Well it is now Friday September 3rd and we have Internet connection again.
It has been a busy and eventful first week. Our first experience of life here was a house on the north of the island which was only accessible by driving up many steep and quite frankly scary roads. The very real danger of meeting a bus coming the other way that without careful and skillful driving (which I have not ventured to do) was a daily occurrence. On more than one occasion the thought crossed my mind that we might fall off the edge of the steep mountain side onto trees and rocks below or end up in a 2 foot storm drain neither option was something I had bargained for. Living in the mountains however has its rewards as the stunning panoramic views (see picture gallery) show. Being quite isolated in this location without a car we relied heavily on our friends to drive us around and show us the island. And the first few days was spent hunting for Red Bush tea for me and vegetarian food options for Beth!! (still no tea yet but hopefully a friend of a friend will bring some back for me from South Africa)
Moving house Seychelles style was a real experience especially when working in temperatures of 28 degrees with stifling humidity. Packing up boxes and transporting them to our new location by car was a mammoth task as the journey was a 2 hour round trip each time. The swim in the sea in the cooler part of the day between 4pm and 6.30pm when the sun was setting however was a very welcome break.
In order to give our friends Jane and Stephen the space to move furniture etc on the Sunday me and Bethany went out for the day with one of the newly appointed teachers who took us and her two children on a scenic drive of the south of the island which was just as beautiful but a lot quieter than the north. We found a local festival, (a Sunday street market) where local people gathered to enjoy themselves. There was a real sense of community and Creole spirit amongst the people who were friendly and hospitable. As we moved on around the coast road we met a bus coming the other way! For a hair raising five minutes of our lives we manoeuvred past it with literally inches to spare this was a sight and experience never to be forgotten. Donna the lady driving took my lead when I said at one stage "You're fine this side but just don't steer towards me anymore!" I don't know how I managed to stay so calm as I guided her past the bus as all I could see was the drop below me and I did not fancy the idea of any of us ending up down there.
In order to make the move to the new house as smooth as possible it was felt best if Bethany could stay overnight with Donna and her children (daughter 12 and son 3) which Donna was only to pleased to help with so Bethany experienced her first ever tropical island sleepover. We are now settled into our new home which is much more accessible for the local town and beaches.
More updates soon...
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Wednesday 8th September 2010The start of week 3...
One of the advantages of living in Pascal Village (our new temporary home) is that it is only a 15 minute walk to the nearest beach, Beau Vallon. Coming back however is another story! The trek back home took me over 30 minutes up some very steep hills. Living in Coventry had not prepared me for such a marathon workout!
The local buses as mentioned earlier are easily accessible from the village and at 25p a trip to anywhere on the island they are a bargain. As long as you are prepared to take chances, risk the inconvenience of standing up for the whole journey, be jostled about in the hot and sticky non air-conditioned buses, it is the cheapest way to travel. I reasoned the expertise of the driver has got to be better than my lack of experience of driving up and down mountain roads!
Going to the beach in the relative coolness of the late afternoon or early morning is the best way to experience the sea, surf, swimming and sand. With very little "tourist" type entertainment on Mahe it is the natural beauty that entices and draws you in with spectacular sunsets and clear blue waters. However the downside of tropical living is the number of attacks to legs and arms from insects. I reckon I must be a tasty treat as at the last count I had 12 bites!
Our temporary home came complete with 2 dogs that were brought over from England by their previous owner and abandoned. Coco and Cookie are 2 black Labradors with a calm and friendly disposition however yesterday (Tues 7th Sept) they caused us some concern as they decided to eat rat poison for a snack!! Trying to get salt into them to make them sick was difficult so a trip to the vet was deemed the only sensible solution. Holding 2 dogs in the back of the car while Stephen manoeuvred the car through the busy streets of Victoria (the islands capital) caused much frustration as other drivers got in the way of our emergency (blues and twos should be made available to those with pets!). All is well now and the dogs are back to their happy selves :-)
Living on a tropical island makes the weather as unpredictable as it is in England and we have experienced very high winds and heavy rain, though we have been assured this is not the rainy season. The one thing that marks it out as different from England is that the winds and rain are warm and a welcome relief.
Well we are off to the beach now with 4 other children and their parents as school holidays don't finish until next week.
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Monday 13th September 2010
Recovering from sunburn has been on the agenda for the last few days. Owwwwww. Even on the cloudy days the sun manages to find the sensitive bits of flesh and shows no mercy.
Well lesson learnt, moving on...
Yesterday (Sunday) liberally covered in factor 50, we headed for the south of the island to a beach called Anse Soleil (roughly translated means sun beach or beach in the sun) for a swim, a snorkel and a snooze (in the shade of course). We set off at around 9.30am before the heat of the sun took hold and so that we could secure a good spot on the beach. The journey of 20km (12 miles) took almost an hour because of the mountain roads and the need to drive in a kind of zig-zag pattern up, down and around the mountains (a 4x4 vehicle is essential here). This has caused me much confusion and disorientation at times as I have no idea which side of the island I am actually looking at, at any particular time. To further add to the confusion in some parts of the island there is only access to some places by foot as no roads have been built to connect the more isolated areas. So with no idea where we were going anyway, the final leg of our Sunday morning journey took us down a dirt and concrete single track road. Sitting in the back of the car Bethany and me wondering not for the first time how on earth Jane and Stephen had found this place, and more importantly how they knew there was a beach at the end of it (apparently they were shown it by Lisa)(see pic gallery). According to Jane all roads will lead to a beach, eventually. I guess having an enquiring spirit, a thirst for adventure and a "let's go down/up here and see what we find" approach to life is really all that's needed.
Parking the car by the roadside we arrived at the most beautiful, unspoilt, almost deserted beach. I say almost because at 10.30 in the morning the only other person on the beach was a policeman, yes that's right a policeman, he is officially employed by the government to patrol the beach and make sure we behave ourselves.
Parking the car by the roadside we arrived at the most beautiful, unspoilt, almost deserted beach. I say almost because at 10.30 in the morning the only other person on the beach was a policeman, yes that's right a policeman, he is officially employed by the government to patrol the beach and make sure we behave ourselves.
With the whole beach spread out before us like a blank canvas, securing a good spot was easy.
We chose a sheltered spot under the shade of coconut, Takamaka and Casuarina trees. As we raced to be first in the sea it occurred to me that after the initial "ooh that's cold" and "aah I must be daft to be doing this" the water seems to become amazingly warm and refreshing, a situation that had not been our experience when holidaying in North Devon last year!
The power of the sea that day was such that it wasn't safe for us to snorkel, however we were kept entertained by the many creatures on the sand instead.
The power of the sea that day was such that it wasn't safe for us to snorkel, however we were kept entertained by the many creatures on the sand instead.
Sitting quietly, watching, I realised apart from the usual ants, flies, dogs (there is always a dog on every beach) and birds, that the sand actually seemed to be moving. Looking more closely it became apparent that what I was seeing were in fact sand crabs. These creatures were fascinating. Almost camouflaged against the white sand they would burrow down, flicking sand up into the air as they went, then from their strategic "hole" they would pop out in search of small insects to eat then scuttle back to the safety of their hole again. (see pic gallery)
As the heat of the day began to take its toll we decided to head out for a leisurely lunch. Jane and Stephen took us to a restaurant called "Maria's Hot Rock Cafe". The "Hot Rock" part of the name has a literal meaning as having placed our fish and meat orders, Maria brought out 2 large lumps of granite between these she placed a burning pot of naphtha (a solid wax like material) on top of these she placed a very hot flat rectangular piece of granite. Our food then arrived, first chips to start us off then a plate each of salad and rice but no meat or fish. Maria then brought out individual servings to each of us of either a meat or fish selection, RAW meat for me, and RAW fish for the others. Yes you guessed it the slab of granite was for cooking our meat and fish on. As we cooked our own meals in either garlic or turmeric butter, I can honestly say it was a delicious, novel and most enjoyable way to eat lunch.Yum
Having feasted till we were all fit to burst (crepes with banana and ice cream followed) Stephen drove us through the mountains again and into the National Park an area of outstanding natural beauty, in amongst all the wild and unspoilt landscape there is a tea plantation, where tea is grown and harvested for the local people and exported abroad. Sadly no Rooibos (red bush) for me. Next we visited a place known locally as "The Mission" (Originally known as Venn Town) a site where in the late 1800s, Church of England missionaries set up and built a children's home on land given to them by the government. This property and land was used to house the 2000 or more children who were rescued by the British Navy from slave ships bound for America. The children were taught a trade and shown how to live a life that enabled them to make a worthwhile contribution to society. The home closed down after only 9 years (1886-1895). Slavery and slave trading is part of Seychelles history, however the pain caused by these historical events has, for some Seychellois people become a deeply ingrained mistrust that affects how they view other cultures, nations, and peoples today.
Well that brings me bang up to date and after such an enjoyable but exhausting day, an early night was called for as we all had to be up at 6am for the first day of school. As is tradition (in my house anyway) going to a new school means posing for a photograph in your new school uniform so this just had to be done. Smile please (See pic gallery). Waving Bethany off at 7am with lunch box and pencil case in hand I realised maybe for the first time, how the next part of her personal Seychelles adventure wasn't just about going to school in a different country for the first time, but was also about being a self conscious teenager who needed reassurance that she looked OK, would be accepted by her peers even if only for a short time, an inner confidence to mix and fit in with her classmates and the ability to do the work asked of her.
I needn't have worried... It is now evening and Bethany reports she had a great first day at the International School of Seychelles, has already been set homework, has made new friends and is keen to do drama tomorrow!
With homework done, a stroll down the beach with the "adopted" dogs for the first time, wearing their new collars and each attached to a red lead, was next on our agenda. We seemed to attract a lot of attention as we walked the length of Beau Vallon beach, mainly it would seem because dogs here are not quite the "mans best friend" pampered pooches they are in England. Not quite strays but certainly left to their own devices to roam the area, the dogs patrol the beaches and roadsides without a care in the world. And I am convinced that every night there is a wild dog party happening somewhere nearby, because the continuous barking well into the wee small hours is enough to drive you potty. I have now taken to wearing ear plugs in bed to drown out the noise!
Well its midnight now and as if on cue the dogs have started their nightly yapping ... so night night all ... ear plugs here I come!!
I needn't have worried... It is now evening and Bethany reports she had a great first day at the International School of Seychelles, has already been set homework, has made new friends and is keen to do drama tomorrow!
With homework done, a stroll down the beach with the "adopted" dogs for the first time, wearing their new collars and each attached to a red lead, was next on our agenda. We seemed to attract a lot of attention as we walked the length of Beau Vallon beach, mainly it would seem because dogs here are not quite the "mans best friend" pampered pooches they are in England. Not quite strays but certainly left to their own devices to roam the area, the dogs patrol the beaches and roadsides without a care in the world. And I am convinced that every night there is a wild dog party happening somewhere nearby, because the continuous barking well into the wee small hours is enough to drive you potty. I have now taken to wearing ear plugs in bed to drown out the noise!
Well its midnight now and as if on cue the dogs have started their nightly yapping ... so night night all ... ear plugs here I come!!
