http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Markw/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Markw en-us Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:24:51 +0000 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:24:51 +0000 It's always good to get back home again especially after being on the road for three and half months. Sleeping in my own bed fast Internet bumping into friends on the street there are so many things about Ottawa that I love. But I also love traveling meeting new friends and enjoying or sometimes enduring new experiences. The three months I spent in Seychelles were a great experience as http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Ottawa/blog-197433.html Itrsquos hard to believe that Irsquom in the final month of my three month placement here in the Seychelles. Time has passed quickly especially since my family Guylaine Jonathan and Michelle joined me here one month ago. My time off is time on for them as we tour the beautiful beaches forests and waters of these wonderful islands together. We are now living on the island of Praslin 40 k http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Seychelles/Praslin/blog-186022.html Today's Blog is from Michelle Summer 2007 A Journal of My Trip Mon June 27 2007 One thing I donrsquot like about traveling is the transportation to get to the place. First we had to take a 2 hour bus to Montreal then we took a 6 hour plane to France. I barely slept on the plane itrsquos too uncomfy. We got a day room at a hotel and we slept for four hours then we took a plane from Pari http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Seychelles/Mah-/blog-183009.html How things have changed over the last ten days The big event of course was the arrival of Guylaine Jonathan and Michelle on June 25. They showed up at the airport early on Monday morning. As soon as Jonathan and Michelle saw me on the other side of customs they ran out to see me not realizing that they had left Guylaine to clear all their bags through customs for them. Peter had graciously of http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Seychelles/Mah-/blog-178384.html Itrsquos been two weeks since I wrote an entry for this blog and tomorrow will be six weeks since I left Canada. I have an excuse for the absence of blogs too much nonblog writing over the past two weeks. Four sermons two lectures and a letter for the Anglican Church people back home itrsquos almost like being back at school. Irsquove moved from the mountains in La Misere back to t http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Seychelles/Mah-/blog-172938.html Itrsquos moving week for me here. Last Sunday I preached at the main service at the Cathedral and the service was also broadcast on the radio by the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation SBC. I happened to use a coconut as one of my illustrations during the homily. Throughout this week people who were there or who listened on the radio have been coming up to tell me that they liked the coconut http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Seychelles/Mah-/blog-167301.html Finally a full day off. I decided to take advantage of it by heading up into the mountains. Mahe Island is a granite formation unlike most oceanic islands which are coral formations. As a result there are mountains which rise up over 900 metres above sea level. Mostly they are covered by a thick mountain forest but some places reveal steep granite cliff faces. I caught a bus up the Sans Souci http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Seychelles/Mah-/blog-164792.html Revival Itrsquos been almost two weeks since I arrived in the Seychelles and Irsquom sure some of you are wondering to yourselves ldquois Mark actually doing anything while hersquos thererdquo So to reassure you that Irsquom keeping busy here are few days in my life in the Seychelles. On Friday which normally is supposed to be my day off Christine and I went to the airport to cel http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Seychelles/Mah-/blog-163445.html One of the remarkable things about the Seychelles is the diversity and uniqueness of the flora and fauna. There are a huge number of plant and animal species that are found only in these islands. It is in this way a lot like the Galapagos Islands those remote islands in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Peru which were the inspiration for Charles Darwinrsquos theory of evolution. It could eas http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Seychelles/Mah-/blog-159936.html Yes thatrsquos me in the picture with VicePresident Belmont of the Seychelles. We were two of the guests at the inauguration of the new high speed boat the Cat Cocos II which will run twice daily between Mahe and Praslin Islands. As part of the festivities a selection of Seychellois high society was taken for a sunset cruise this evening around the north end of the island. How you might as http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Seychelles/Mah-/blog-160883.html Jonathan my 13 year old son chose the Seychelles for his recent school project. Here's his introduction to this amazing country The Indian Ocean dominates the Seychelles whether we are talking about the immense drops in depth off the coast of the islands or merely the size of what seem to be little specks of islands compared to the big blue bed of water extending for thousands of miles. Very http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Seychelles/Mah-/blog-161019.html I like this place already The people Irsquove met so far have been very warm and welcoming. When I met Tiana at the airport it was like being greeted by an old friend finally meeting after two months of exchanging emails. Along with Tiana were Canon John and Rev. Christine. Christine will be my supervisor for the summer and I can tell already that shersquos well organized. One of the firs http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Seychelles/Mah-/blog-159313.html I expected to be lying on the airport floor trying to catch up on my sleep this morning. But a few hours of decent sleep on the plane from Montreal to Paris last night and the bright sunshine this morning combined to give me more energy than expected and so I caught the train into St. Michel this morning. I may pay for this later today when the lack of sleep catches up with me but for now Irsq http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-158950.html Every journey has a dual nature. Therersquos the journey outwards traveling to distant lands encountering different cultures making new friends and going to places that yoursquove never been before. And then therersquos the journey inwards the inward itinerary that takes you to destinations within yourself some of which may be familiar and some of which may also be places yoursquove http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Ottawa/blog-156212.html