The east coast is full of waves, so we go explore, often accompanied by the boyz, happy to share their playground. We are the only tourist surfers during the month of June. The reason may be the lack of sun during this season or the continent’s unstable reputation in recent years. However, we are delighted to drive all over this beautiful island’s coastal roads; here the lush vegetation reminds us of the North shore of Maui, where we live. But, there’s a fly in the ointment: the formidable trash mounts littering the beaches before ending up in the ocean. During her last kite session, Carine had a hard time after she crashed her kite. It relaunched with dozens of pieces of plastic hanging from it like clothing line. As opposed to what we saw on Easter Islands located in the middle of the two North pacific plastic gyres, here it was from local consumption. Joao, a Portuguese expat, a manager of an outdoor activity business on the island for 10 years, certifies that this is a recent phenomenon. Due to the sudden rise of population and the massive flow of imported goods, he saw the proliferation of garbage soar within five years, no more! The lack of education in the field, and the lack of a collection of waste has led to a situation that seems out of control today.
