How Pretty can Pretty Be

A first view of a Seychelles beach
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Last I spoke I was at the Doha airport.  I arrived in Mahe, the main island of the Seychelles at 6:30 in the morning.  My first impression was how small and uncrowded.  I decided at the airport to wait awhile before flying off the Praslin (Pralin in the local creole) and see a bit of Mahe.

I hired a taxi driver who suggested he take me to a really nice beach and leave me for a while then pick me up later to make a 12:30 flight.  Ahmed turned out to be more than planned.  Within 10 minutes he knew I was gay and had told me he was also and that if I wanted we could watch a porn movie on his onboard dvd.  To say the least I was a bit taken aback.  Here I am looking at some of the most exquiste natural beauty going by out the window and he starts up a hump and pump video.  I finally told him that I did not want to see it.  Still he was a good driver who took me to a truly beautiful beach where I could keep my bags at a restaurant and swim in the most clear of waters.

Another view
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If you can remember back to when I was in Thailand and going off about the beauty of the Andaman sea.  This water is as clear and lovely.  All the beaches have charming French names like Anse St Anne and Anse Patate.  The sand is that amazing fine flour quality and so clean.  The whole place is exceptionally clean and quiet.  The main road in Mahe is two lane and just not that busy.  I did not get into the capital, Victoria but the roads and there are few are so safe.

nuns on the beach
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Certain words seem to find definition here such as bucolic and benign.  And how many times can I say Wow, this is so beautiful.  I mean the animal before humans arrived that sat on top of the food chain was the giant land tortoise.  The people are mostly creole or African decent.  The island is expensive and everything is quoted in Euros.  The population even the poor seem to have land and are not begging.  In fact it seems to be very safe here.  I am here at the internet cafe and people have left their bikes unlocked outside.

Nuns in the waves
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True to his word Ahmed picked me up and got me to the airport for my flight which lasted all of 15 minutes.  I can see Mahe from my hotel which sits right on the beach.  The water last evening was warmer than most of the showers I have taken in the last 3 months.  The shore as much of the islands are strewn with huge granite boulders.  They make great props for photos and are easy climbing for further views.  Palms are predominate in the landscape and coconuts drop off the trees and pile up on the beach.  In the sand various size crabs jut out of their sandy homes and scuttle back in at the slightest provocation.

The noisy bulbul. Maybe the noisiest thing in Seychelles
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Last night I had a real creole dinner of fish, cucumer salad, avocado salad, other salads and bread and a piquant sauce.  The other people at the table were a fellow from Cameroon, his fiance from Reunion her mom and dad from Paris and a couple with son from Switzerland.  I was the only non French speaker.  They were a very nice group and tres charmant.  The lights of Victoria could be seen from the dinner table and the Milky way was visible from the beach 20 meters away.  Mon Dieu how do you say heaven in French?

A late view of sunset just a short stroll up the road from my hotel
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This morning I rented a bicycle.  Ate a very lovely breakfast which replaced butter with peanut butter and included fresh guava juice.  My goal was one of my strongest fantasies:  The Valle de Mai world heritage site.  The road to Valle de Mai proved quite steep.  I had to take my time and stop many times and walk the bike.  It is hot here.  I even stopped and dipped in a waterfall.

Valle de Mai proved to be as incredible as my hopes and fantasies.  This forest of Coco de Mer trees and interspersed are other endemic palms and a few other trees.  This is the last remaining forest of a time prior to flowering plants.  We are talking Gondwanaland baby.  Primieval.  There is nothing like it.  I felt most of the time that I was wandering around completely alone.  So few visitors and so easily does sound disappear.  The clatter of these huge leaves in the wind and the chatter of the bulbuls are the only sounds.

A little one legged visitor at breakfast this morning.
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I spent 5 hours in complete bliss.  I waded into a stream and had the tiny translucent shrimp nibble my toes.  I took a naked immersion in the stream at a later point.  At each turn the view of these trees conjures up a very old world.  I kept waiting for the beating of the huge wings of a terradactyl.

I am supposed to go to another island that is even more beautiful, Le Digue.  How can that be possible?  Stay tuned......