Category: 2022 Africa

Another quiet day in Anse Lazio harbor.  We considered going to La Digue, but didn’t want to risk another rocky, rolly night.  We considered renting a car and driving around the island, but we felt like we weren’t going to see anything new.  We looked at the charts for another harbor to go to, but couldn’t find one given the current southeasterly winds. So we decided to sit tight and have another low key day on the boat.  It was a beautiful day with a nice cool breeze. 

We did go snorkeling and saw some amazing fish.  For dinner we continued to eat the food we had left onboard. 

This evening we started packing up our stuff.  We are getting ready to drop the boat off tomorrow, take a ferry to Mahe and spend the next few days running around Victoria, the capital of Seychelles, and driving to the sights to be seen on the island. Should be fun!

We will, however, miss this cooler evening, gently swaying in the wind and seas and listening to the waves lap at the boat and crash on the shore. Life on a boat is simple, OK, a couple of complexities, and good. Soon come, man! 

One good thing to report is that my camera is at least turning on.  It still won’t take pictures but it’s making progress.  Fingers crossed, XXX.

We were up early this morning and “off the hook” by 7am. We were headed to Cousin Island, the site of Aride Island’s sister bird sanctuary (note: we have found out that Aride Island is closed and no longer giving tours.  I wish we knew that before we anchored there and our dinghy broke in the swells).  It was another short ride, only about 5 miles, so we were anchored there by 8:15.  We had breakfast and waited for the reserve boat to pick us up.  There were large flat fish swimming around the swim platform, looking for food.  They didn’t get any from us.

The boat arrived around 10; there were two other people in the boat.  They don’t let you bring your dinghy ashore because they want to make sure no predators end up on the island, as they’ve completely eradicated the varmints that eat bird eggs.  We were in a wooden dory which they drove right up on shore.  We were getting close to the beach, they told us to hold on, and then they accelerated right onto the beach.  I was expecting the boat to stop violently.  It stopped quickly, but we weren’t thrown forward or anything.  The driver smiled and said, “James Bond, eh?”

We were organized into groups, French speakers, English speakers and those that came from a small cruise ship that also spoke English. Our tour guide was named Jules. He told us that he visited the island 10 years ago and never left.  He, like the other tour guides, live on the island.  They give tours in the morning and do conservation work in the afternoon.  Here’s a picture of Jules.

Cousin has been a nature reserve since 1968 and before that it was a coconut plantation. The coconut trees have been cleared, making way for more indigenous trees that harbor and nuture the bird populations. The island has lots of small rocks which are actually hardened bird guano.  It is a great fertilizer so the trees grow very quickly, but their roots can’t go very deep so they don’t live very long. 

There were four main birds that we saw on the island, brown noddies, white terns, white-tailed tropicbirds and the endangered Seychelles magpie robin. Jules spoke to us about lots of details regarding the birds, but I won’t bore you with them.

There are also about 60 Aldabra giant tortoises on the island. 

Additionally, we walked up whic to the highest point on the island which provided us a great view of the surrounding islands.

We got back to our boat around 12:30, cooled down for a while, and then we pulled the anchor and returned to our favorite bay, Anse Lazio.

After we got anchored, I went snorkeling (Rick didn’t feel like going, but he watched me from the boat to make sure I was OK).  Mostly I saw the same fish we saw the other day, but I also saw a squadron (yup, that’s right, skates come in squadrons) of 10 skates.  I followed them for a while, but then they turned towards me and I was scared, so I got out of their way.  I wish I’d taken the GoPro.  The water looked like it had snow in it, which I think were tiny jellyfish.  Every so often I would get a little sting from one of them which felt like a little pinch. 

This evening Rick made macaroni and cheese on the boat for dinner. 

Nothing to write about today.  We just hung out on the boat, watching the other boats in the bay and I read my book.  There wasn’t anywhere new to walk or snorkel, so we just relaxed on the boat and enjoyed this beautiful harbor. 

We planned too much time in the Seychelles because there isn’t a cruising guide for the area so we didn’t really know what to expect.   We have a plan for the rest of our time here so we should have more to report tomorrow. 

We started out the day by heading ashore and going for a walk.  On our way to the beach we stopped at Nicola and Ian’s boat.  They had just come back from snorkeling along the shore and said it was quite good. 

Ashore we were headed to the grocery store.  We just need a few items to tie us over until Wednesday when we go to Mahe.  We didn’t want to take a taxi to the international grocery store because that was going to cost us about $60 round trip.  But we didn’t make it to the grocery store because there was a large hill and it was quite hot.  We will continue to eat the food we have on the boat and we may go out to dinner at the local restaurant if we run out.  We stopped at the local restaurant and had a juice before heading back to the boat.   

On our way back we stopped at Nicola and Ian’s boat again.  They had indeed wrapped the dinghy line around the propellor and were trying to cut it off, but they didn’t have the right tools. We came back to our boat to get our swiss army sailing knife that has a marlinspike and a serated cutting blade.  On the way over I saw what looked like someone swimming quite a distance out from the shore.  I suggested that Rick keep an eye on him or her because maybe he or she needed help.  He did and it turned out that it wasn’t a person but a pod of dolphins.  Unfortunately I was unable to get a picture with my phone (camera is still dead). As the dolphins swam into the bay the fish were all hopping out of the water to get out of their way.  I did get a picture of that.

The dolphins swam around, probably having breakfast, until some jetskiers got too close and chased them away.  We sat with Nicola for awhile while Ian worked on the propellor.  While there we kept seeing a turtle pop his head up. 

Ian made enough progress that he felt comfortable using the motor.  They only have the boat for 5 days so they were anxious to get underway.  We quite enjoyed them and hope we can stay in touch (If you, Nicola or Ian, are reading this send us a text or comment on the blog.)  

We had some lunch and relaxed before going snorkeling just off the beach ourselves.  I tried Randy’s GoPro and had limited success, have a look. 

Rick saw a sea ray off the back of the boat and while snorkeling so we had an extensive wildlife day!

We came back to the boat and investigated other harbors that we could go to but didn’t find anything so I think we are hanging here for a couple more nights. We have come to the conclusion that we should have rented a catamaran because they have a shallower draft and can get into more harbors. Live and learn!

We had dinner and a quiet evening. 

Today we had a quiet, lazy, recharge-our-batteries day.  We took care of some logical items in the morning and after lunch we worked on a presentation that Rick is giving to the Saratoga Lake Sailing Club about cruising two days after we get back home. We relaxed until late afternoon when we took a dinghy ride along the edge of the bay, looking for places that we could tie up the dinghy and snorkel tomorrow. Here is a picture of one little beach along the bay.

We were back on the boat when we noticed that our neighboring catamaran’s dinghy had floated away.  Its owner was swimming after it. He managed to catch it, get in, and drive it back to the cat.  We continued to watch as they fiddled with the dinghy painter, the line to tie the dinghy to the boat.  We decided to go over to see if we could help.  Their names are Nicola and Ian and it turns out the propellor on the boat cut the dinghy painter.  Luckily they do not think the rope is wrapped around the propellor.  They invited us aboard for a beer and we sat with them for about an hour sharing sailing stories.  

Another chicken dinner aboard the boat.  Not the most exciting day but it certainly was relaxing.

P.S. My camera isn’t working yet.  It’s still in the rice and I remain optimistic.          

Happy Birthday Stepanie!!!

Today was a better day than yesterday.  No crisises. 

We were up early, talking about the rest of our trip.  We feel like we have seen pretty much everything on Praslin and La Digue that we want to see.  We are somewhat disappointed because the anchorage in La Digue was terrible. Praslin doesn’t have many good anchorages and the island isn’t as accessible to things like restaurants and provisions by boat as some of the other places we have sailed.  Many places we have sailed have dinghy docks so we can easily get on the island and get to some conveniences. We considered sailing to Mahe, but it would be a rough 6 hour sail each way.  After much discussion and research we decided we will turn the boat in a couple of days early and get an apartment.  We booked an apartment in Seychelles capital Victoria starting October 19, so we will have three full days on Mahe before we leave a week from this coming Sunday for Madagascar.

Also while planning and researching we decided we wanted to go to Vallee de Mai today and have a private tour.  I found a tour guide who was available for an afternoon tour.  We decided to go ashore to organize a taxi to take us to Vallee de Mai.  We found a taxi driver in the parking lot of the little guest house close to the beach we’re moored off and arranged for him to come back in the afternoon to pick us up.  While we were ashore we stopped for a fruit juice and a diet coke at the little restaurant.  We returned to the boat, relaxed, had lunch and watched someone climbtake a boson’s chair ride to the top of the mast to string a new topping lift on a neighboring catamaran. Then we dinghied back to the beach to meet our taxi driver. (Please, someone, tell me how to make a graceful landing on a beach in a rising tide!)

On our way to the Vallee de Mai our taxi driver was telling us about his experience during the 2004 tsunami.  He said that all the water between Praslin and La Digue was sucked into the wave.  He said you could walk from Praslin to Curieuse.  He also told us that the tortoises somehow knew to go to higher ground.

We arrived at Vallee de Mai and met our guide, Medina, and her 9 year old daughter, Ciara. 

Vallee de Mai is a well preserved palm forest and one of two UNESCO sites in the Seychelles.  It is home to the Coco de Mer which is endemic to Praslin and produces the largest seed and fruit in the plant kingdom.  The trees are either male or female and geikos or wind transfer the pollen from the male plants catkin, which produces pollen for 10 years, to the female plant’s flowers which only bloom for 36 hours.  The fruit takes 6-7 years to mature and weighs 30-60 pounds. It has quite a yonic shape.  The seed can take up to 2 years to germinate and the tree typically matures in 20 to 30 years.  

The tree generally grows from 75 to 140 ft and lives for up to 250 years.  You can calculate the age by the rings from leaves on the outside of the trunk. 

The leaves are fan-shaped and channel water to the base of the tree. 

The tree also has a unique root system that makes it much more wind resistant than other palms. 

It is called Coco de Mer because early explorers saw the nuts in the water and thought they originated in the water.  Only later when they came ashore did they find the true source of said nuts. 

In addition to telling us about the other flora and fauna in the reserve we asked Medina about the Praslin situation in general.  She said that, not surprisingly, the pandemic had been very hard on the Seychellois economy and now the government was trying to diversify.  She also said the Covid vaccine was readily available and that the government paid for the shots. 

Medina was a wonderful guide and her daughter was delightful.  We really enjoyed ourselves with them.

Our taxi driver was waiting for us when we exited the park.  We stopped at the bank for cash on the way back to the boat.  Because there is no dinghy dock we have to beach the dinghy.  Coming into the beach isn’t too bad, but getting the dinghy back in the water and starting the engine while the waves are coming in is difficult.  Unfortunately in the process of trying to hold the boat while Rick started the engine my camera got wet.  As of right now it’s sitting in a bag of rice and I’m hoping that it will dry out and return to life, but I’m not overly optimistic.  It may mean I’m using my phone for pictures for the rest of the trip which isn’t great because it doesn’t have much of a zoom.  Oh well.  (Please tell me how to gracefully launch a dinghy in a falling tide!!!)

We had a chicken dinner on the boat and a quiet evening. 

It was a day . . . .

We had a very quiet and calm night.  During the previous evening we keep commenting to each other about the lack of rocking and rolling.  Rick kept saying this is the way it’s supposed to be. 

We were up early and pulled the anchor by 7.  We had been told at the chart briefing that we needed to be at the Aride Island, the bird sanctuary island, by 9AM.  The island was only 5 miles away, but we figured we’d get there early and have breakfast while we waited for someone to pick us up and take us to the island  We motored over there and arrived around 8.  The anchorage was unprotected, which we knew going in, and was quite rough.  I was up at the anchor and Rick was back at the wheel.  We have headphones so we can communicate while anchoring. 

The anchor was down and we were waiting to make sure we were stuck.  The boat was being bounced around by the wind and the waves.  There was particular strong “bounce” that vibrated through the boat.  I said “what was that?” and Rick replied “it was a wave”.  Several minutes later (I am still up front and Rick is at the wheel), he saids “Oh my God, the back of the dinghy fell off and the motor is in the water”.

I returned to the back of the boat and found that to be the case.  The dinghy has two inflated sides and a hard crossbar or slat across the back where the motor resides, normally.  The slat was folded into the water and the motor, luckily, was still attached but completely submerged.  You can imagine there were some explicatives flying.  We believe that the dinghy got caught under the swim platform.  A wave must have slammed the boat onto the back of the dinghy and the crossbar broke free from the sides and was only attached to the dinghy by the floor of the dinghy. Here are some pictures to explain the various boat terms

Ok what to do now?  Here’s what the dinghy looked like

For those of you wondering, we couldn’t just tow the dinghy as it was because it wouldn’t make it.  Our first act was to get the swim platform partially up to avoid damaging the swim platform or further damaging the dinghy.  Next we were able to get a rope through one of the handles on the back side of the dinghy.  This was not easy because the swim platform was angled up and the boat and the dinghy were bouncing around in rough seas with the motor dangling in the water.  We were able to secure the dinghy parallel to the back of the boat.  At this point we considered getting into the dinghy to thread a rope through a loop of rope that was attached to the motor bracket. We decided this plan was too dangerous because the back of the boat could again slam down and hit the head of the person in the dinghy.  Plan B, call the base and ask for help.  We got hold of the base and they told us we were too far away and we needed to just lift the 50 pound motor, which was submered, onto the boat.  Easy to say from the office. When Plan B fails and there’s no Plan C, return to Plan A. 

So I donned a life jacket and got in the dinghy while Rick sat on the swim platform and held the dinghy out with his feet.  Laying on my stomach I was able to get a spare rope through the rope loop (which was in the water) on the motor bracket and tie it off.  I quickly got back on the swim platform.  Next job move the dinghy to the side of the boat so we could use the block attached to the bimini.  Again not an easy task but we accomplished it. 

From there we used the block and the winch to raise the motor.  But then it was clear that the weight of the motor was going to damage the bimini frame so we lowered the motor back into the water and attached the block to a stanchion.  Rick was at the winch and I was able to drag the motor onto the swim platform.  VICTORY!!!

We ended up putting the motor into one of the compartments in the cockpit and moved the dinghy back to its normal position behind the boat (with the swim platform up!)

To add insult to injury, there wasn’t any other boat at Aride when we left around 10 so we think that there might not have been island tours that day. Ouch!

We motored back to the base where we anchored.  Here’s a picture of the base from where we were anchored

.They brought us a new dinghy and motor and took the old ones away. 

We are hopeful that they do not charge us for dinghy or the motor.  Rick is pretty sure that the dinghy can be repaired and that the motor will start once it dries out. We sat at anchor for a little while just taking a few deep breaths.  As we always say, something will happen, and hopefully that’s the only something of this trip.

We motored back to Anse Lazio where we relaxed and had a quiet evening.

We had a relatively calm night on La Digue.  Our plan today is to go to Grand Soeur to snorkel and return to La Digue for the night.  But before we left Rick thought of one more thing he wanted at the store so we dinghied into town.  First stop the bakery for some breakfast treats.  I got a chocolate croissant and Rick got a raisin rock cake, aka scone (In my opinion rock cake is a more accurate name.) We did our errands and returned to the boat.  Here is a picture of the boat.

We left La Digue around 10AM and motored to Grand Soeur, an island which we had been told had great snorkeling.  It was a relatively short distance so we motored.  There were other boats there and we watched them after we got ourselves anchored.  It appeared that there was a strong current running between Petite and Grand Sour because we saw a paddle boarder that couldn’t make it back to his boat and had to be towed back by the dinghy. We also watched a dinghy try to land on the island, but it was too rough and they turned around.  Finally while we could see clearly see the reef running along the shore. Nobody was snorkeling.  All these observations discouraged us from attempting to snorkel.  So, we had some lunch on the boat and enjoyed the scenery. 

We left there Grand Sour around 1PM and decided to head to a bay on Praslin instead of returning to a La Digue.  The harbor has relatively easy access to Aride Island which is a bird sanctuary. We okan to visuit it tomorrow.  It took us about 2 hours to motor to Anse Lazio, which is on the northern end of Praslin. Along the way we pass St Pierre island which is often photographed on Seychelles promotional literature.  We hope to be back because there’s supposed to be great snorkeling.  Here is a picture.

We arrived at Anse Lazio, a beautiful, well protected bay.  We are expecting a great nights sleep here. 

After anchoring we got into the dinghy to go ashore and explore a little.  We beached the dinghy and tied it to a tree.  We went to the local guest house for a drink.

 We returned to the boat to eat the other half of our tuna steak! It’s going to be an early morning because we have to be at Aride, seven miles away, at 9AM. 

Overall Anse Lazio is a great spot because we are not in the marine park so there is no charge, it’s well protected and we can get a taxi from here to go anywhere on the island.  We’ll definitely be back here tomorrow night. 

Here was today’s route

We had a relatively calm night and woke up to a sunny day.  With the good weather inviting us back up on deck, I looked for my visor and to my dismay I couldn’t find it.  We searched the boat and can only figure that it was on deck and during the course of the last several rainy days and it blew overboard.  Darn!

Our plan for today was to explore the northern end of La Digue. So we headed into town and retraced our steps from Saturday just to see if I left my visor somewhere on La Digue.  No luck.  We also stopped at all the gift stores to look for a new one and again no luck.  I have another hat with me so that will have to do. 

We stopped at the Italian restaurant (where we had pizza the other day) for a soda, then did a little food shopping.  We walked north around the island to see the sights.  It was about 2 miles each way.

Rick wanted to walk rather than bike because he thought it was better training for our gorilla trek.  Here are some pictures from our walk.

We stopped at a small resort for a light lunch and had this beautiful view. 

On the way back we saw a small electric cart and I asked the driver if he would give us a ride back to town.  There are no taxis in La Digue, everyone just rents bikes.  Unbeknownst to us he was driving a family back to town and they agreed we could join them.  They were from Reunion Island and didn’t speak much English. 

We got back to town in time to go to the SIM card store.  Somehow we have gone through 10GB of data in 12 days.  Fear not, we bought another 14 GB so the blog will live on!  Our errands done, we returned to the boat where we showered to cool off.  I think it will be another night of cold cuts because, although we had a light lunch, we’re not hungry for dinner. 

We had a very rocky and rolly night (it was so bad I took seasickness medicine) but we both slept!

As for our day they say a picture is worth 1000 words