Seychelles not Sea Shells

stunning beach!

JM and I have just returned from what I think must be one of the top three most beautiful places in the world ... the Seychelles Islands.  I have planned a trip here many, many times during my tenure in Afghanistan and just never made it, so to finally hit a Bucket List location was incredibly cool.  We managed to find pretty cheap tickets and very affordable hotel right on the beach - thanks to it being off season.  All that I can say is "wow" - I will never tire of white sand and the clearest blue water I have ever seen.  The water temp was perfect so we were able to swim constantly with nothing but a cooling effect from the equatorial sun.  Absolutely perfect!  We only had a few days in this fantastic location so we made the most of it by lounging on the beach, soaking up the sun and many SeyBrew beers.

mountains and our hotel

At night it was a short walk on the beach and dinner at one of the many fun little restaurants tucked away in the trees.   The food at the Russian owned hotel was less than exceptional, but thankfully everything outside of that was pretty damn good.

One of the beautiful sunsets

Now, back to the Russian owned hotel... this certainly explained the exceptionally large men clad in speedos.  I witnessed many who reminded me of a cartoon character, Bruno, who wrestled bears.  Our place was full of honeymooners and older couples - so those just starting off and those together long enough to have the money to travel to Seychelles... and then us :)


We stayed on the main island of Mahe, near the town Victoria.  A Saturday market visit in town was rather interesting.  Leaving the constant breeze of the ocean to walk down the road and catch a local bus to town was when you realized how hot and humid it was there.  Because our flight arrived at night, we didn't see much when we came in, so the bus ride into town through the granite mountains, hairpin turns and winding roads was exceptional - the views were amazing.  The town itself is small and filled with beautiful old buildings and the market was located somewhat in the center.  The market was really fun, although every shop you walked into was hot as hell. Adding to that, because tourism is basically their economy and its so popular and an expensive destination, there wasn't much hagglin' on prices and the Hillbilly loves to haggle!  ... but we did manage to find some deals - they are known for their spices, vanilla, rum and patchouli and some weird palm nut that looks like lady-parts.  A few beers and a quick lunch then we began the process of getting back to the beach - this involved seeing more of the town than planned, but Victoria was beautiful although everything closed at noon. Trying to find the bus back from town was an exercise in patience, but we finally arrived back at our beach hotel and an immediate dip in the clear blue ocean relieved all of the frustration.

Entrance to Market

Victoria, Seychelles.  

inside market

After more lounging on the beach, our final day there we did a last minute half day snorkeling trip which ended up being a blast.  It rained pretty hard on and off all day so one minute we'd be all about going and the next not - finally we just committed and it ended up being an excellent decision.  We took a little boat out to a cove to meet up with a party who had paid for the full day - they provided lunch on the BBQ and some drinks - fun people there!  However, the creepster who had been blatantly staring at JM the entire time we were at the beach was there with his wife ... mind you, his wife was with him the whole time but it never kept him from staring, turning his head to stare and standing there and staring at JM - and his wife was attractive.  I just summed it up to him being an absolute pig ... or European :)  So they were there, he was staring (of course) and we were meeting some fun new people we were to spend the rest of the day with snorkeling.  They were taking us out to a marine national park, but the waves were too choppy so we turned back and hit another beautiful cove and snorkeled for an hour - it was fantastic!  Clear water, lots of beautiful tropical fish and there was actually a school of black and white stripped fish that followed you around and got right up in your mask -kind of playing with you - it was really interesting.  On the way back we boated through a downpour and then they took us to several small coves just to check out the scenery, small hotels built into the granite and more of the stunning island.  Then finally back to our beach where they just pulled right up to our hotel basically and dropped us off.  Our flight out was early the next morning and then the train and bus back to the apartment - quick trip but incredibly fun.

Now we're back in Pretoria, seeing many movies and enjoying ourselves.  My project is going well now that I'm used to the "African Way" which equates to nothing being done on time.  Our roach friends are no longer in the apartment which has been quite nice and we've been enjoying cooking without the potential freak out. I leave for Maputo next week for a quick trip and then back - we're meeting up at the airport and doing a drive to Kruger National Park next Friday for a weekend to see if we can spot any animals - really looking forward to that and also the 4 hour drive through South Africa to get there.  It's been quite hot here as summer begins to approach in the southern hemisphere which I still find a weird adjustment.  All is good at this point and I would even like to find some more work here to stay longer - after a trip home to get Django and Fat Kid Ninja of course - I miss those two devils.  

Hope everyone is enjoying the end of summer at home - I know its Oktoberfest this weekend back at the home front - go big or go home!  I would kill for a festival Braut...

Drink of the day - a pinot noir/chardonnay blend - delicious!