La Digue it baby

on the road of Praslin
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Bonjour mes amis.  Welcome to paradise.  The sea is warm, shallow and inviting with a color only imagined by a paintbrush.  The sand gives way from pure softness.  Cowrie shells line the beach where the waves have washed them ashore.  Did the Seychelles invent peacefullness?

The beach within a handful of steps from my hotel Would be rated as one of the top beaches for loveliness in the world.  Here it is dismissed as having too much sea grass.

Each morning Juliana of the large swaying hips who serves breakfast with such a warm smile  brings me tea, fresh guava juice, a plate with papaya, carambola, banana and guava, toast with homemade guava jam and eggs.  There is a hammock in the most amazing flamboyant tree - I don't know the English equivalent name but do I need to when staying at the Villa Flamboyant.  I can swim as the sun peeks over the ridge lighting up the coconut trees and granite formations, the catamaran flying the Seychelloise flag and the creole architecture of the homes and hotels.  I am on the quiet side of the island where a car passes once in a while.  The hotel dogs greet me in the morning as I do yoga on the beach with doggie kisses.  The little red bird comes each morn for his toast.

a passing view
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I rented a bike for two days and on the second I took it pretty much around the island.  It was hell going up and down the very steep road.  But getting to Anse Lazio and the beaches prior was worth the expense of buying snorkeling gear in the most expensive country I have visited.  The sea is so mild that you can snorkel right up to the rocks and just brace yourself as the light waves push you.  Riding the waves as the fishes do I became one with the many colored varieties that in one case, a zebra stripped, nibbled on my toes.  the bike allowed me to stop anytime I needed/wanted to in order to take a photo or a swim or a snorkel.  By the time I headed back the sun was quickly disappearing and I was on the last of my energy.  I made it over the hill and down again using my wind-up flashlight to guide my way.  Dinner was a blur as I could barely hold my head up.  I slept so solidly.

can you see the fishes?
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The next day I took the ferry to La Digue.  La Digue as Lindy, the lady in the office says in her inimitable creole way, " Oh My God it is so quiet on La Digue.  Everyone is home by 5."    La Digue is very small.  The bicycle is the main source of travel.  There are ox carts both for tourists and work.  The places to go are Point D'Argent and Anse Coco.  Point D'Argent is the picture you have seen as advertisement of the Seychelles.  Anse Coco is the beach the people here say is most beautiful.  There is a beach before Anse Coco with waves where I stopped for a while.  Teegar and I took the sun and played in the waves then a rainstorm came in and sang on the palm leaves, splashed in the pools and glistened in the sun.  I climbed the granite rocks and viewed Anse Coco from above, a picture postcard in real time.  I leaped in the waves and stood with arms outstreached with rain streaming down my body.  I have never been so tan.  As the ferry returned to Praslin the sun lit the tips of the wake of the boat and the clouds filled with pink, white and pale orange.  At dinner a really nice French family had arrived and we shared travel stories as Rosemary, our hostess served us a delicious dinner of two types of fish, pawpaw chutney, rice, a beef and vegetable dish topped off with papaya in a fresh cream and coconut sauce.  OOh la la.

voila, Point source D'Argent
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The only sour note came today when I asked about checking out and found that like so much of these islands you are expected to pay in Euros or Dollars not the local currency.  A dilemma for me as the only money you can get from the ATMs are Seychelle Rupees.  She was not happy to have to take Rupees and managed to overcharge me considerably to compensate her trouble.  I left her a long note explaining what I thought was the actual price and then told her if she found she was wrong to give the money as tips to her staff.   At least I felt I put the onus on her.

I hope you used the #30 sunscreen Teegar.
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Today was mostly sorting things out and tomorrow I will spend on Mahe, the main island for a final visit to the worlds most lovely set of isles.