West End for the time being and there are few taxis that travel all of the way down to where we lockup the dingy. If we need to go into town for some reason in the next several days we'll need to walk out to the main road.

The crowds are beginning to appear, there are a lot more people today than yesterday and it's only Tuesday.

We have enough food and beer for the duration so are free to hide out on Vida Dulce, or dinghy in to view the daytime activities and events. We'll probably do a bit of both.