We tied the boat up in Orikum, the only tourist marina in Albania. It is about half way up the coast in an area that wants to be a tourist destination. Long pebbled beaches punctuated by small family-owned resorts surround the large bay. For a couple of months a year the locals tell us it is very busy. The rest of the year, hotels stay pretty empty and beaches deserted. In the middle of May, there were still a lot of very new hotels that haven’t even bothered to open yet. We were about the only tourists in the small town. And everyone knew we were foreigners. They were all a bit shy, but very friendly.
The next morning we hear some loud explosions out near the harbor entrance. It turns out the way to fish in Albania is to drop dynamite over the edge of the boat. The explosion stuns the fish and a guy using a snorkel gathers up the fish stuffing them in his Speedo, surfacing to throw them into the boat. And yeah, the fish are stunned but still alive. We asked a local guy if this was legal and he said no, but who is going to do anything about it? If someone complains, they just throw a couple of dollars their way.
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