Well we’ve settled into our life here and a very pleasant one it is turning out to be. Married life with the perfect woman just gets better every day.

The rent and costs (internet, electric, gas, water) are pretty much double in our new apartment but with the daily savings on the lifestyle we’re actually better off than we were before. I’m saving around £0.60 per beer by having them delivered and drinking them on our patio/beach rather than sitting next door in the bar.  Even on a moderate consumption that’s £3.00 a day saving, £90 a month.  Along with that we used to throw in a lunch next door, averaging at least £6.00 a day, whilst now we’re having breakfast and 2 meals for the same price.  Not going out in the evening is saving us at least £20 a time, so that’s a minimum of another £160 a month.  A weekly visit to the beach, with a couple of drinks and lunch, would cost minimum £30.  There’s another £120 saved. Previous basic monthly living costs were sitting around £600 a month.  They’re about the same now, but the apartment owners, neighbours and location are so much better.

We don’t go out much, there’s no need to with the sea on our doorstep and shops literally across the road.  We do have to go afield to get fresh fish and vegetables, but a trip out on the motorbike every couple of days gives us a run out, some interaction with the locals, and all the supplies we need.

We swim (or bob in the water) each day at varying times, depending on high tide.  It’s a lovely regimen for the day.

Today is the first day of Eid al-Adha, a couple of days of festivity and slaughtering of animals in the street.  We went out to get some vegetables, fruit and bread before everything starts but still had to dodge rivers of blood and cow corpses being butchered along the route. It’s fun to watch tourists flinch when they hear a firecracker being set off.

There’s not a breeze stirring the air today, it’s very still and so the humidity is rising. An extended summer appears to be on the cards as it’s the end of September and still 42 degrees today.

Blog updates will most likely be fairly scarce on the ground as life is not changing much from day to day.  I shall report in as and when anything happens.