Blogs from Mahé, Seychelles, Africa - page 7

‘I DON’T BELIEVE IT’ The tyre’s gone down. *&*&(^(% It’s super early as I had to drop the other one at work and I’d hoped to have a swim while I waited for the tyre place to open but bad planning, it ain’t open. Instead, I wander around the 2km running track, in normal clothes and a handbag, trying to look purposeful and avoid drawing attention to myself, I’m not sure I’m doing that well. My suspicions are confirmed when I manage to tread on a branch that springs forward, whacking me in the leg, making me yelp loudly and producing a limp and a bloodied leg that not only secures the attention of the few others about at 7.30am but brings a new low to my definition of myself as clumsy. I can’t now actually ... read more

The bag arrived eventually. It landed in Joburg the day after we left, (handy that and no explanation given) and landed in Seychelles a week later after my flobber feet in Praslin we did, by which time we’d forgotten what was in it. It was a nice surprise then when we opened it and Mary Poppins like, the Calitzdorp Port, throws, candle holders and small rugs (all courtesy of sheet street) came popping out, along with the dirty pants. I amused myself for a few hours (with the new stuff not my pants) and the house is now a lot cosier though this brought its own dangers. Reclining on our new living room day bed (aka a single bed nabbed from the upstairs bedroom) I managed to smash the tea light holders that we’d had for ... read more

Listening to the other one's jibber jabber, him having called me with nothing much to say (I expect just a thinly veiled excuse to check I'd fed and watered myself like some forlorn Tamogochi, stuck as I am to the internet these days) I felt a small splash on my shoulder. Then a few more. Seeing as last I knew our house had a roof this was a little troubling. In what seems to be perfectly reasonable 21st century behaviour, I secured the safety of my laptop ok first. Then I set out like truffle hunting pig to check out the problem. My quest took me to the loft upstairs where I identified what I think is technically called a drip drip sound. Time waiting for no man, I despatched myself next door to the landlord's ... read more

Last year, perhaps by twist of fate, we decided to take advantage of the theatre wonderland on our London doorstep and do more than the once a year trip that we seemed to make to go see some 'culcha'. So we saw Patrick Stewart and Ian Mckellen in Waiting for Godot, Romeo and Juliet at the Globe, The Cherry Orchard at the Old Vic, Madame Butterfly at the English National Opera, Eonnagatta with Sylvie Guillem and the American Ballet Theatre doing Le Corsaire at Sadlers Wells, and for good measure The Killers and 2 Many DJ's at the O2 and Brixton Academy respectively. Here, the only bit of culture we've come across was the recent school production of Frankenstein. Enthusiastic kids, fake blood, cheesy Rocky Horror style numbers, hands that seem to move on their own, ... read more

We fuelled up at breakfast opposite the drive through reception and Dominic, the first of the Manchester United fans we were to meet, passionately recounted the time he'd seen the team play Soweto team the Kaizer Chiefs (the band was indeed named after them). He dropped us at East Rand Mall, a magnificent testament to the shopping religion. The metaphorical whistle blown, we were off, not even Nani could catch us as like rats on speed we dove into shops looking for trainers, underwear, shorts and tops. Focused and determined, our three hours there was a tribute to our resolve, nearly all the major purchases were made, the spend was looking good and we'd not even been sidetracked into buying anything too frivolous, say like a jacket. Surprisingly, there weren't that many stores that I recognised, ... read more