Big ears

 There are other matters to blog apart from a safari so I was searching for a link when Gary Lineker stuck his head, ears and all, above the parapet like some bull elephant out on the territory protection trail.

Lineker has history with contentious text's on a number of subjects and is often looking for a reaction. On this occasion he got rather more than he bargained for and has rightly been suspended by the BBC. To think he can bring down the Director General with the help of his footballing cronies is another example of how the football community big themselves up when faced with adversity or external criticism.

 No doubt there will be people in the footballing fraternity rubbing their hand as they see this as a direct challenge from the government at just the time thay are looking to regulate the business of football in a way football won't want.  Let battle commence.

Gary Neville runs close to the wind with his comments on social media and I have unsubscribed to various sites, including Twickenham RFC, when the owners or Web masters start using the media for their own political ends and not those for which the mouthpiece was designed.

Lineker needs to realise people only listen or follow him because of his visibility on BBC, and footie commentators are two a penny. So if the BBC dump him, he will quickly become yesterdays news. Just ask Andy Gray!!

We fly back tomorrow which is probably just as well, as Cyclone Freddie has decided to regroup and start battering Guadeloupe.  Apparently Mozambique had a years raining for days when it first hit.

England must have felt they were in the eye of the storm at Twickenham yesterday. They were outplayed in every aspect of the game by France. England looked unfit, ill prepared and physically lightweight against a French side clearly building positively towards their home World Cup.

Let's not mention the Argyle albeit to say it's getting tight at the top. 

Death in Paradise

A wet and wild storm treated our arrival in Guadeloupe and following similarities in Martinique I am beginning to think it's a French kind of welcome to the Roast Beef!

It did, however, make for the most disappointing day so far. We had planned to visit the film sets of the Death in Paradise television series, but an hour plus each way would not have left us much time to wander round once the rain had stopped.

The exterior of the police station is the village museum, and the interior is set up in a local church hall. The featured market and beach side accommodation are both pop-up so there would have been no guarantee they would have been there. it would have been good to have a beer in Catherine's bar though and visit The new location at the zoo. Can't see us returning so an opportunity missed really...merde il pleu.

Champagne moment

No cricket involved in this one, but more snorkelling as we are today in Dominica. As I mentioned, we had hoped to catch up with Tristan Dever who is out here helping to repair hurricane damage. That had to take priority so we took a taxi ride out to the beach. It is called Champagne Bay and again is a recommended snorkelling beach. I found it hard going again and saw a few fish, SWMBO was able to go out further and experience the bubbles which permeate the earth crust under the sea, so making it feel like you are swimming in champagne.
Our journey back allowed us to see the extent of the hurricane damage. The government building, the library and the catholic cathedral all still have all or parts of their roof missing. Many residential and commercial properties still have tarpolines as weather protection, and roads are in a sorry state.
Any international aid seems to have disappeared into the wrong pockets, and the residents are having to fund the repairs themselves. Our cruise ship is the last to visit this season so the economy will have little revenue now until October, so living will continue to be tough.
On our return to the ship, we visited the heritage museum. Here the path of the island was followed firstly with the indigenous Carib indians, then their battles with Columbus and other explorers and pirates. The Indians were wipped out in the flatter less densely vegitated islands but survived on Dominica and with the passing of the slave trade they were granted reservation rights on the East coast which they continue to utilise.
The town centre still has the slavery sales stands and execution areas and a memorial to the first running water facility on the island. This was abandoned ,however, after one particularly large scale and bloody execution as the locals thought the fountain contaminated by the blood of the victims.
Later the island became a fierce battleground when the French and English fought over it. France wanted control of the three islands, Guadeloupe, Dominica and Martinique, whereas England wanted Dominica to provide a barrier to French domination  of the area.
Tomorrow we visit Guadeloupe to see how the French influence survives after all the conflicts.