Advertisement
Published: July 29th 2017
Edit Blog Post
July 25, 2017 - Today I got up in the 7 o'clock hour, got ready for my day and then went to have breakfast a little after 8 am. It was quite nice, with a plate of fruit, a fruit smoothie, tea, toast and butter and jam and eggs. I'm already eating more than I have been. Last night I started a new book, so I continued reading it at breakfast.
After breakfast, I came back to my room, changed into a bathing suit that I wouldn't use to go in the water, and then headed out on my bike to explore. I started by taking a right turn from the hotel and following the road east until it ended. From there, my plan was to walk a trail to the last beach I visited yesterday, so as to complete the circuit. It started out relatively easy, and got progressively harder. At first I was proud of myself for being able to climb on all the boulders and rocks and follow the white arrows painted on the rocks. But as time went on, the rocks got harder and harder to climb, the footing got less sure, and I decided it
wasn't worth it to continue. It's a shame, but it was just not safe. It almost felt like someone was playing a joke with those signs. So I turned around and went back to my bike, earlier than expected. My hands were quite sore by the end, because they played as much of a role in the climbing as my feet did, and the rock surfaces were not smooth.
From there, I cycled the road back to the hotel, used the bathroom and refilled my water bottle. In deciding what to do next, the weather came into play. I wanted to visit a particular beach, Anse Source d'Argent, but there is a fee to enter. I guess it is on private property, and they charge about $10 to enter. The beaches there are supposed to be some of the nicest in the Seychelles, where several movies have been filmed. It was quite overcast again today, and I'd like to hold out until a more sun-filled day to take pictures there, if possible.
I decided to go for a hike to a viewpoint instead, and first stopped at the nearby cemetery, and then at the bakery, hoping for something
I could bring for lunch with me. They had a very small portion of baked goods, and they didn't look that appealing, but they did have fish samosas, so I got four of those for my hike. I took the inland road to where I thought the trail began. It is actually paved at least half of the way, so I started to cycle it, but I did not get very far. The road is very steep. Like, S-T-E-E-P. I asked someone if I could leave my bike parked at the edge of their banana field, because it was the first flat ground I had seen, and then I continued on. It was even hard to walk. I'm often wishing for sun so I can take nicer pictures, but I'm also usually grateful for the clouds because it is already for hot without the sun. Today was a good example. I was drenched in sweat, having a hard time walking, and then sun wasn't even out.
I asked a couple people coming down and they said it was worth it. I walked to a restaurant, and from there you can follow a sign toward "mountain" and stick to the
left and eventually you get to the viewpoint. It may have taken about 45 minutes total, but it seemed longer. The view was great, and you could see two sides of the island and the nearby islands. It would have been nicer if it hadn't been cloudy, and it almost seemed like fog was coming in. But it was still a nice view. No one was at the viewpoint with me, so I sat on a large rock and ate my samosas.
On the way back down, I listened to my history podcast a bit as I walked, and encouraged a couple who looked exhausted to keep going. They seemed disappointed when I told them it was still twenty minutes away, but I hope they made it.
From there, I cycled back to the flycatcher reserve and sat down to watch my favorite two birds. The same skink from yesterday was there too. It was pretty cool to start to know a little patch of forest.
From there, I decided to go to the beach. I've pretty much done everything else on the island. I came back to the hotel, refilled my water bottle, and set out
again. I went back towards the east side of the island, trying to figure out where to go. I tried a couple spots with no luck, and then I found a nice place near the art gallery. The sun was out a bit, but it was late in the day, so the beach was getting a bit short, with the tide coming in, but I quickly found a spot that went further back, and it even had shade! And a nearby topless lady. Unexpected. I got comfortable and put my feet in the water, but wasn't sure about the current, so that was as far in as I went. I laid on my stomach and started to read my book, and a while later I realized there were sand-colored crabs busy all around me. I was careful not to move much, just turned my head a bit, and in this way I could watch them go about their business. They looked for food, they cleaned out their houses, they had little skirmishes. It was so cool to watch from so close. They move sideways, forwards and backwards with ease. They can be exceedingly fast. They have crazy eyes on stalks
that look insane. So cool. I left when the water started coming close.
I stopped back at the hotel and left again around 5:30 pm to get some take away. I got some kind of beef dish and a chocolate ice cream cone. I cycled with the cone and came back towards the hotel. I stopped a couple times along the way to photograph the start of the sunset, and then found a place to sit near the hotel, just around the corner where I could still see the sun. A few others were there, and we just sat on the side of the road, watching the sunset. I ate my take-away there, and took some photos. It was a nice end to the day.
Back at the hotel I finally washed off the layers of sunscreen and sweat and sand and felt oh so much better, sitting in the air conditioning. I had a mango yogurt for dessert, and of course some of my honey butter popcorn. I read outside for a while, but my cat friend never came by. Or rather, there were people outside on their balcony two doors down, and I could hear him
begging for food there. I think they were actually eating, so he may have had some luck. They were unfortunately playing music as well, which I found really annoying. This hotel does not have tv or radio so as not to interfere with the sounds of nature, according to their website. These people obviously didn't care. But overall, still a good place to be.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.046s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 7; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0238s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Amazing sunset
Stunning colors