"The sand was so beautiful on Ramla beach that it was golden shading into red. There was no habitation there. You walked down a farm track through groves of bamboo to the beach. On the beach there is a statue of the Madonna on a pedestal. It carried a light or lantern on the top. There were few if any visitors. On some days the only person to visit the beach was the lamplighter who faithfully lit the Madonna’s light. As the evening light faded bats would swoop low over our campground. The trip was a success except that our pet tortoise, whom we had taken with us, marched off into the bamboo groves and may even be living there now after an interval of sixty-something years."