Adventures with Julia

Here are a couple of photos I just received from Scott and could not resist sending. Hope you enjoy them.

 

 

October 6, 2018

Mark and I left the Seychelles October 6^thin the early morning, after a glorious 5 days and nights on Fregate Island.  I can’t fully express how relaxing and luxurious and wonderful the tiny island was for our wellbeing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On October 1, we flew into Mahe, the main and largest Seychelles island, on Ethiopian Airlines, and were immediately taken to the helipad for a 15-minute helicopter ride to Fregate Island, one of hundreds of Seychelles islands, only a few of which are inhabited.  On the way we learned that the total population of the Seychelles is 94,000, 70,000 of whom reside on Mahe.  The capital city is called Victoria and the islands, now an independent and democratic country, were last colonized by the UK.  English is the main language and driving is done on the left.  As the country is so small and lies 750 miles east of Nairobi in the Indian Ocean, it is very safe.  Life is low key and quiet.  Perfect for our visit.

 

On landing we were greeted by the resort manager, Wayne, who told us a bit about the island and what to expect.  He also introduced us to our PA or Personal Assistant, Sumith, who is from Sri Lanka and will be attending our every need.  Wow!  Am not sure if we will be able to adjust to such service.  His first task was to take us in our personal electric golf cart to Villa 8 for our stay.

Along the way we could not miss the Aldabra giant tortoises everywhere.  We learned there are 5,000 on Fregate and they have the right of way at all times.  There are 11 miles of concrete road on the island, more like wide sidewalks, traveled only by electric carts. There are 16 villas that can accommodate about 40 people at a time.  The villas are nearly identical, except a few have 2 bedrooms for families. Total staff on the island is about 150 people.  There are no people on the island that are not connected with the resort, which is owned by a German, who takes great pride in sustainable management of everything on the island.

Villa 8 exceeded our expectations.  We climbed several irregular rock steps to reach the wooden door to our private garden, then descend several more steps to the villa entrance.  The scene alone was dramatic as we could see the ocean directly through the front door and the entry room.  To the left of the entry room was a large living room and to the right was an equally large bedroom.  It was like a large one-bedroom apartment with glass windows and doors everywhere.  It even had an outdoor shower.

Much of the time we stayed in our villa, reading, blogging, swimming in our own pool and going to our private beach just below the villa.

The water was a beautiful color and the perfect temperature.  Mark went body surfing a few times.  I went once and crashed upside down so many times, I gave up.  It took a couple of showers to get all the sand out of my hair, ears, etc.  We ate breakfast in the public dining room every morning except the last one when Mark proposed we have it in the tree house.  Sumith obliged.  Why not. It was fun to be high in a banyan tree with the birds.  We happily skipped lunch every day and snacked on fruit and nuts, which were always present in our living room.

During our first full day, we hired a boat to go off shore and I went scuba diving with the dive master.  Mark was not interested.   First, we motored around Little Fregate Island and noticed that the huge rocks on the island looked a bit like Stonehenge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While there, we saw several dolphin and one large sea turtle.  The wind and waves were too rough to dive there so we went to the leeward side of Fregate, near our villa where the water was calmer.  It has been 9 years since I last went diving and I knew I was rusty.  Fortunately, the dive master was very helpful and made sure I had a fun and safe experience. We stayed underwater 55 minutes and went to 20 meters.

I saw two sharks, one of which was a sleeping nurse shark, three octopuses, three Spanish dancers (nudibranchs), one of which danced for us, several eels, sting rays, a lion fish, a box fish and many other fish.  I was saddened to see so much dead corral, but also noticed that it was recovering well in some places.  Later I learned that the tsunami that occurred during the early 2000’s was the source of the die off.

One day Wayne invited us on a forest walk and told us about the history of the island.  In 1502 Vasco de Gama explored the islands.  No one lived here at the time.  He did not stay.  In 1742 the Frenchman, Lazare Picault, discovered Mahe Island.  By 1768 the French and slavers settled in the Seychelles.  One story tells of a pirate named Le Buse, who captured a ship bearing gold religious objects, including a large solid gold cross, and buried the stash somewhere on Fregate Island.  Many people have since dug many holes to no avail.  A few small gold items have turned up over the years.  Then in 1794, the British fought the French and took the islands.  They manage the Seychelles, Reunion and Mauritius from Mauritius.  In 1903, the islands become a separate British colony.  They gained independence in 1976.  Since then there have been a succession of different leaders.  The current leader, Denny Farue, took over in 2016. He was given succession by the previous elected official.  Under his leadership there is free health care and free education in primary and secondary schools.   So much for my knowledge of Seychelles history.

Wayne also told us about the giant tortoises and how they have been brought back from major depletion.   He thinks that, with the current rate of births, there will be 20,000 tortoises in less than 10 years.  Only a few years ago there were just a few hundred.  Giant tortoises can live well over 100 years.  Wayne gets them to move by rubbing part of their shell, rather like ticketing them.  The current owner has worked diligently to have rats, domestic animals, bamboo and other invasive species eradicated and is reintroducing depleted native species such as the Seychelles Magpie Robin, the Fairy Tern andother birds.

We walked across the island, going through the forest to a beach on the far side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almost every bird on the island has one or more tags on its legs.  Other things Wayne pointed out included:  termite nests attached to trees,  an old cemetery dating from the 1800’s, a rare palm called the Coco de Mer–only six exist and three of them are on Fregate, and the very common banyan trees that grow everywhere from the top down.

 

Another day we visited the island’s hydroponic garden and walked around with the head gardener, Simon, who explained how the system works.  Getting the correct amount of water and nutrients to each plant is key.  He has worked in the garden for most of the last 20 years and has free reign to do what he wants.   No wonder the food was so good.  We were eating fresh garden vegetables and fruits grown on the island every day.  We walked through the garden with Simon sampling some new varieties for us like Water Spinach, Chinese Broccoli and fresh tropical fruits.

We told Sumith our anniversary was coming soon, so he organized an anniversary dinner for us in the resort library.  It was very thoughtful of him and we enjoyed to meal.

The cake was very pretty and tasty too.   One morning we had breakfast in a treetop.  It was delightful being in the trees with the birds.

For dinner on our last night, Sumith planned a lovely Indian meal on the beach.  It was a fitting end to our stay on Fregate Island.  We thought five nights would be long enough.  Faced with imminent departure, we wanted to stay much longer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few times we ventured away from our own digs to check out other beaches.  Here are a few of our images including the beach reputed to have the finest sand and the prettiest setting. It also appeared in the pages of Conde Nast as one of the world’s best beaches.  It was exquisite.  Mark went swimming, but declared the undercurrent too strong for me so I did not go in.  We stayed to watch the sunset on our last night on the island.