The 1999 Big Trip: Africa

Part 8: Seychelles

 

My luggage wasn't quite as fast, but it came out, and I passed through customs no problem. It was just as well, since I had to wait for twelve other people to fill the bus to get to the hotel. Well, I went to an ATM and grabbed some Seychelles rupees. I stayed at the Coral Strand Hotel, on the west side of the island. I had a decent room. Dinner was at the hotel, part of the price of the room. It was a fish buffet, and was not well lit. A lot of choices, but you couldn't see what they were. I found a good prawn curry, and shark steak, but the rest was mystery fish. It was a decent meal, but not exceptional.

I repacked by bag to take a small bag to Bird Island the next day. After that, I slept well.

The next morning I had an English breakfast at the Coral Strand, and made arrangements to take a helicopter tour of the island on my return from Bird Island. I was then off to the airport for my flight to Bird Island.

This flight was on an Air Seychelles Twin Otter. It seats 20 people, and it was a full flight. Looking down on the turquoise blue of the Indian Ocean was neat. We circled the island on landing, too, to get favorable winds.

Bird Island is small. It is roughly 1 kilometer by 2 kilometers. The runway is along one side of the island (it is roughly three sided). The runway is a cleared area of grass. You taxi almost to the door of the lodge. The check in area is open air, and your bags are delivered to your cabin. I had a cabin quite far from the lodge.

After going to the cabin, I heard there was a hawksbill turtle laying eggs. I immediately grabbed my camera and went towards where I was told the turtle was sighted. Unfortunately, despite running (on sand!) I was not in time. I saw the turtle disappear into the surf, but it was too far to get a good picture.

That was really the only bad thing to happen in Seychelles. As such, it really wasn't too bad.

Lunch was a seafood buffet. During lunch I saw two of the giant turtles that inhabit Bird Island. One, Esmeralda is the oldest turtle known to man, and weighs in at over 600 pounds. This turtle didn't move when I saw him, apart from some motion for breathing. He looked like a miniature VW Bug.

After lunch, I went on my first bird walk. I had already seen all of the terns at my cabin: sooty terns (Sterna fuscata), fairy terns (Gygis alba), brown noddy (Anous stolidus) and lesser noddy (Anous tenuirostris). I first went into the woods, where I saw barred pigeons (Geopelia striata) and Madagascar fody (Foudia madagascareinsis). I crossed the runway (there is only one flight per day in and out) to the beach, where I saw sanderlings (Calidris alba), whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), common sandpipers (Actitis hypoleucos), and crab plovers (Dromas ardeola). I hiked all over the island, including to where the sooty terns were nesting. This was like a scene from Hitchcock's The Birds. Hundreds of thousands of sooty terns were squawking and flying. Their nests were all over the ground, just a couple feet apart. The commotion was incredible. The odor of guano was pretty intense, too.

Barred Ground Pigeon	Madagascar Foudy
Madagascar Foudy	Fairy Terns
Turnstone	Noddies
A four inch spider	Sooty Tern Colony

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I saw some of the other birds listed, here, too. And to top it off, I saw a greater frigatebird (Fregata minor).

At the time I thought I saw a greenbul, but I am not convinced by the picture that it isn't a female fody. I need to think on it.

After walking for a couple hours, I went back to my cabin, where I saw a "small" giant tortoise munching on dead leaves outside my cabin. By "small" I mean he probably weighed a mere 100 pounds. I just sat by the window, effectively in a blind, and watched this tortoise for 40 minutes.

One big turtle

Muching on grass

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I called my parents late in the afternoon. They were leaving for Phoenix, where my cousin Jennifer was getting married. I would miss the wedding by a couple days.

There was a radiated tortoise by the huts, too.

Sunset

After the phone call, I watched sunset into the Indian Ocean. The tide was gradually coming in, and I had the distinct pleasure of seeing a shark in the water. Being at the equator, twilight did not last long. They do not light the paths around the cabins because it would effect the behavior of the birds. So, the sky was very bright and I could clearly see Jupiter and Saturn.

Dinner was more seafood (I was on an island!) and wasn't too bad. I had to watch for crabs walking back to my hut, sand crabs were out all over the place. I slept well. The noddies did not sleep, they were crying all night.

The next morning I woke early, and found a hornet in the shower. This was not my first choice of shower partner, I will admit. At 7AM, I went on another bird walk, exploring a different part of the beach, where there were a lot of crabs, and seeing a little tern (Sterna albifrons). The nesting sooty terns were still very loud and active. I managed to get back just in time for breakfast (the dining area closed at 9:30) and had scrambled eggs. I went to my cabin to pack. I had to wait a bit, as the flight from Mahe was late. We left 30 minutes late, 14 of the 20 seats on the Twin Otter were taken.

Another Fairy tern	Two more
Turtle in the sun	Bird Island is small

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During the flight, I looked down and saw three warships moving in formation.

On landing, I was immediately taken to the helicopter for my tour of Mahe island. It is amazing how beautiful and clean the beaches looked from the air, and how many deserted beaches there were. A few big resorts were seen, and the place where Tom Hank's sister lives was pointed out. (She's married to someone form Seychelles and they own a restaurant.) The helicopter ride was about 30 minutes.

I then went into Victoria to do some shopping. I found a map of Seychelles, and priced the model ships. Extremely expensive. I did finally buy some wood carvings, and some teas. I wanted to get a carved boat for my father, but since they started at $1000, I decided against it. I briefly visited an Internet site, where the connection was slow.

Went back to the Coral Strand by taxi, and had a late lunch of pizza. I watched my last sunset into the Indian Ocean, and prepared to depart. This was a major repacking.

Dinner was a mediocre Chinese buffet. I tried to sleep.

I didn't sleep well. I was awake from 11:50 PM to 2 AM, and then woke again at 4:15. There were no porters to help with my luggage at 6AM. I had tea for breakfast while looking at Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and Canopus. Orion was overhead.

I was taken to the airport in a full bus. I went to check in for the flight to Paris. My luggage weighed 46 kilograms. In coach, that would be an excess luggage fee of 4377 Seychelles rupee, over $800. The cost of an upgrade to Pearl Class, where the luggage wouldn't be a problem, was 3000 rupee. Twist my arm! I upgraded to Pearl Class.

Seychelles is an easy place to visit. The contrast with Madagascar is impressive. Granted, the bulk of Seychelles tourism is for the resort/lie on the beach crowd, but there are interesting things for the ecotourist. The advertising calls Seychelles Paradise, and from my experiences, it is hard to argue against that. I will definitely be back.

The flight to Paris left on time, and was very comfortable. The movies were not worth mentioning, but the food was excellent. Spicy chicken supreme in mushroom sauce. The flight was 10 minutes early arriving in Paris.