Seychelles
Our Air Madagascar flight landed
on the Island of Mahe, where we climbed aboard a
smaller plane for a hop to the island of Praslin.
A gorgeous sunset welcomed us to our bungalow at
Maison des Palmes.
The geomorphology of Praslin is
unlike any tropical island we've ever seen. Not
volcanic in origin, it and the islands
surrounding are the tops of a sunken granitic
mountain range. The shore is littered with these
great boulders, amongst which sprout mango and
palm trees, and the whole floats on a clear azure
sea. The latest movie version of Robinson Crusoe
was filmed here.
Terez, our beautiful hostess. She
and her husband manage Maison des Palmes. Their
biggest hassle is finding help that will show up
for work on a regular basis. They can't afford to
be very picky. For the most part we found the
staff, and most uneducated Seychellois generally,
to be depressingly rude and surly. There's a lot
of latent resentment in the air.
A kilometer north of Maison des
Palmes a retired SAS pilot has established an
aquaculture operation for cultivation of
Tridachna gigantis (giant clams) and black pearl
oysters. He's an energetic and fascinating man
(we can't recall his name right now), and his is
the only black pearl farm in the Indian Ocean.
Earrings made from his finest pair of matched
pearls fetched $20,000 in Hong Kong.
The Seychelles together make up
the smallest sovereign state in the world (fewer
bodies than either Monte Carlo or San Marino).
Two days after we arrived national elections were
held and M. Renee was reelected . . . every four
years he promises ever fatter social welfare
programs to the common folk, so they all vote for
him. Only an enterprising minority seems inclined
to do any work at all, and they are bearing the
cost of all the free beer and bread for Renee's
giddy masses. It's obviously a great pyramid
scheme and is bound to crumble sooner or later.
Armed soldiers patrolled the voting places, and
for 24 hours after the election truckloads of
drunken revelers caravaned around and around the
island, singing praises of their benefactor.
Staying
in the bungalow next to ours was a charming
French couple, Yves and Danielle Grangeon. They
joined us for a hike up the Valle de Mai, the
only place in the world where grows the palm that
bears the extraordinary fruit called Coco de Mer.
It is the largest fruit in the world, weighing up
to 15 kilos. Each nut takes seven years to
develop, ultimately taking on an amazing
resemblance to a human female pelvis. They are
rare and much coveted by tourists, each nut
selling for around $350.
We rented a car and crossed
Praslin to a well-known beach called Anse Lazio.
There were too many naked women lying about so
while Dan bushwhacked over a bouldered headland
with the picnic gear, Kaaren and Ty swam north
about a half-mile, to where we found our very
own, very private, very perfect little strand
.
One afternoon we went deep-sea
fishing and it turned into one of our greatest
misadventures. The weather was fine when we
headed out through the reef, but at dusk we were
caught by an awesome thunderstorm, while still
miles from shore. The rain was so dense we
couldn't see fifty feet from the boat. We had no
radio, and the only compass aboard was broken! We
were lost at sea, so we hove-to as the night grew
ever darker. When the wind and rain, and
lightning and thunder finally eased up the sky
was moonless and the sea pitch-black all around
us. We saw some lights far-off on the horizon,
and hoping it was our island, headed for them. It
took several hours to pick our way by flashlight
back in through the unmarked reef. We were real
unhappy, so they gave us our money back.
Several
evenings we sat on the shore watching the sun go
down (still no green flash!), and sharing a
bottle of wine with Toi and Liza Ahmad. Toi is an
oral surgeon in Basel, and one of those people
who seems perpetually fascinated with life, and
does everything very well . . . plus, he's
handsome and charming. He spent a lot of time
showing Tyler some of the finer points of
photography. Liza is beautiful, and even more
charming than Toi. With Ty gently coaxing her,
she summoned the nerve to actually touch a lizard
for the first time in her life.
We found this guy named Roget to
run us out to the island of LaDigue for a morning
of snorkeling. He didn't seem very happy and
didn't say or smile much. We saw splendid coral
gardens, turtles, eagle rays, and sharks (little
ones).
Two guys wearing their finest
weeds.
The Seychelles and the
surrounding waters are spectacularly beautiful.
It is not a happy country. We're glad to have
been there, but it is not a place we'd choose to
visit again. One lesson we've learned for certain
along the way: it is the people who make a place
special . . . for better or worse, it's the
people we will remember best and longest.
Our next stop is :
Africa
. . .
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