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First of all this week, I would very much
like to introduce our new acquisition, José P Ribas,
who will be contributing his expert local knowledge of the
nature here on the islands of Ibiza and Formentera to our
publication each Saturday with his intriguing weekly column, Island Ecology.
Every subject has its professional jargon
and instinct is the nose of the mind. José was born
and breed here on the island in the San Antonio area of Ibiza
and ever since he could stand up straight he began to go out
and roam and discover his beloved island from top to bottom.
José is now chafing at a bit to explain
all where he will eventually forge a more-than-useful alliance
with a well-thought-out strategy to offer a definitive guide
to nature and the particular environment of these two exquisite
islands for the benefit of our would-be readers.
We all experience Ibiza in a unique way
and its his all-embracing involvement in his cherished island's
cause and patent passion that has stirred José to come
forward and offer his time to write a weekly article on the
living character of our wonderful island.
I utilized my first dozen or so winters
living here on Ibiza by using my precious time walking the
countryside, back lanes, hills and seashores with José
and my cameras getting phenomenal images that may never be
possible to capture on film ever again. I probably, because
I had the time and patience, have the one of the best photo-stock
and selection of both colour and black and white pictures
that exist in the whole wide world.
I remember one morning during a wintertime
when José came to my home to ask if I wanted to go
fishing. I got my two fishing rods and hooks together but
José just had a piece of string in his trouser pocket.
We went to the local fish market and spent 300 pesetas to
buy a kilo of Jarret (a local fish) to use as bait and José
said at the time: "If we don't catch any fish then we
can always cook and eat what's left of these."
We drove over to Cala Coral on the western
coast of the island, which is a favourite fishing place where
I really enjoy because of the Technicolor scenery. We both
had a lovely relaxing day but I unfortunately didn't catch
too many fish with either of my rods, simply because, I was
far too busy setting up my cameras and tripod to take some
awesome photographs of the spectacular surroundings.
José caught most of the fish by using
the piece of string from his trouser pocket as a line and
putting some of the Jarret as bait on a fishhook that he borrowed
from me. He then began to wander along the coastline and amongst
the rocks looking for places where he said the good fish would
be living because of the fertile vegetation on the shallow
seabed.
Beside catching the majority of the fish,
José took a penknife out from his jacket pocket and
proceeded to take the shells that were clinging to the rocks
by the seashore and put them into the plastic bag with the
Jarret that we had brought at the fish market that morning.
On our way home it was getting dark when
José suddenly commanded me to stop the car while he
got out and disappeared up the side of a hill. He returned
shortly with an armful of wild asparagus, which we took home
with the fish we had caught and the shells that José
had collected from the rocks.
We got home and I went into the hen house to find some fresh
eggs to make an omelette with the asparagus. We emptied the
shells and made a stock out of their guests, boiled the fish
and when cooked added some rice and we both thoroughly enjoyed
a delicious meal washed down with a bottle or two of vino
payes (local made wine) for an initial total day's outlay
of only 300 pesetas.
Gary Hardy
garyhardy@ibizahistoryculture.com
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