Blogs from Mahé, Seychelles, Africa - page 3

In my second week at the British High Commission, the main focus of activity was the arrival of a Lifeboat donated by the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) to the Seychelles Coastguard. I got to exercise my press skills, writing the press release and speech for the handover ceremony and more thrillingly, got an invite to the handover itself - how’s that for dediciation (and a desire to do anything different) that myself and the other one found ourselves up early on a saturday morning to bear witness to this event. For Queen and Country and all that. As we strode through a type of Guard of Honour formation and the band struck up as we entered the marquee, I have to say I was a little embarassed- like being the second cousin of the bride’s ... read more

We’ve managed to get a two bedroom bungalow for our two night stay at a reasonable resident’s rate and though it looks lovely from outside, painted green and cream with a wide porch and green shuttered windows, inside its very basic and the furniture purely functional. Still, I guess the idea is that we’re out most of the time. Abs spots a TV but his hopes are dashed before he has a chance to get them up as we switch it on and nothing happens. The ceiling fans above the beds are also a small cause for concern, it’s clear by the DIY way it’s hooked up that it’s clearly fallen down before. We eat at Chez Marston where we’ve been before as though we considered heading north, it’s a dark walk. The restaurant is quite ... read more

also had the foresight to swap to water sometime in the evening, seeing as though we were up at 8am to do a sponsored walk- I wasn’t about to repeat my mistake of the week before. Our friend ‘N’ has been raising money for the hospital in Guatemala where she spent a year’s sabbatical and we were helping out by taking part in the walk. A few hours sleep and we were up and out and in school where we then had to wait about 40 minutes ( I could have been in bed longer!) before we started. We walked from the school, up to Bel Air and then through Le Niol and down the road linking Beau Vallon to Victoria. We managed to lose some of them and confusingly met them later on with ... read more

Next morning, it’s a lazy breakfast, pretending we don’t support England (I’d managed to scrub the last of the face paint off) and a lurching ferry ride back to Mahe where I get more than a little wet.... read more

I got the job. Like the big five of the Safari world, I think I’ve now got Whitehall covered; Home Office, Education, Health, Transport (or Trade and Industry or Revenue and Customs) and Foreign Office. Not sure what that makes me.... read more