Return to Seychelles
Back in June of 2022 we took on our most distant and remote SwimVacation yet - to the utterly isolated island nation of Seychelles. About 700 miles northeast of Madagascar and 1000 miles east of Africa, this archipelago is known for its lush, tropical beauty and wild diversity of marine life. During the days of travel it took me, I wrote about how swimming the Seychelles had become a sort of vision quest of mine, and the entire experience of planning to executing was a sojourn of mystery, passion and pull. For 10 days we immersed in the Indian Ocean’s waters surrounding the islands, and it tossed us around and taught us more about what we are made of. It was an unpredictable dream come true for me, and I’ll forever be indebted to the crew that helped me make it happen, as well as the intrepid guests who took a chance and flew halfway around the world to join me.
That trip was an adventure of discovery and giving over to a sea that made clear it was in charge. We had wild winds and swells, and though we never let it stop us from getting in to swim, the conditions did limit our reach - there were islands I’d researched that we were unable to get to, boulders and corners that remained a mystery after getting so close. What that trip DID do was teach an unforgettable group of women that they are tougher and more seasoned than they knew, and gave me a new appreciation for why I do this work. When I had doubts, the courage of those ladies kept me going and made me sure. While some stretches of rocky shoreline remained elusive, the stories we mined from within ourselves came up to the light from turbulent depths. Without question, we all went home better. More.
I was pretty sure this extraordinary experience would be a one-off for SwimVacation, and most likely a sole experience for me.
Ha.
I can’t remember all the details of how we came to plan a return. I know there were SVers who longed for an adventure like this. I know for myself, there was a little unfinished business. And so suddenly it seemed I was not quite done with the Seychelles yet.
Or maybe the Seychelles are not quite done with me?
The iconic granitic boulders of Seychelles are everywhere and very alluring.
Three days ago my partner Hopper dropped me at the bus station in chilly Portland, Maine. SwimVacation was his big idea, and even though he doesn’t come on every trip, he takes immense pleasure and pride in seeing off the guides and crew we have curated for any of our adventures. It was fitting that he was there for final hugs from me and my fellow guides, Alina and Simon. A perfect send off. For as important as our ground (sea) crew is here, I lean pretty heavily on Hopper and my people at home when I’m out here in the world.
Alina, Simon and I and our 9 bags of varying sizes left Maine by bus to Logan airport in Boston. Side note - whenever I am moving through an airport with ALL of our gear, I love to announce to people staring at me “This is all shoes!” From Logan we flew on to Newark and then made our 13 hr transatlantic, trans-Europe, trans-Sinai Peninsula leap to Dubai. We dragged ourselves to an airport sleeping pod and lights out for about 6 hrs. We made our way to our departure gate to unite with the other half of our crew - Richie, Lisa and new team member Margon. Margon is from the Netherlands but now lives and works a piece of land in central Portugal about an hour from Richie and Lisa’s quinta, where they all first met. Margon is well traveled and carries her experiences in a gorgeous array of tattoos and stunning heap of blonde dreadlocks. This will be her first endeavor as boat crew, but she has clocked lots of hard work time with Richie and Lisa in the self-sustaining farm life. This is to say, they come as a solid team. And so the 6 of us and our now total of 12 bags flew another 4.5 hrs from Dubai down to Mahé, the capital of Seychelles. From there we moved all those bags onto a small bus to the ferry terminal, then ate something then piled onto the ferry to Praslin, our island base. I had arranged for two cars to be waiting for us there, and we loaded them up and drove to our lovely airbnb which will rest us and organize us for the few days prior to boarding our boat home. This is perhaps the first time an entire team of guides and crew have arrived on location together. It will make for a tight ship.
A little wonky and tired from long days of transit through countless time zones, we shared a lot of laughs and managed to get all luggage to our destination.
These few days have been reorienting. We’ve stayed at the same Airbnb we stayed in last time, and ordered from its purveyor, Nicole, the same incredible tuna belly for our first dinner here. It’s rare that we do not start our trips on a Sunday, so having a Sunday here with most establishments closed - meaning we couldn’t do much other than rest and sink into this place - is a treat. We slept in a little, had a slow chatty breakfast on the veranda. Alina and I made friends with some local fishermen. We swam right out front of our apartment. We found swim throughs among the beautiful and iconic granitic boulders that are strewn about in the shallows here. Lisa and Richie played with a juvenile spotted eagle ray - I missed it because I was too busy watching the rock skippers and crabs give dynamic texture to the monumental rocks. I reintroduced myself to many of the unique and wonderful fish species found here - many of them are larger, more showy variants of species we see in the Caribbean, some are completely different altogether. We went out for a very local lunch and had spicy cajun delights in to-go containers with ambient reggae. We took it slow and easy today, enjoyed a nice dinner this evening. I’ll add that Richie and Simon are doing incredibly well driving our two rental cars on the steepest, curviest roads that simply fall away to nothing on each side. Simon is managing driving on the left which he has never done before. All in all it has been a fun and bonding arrival.
I’ll admit to feeling pretty tense riding shot gun along these roads in spite of Simon’s slow and careful progress.
The famous fruit bats circle overhead in full daylight, overseeing our re-orientation.
Tomorrow, Monday, the WORK. We will hit it early and hard, finding the things we need to put on our boat to do what we do. Internet, a larger trash can, shampoo, napkins, a water cooler. All of our gear in those 12 bags will be unpacked and arranged. Lisa has worked for weeks from afar with a man at the supermarket in Mahé ordering provisions for 13 people for 10 days. This is no easy task. After planning all of our meals and accommodating the many special dietary concerns of our guests, she sends him lists of items and quantities she needs. It’s many pages. He says yes I can get this or no I can’t get that. He says I don’t know if we’ll have strawberries. He laughs when she asks about half n half. He gathers what he can and boxes it all up and sends it over to Praslin on the ferry. It gets moved to a local market here and waits for us to arrive. Tomorrow we will move the dozens (and dozens) of boxes onto our yacht and Lisa will begin the daunting process of opening each one and seeing what has manifested. We will chase items she may still need all over the island. We will trash a perfectly decent boat in the process then clean it all up again. We will sweat and work our tails off and there will be moments of doubt, but ultimately we will get it all done. Going into a day like this feels manageable with a tight team.
Tuesday we will welcome our intrepid swim-splorers. We will be ready and they will land from their long journeys onto a boat that is prepared to feed, sleep and give them a safe platform from which to let go and give over to whatever these islands hold for us.
As it happens, this trip is my 75th SwimVacation. I know to be open to what will come. I know I am confident in Hopper’s Big Idea and an incredible crew that surrounds me and makes this possible. And I utterly trust the courage of a mostly new group of swimmers who have jumped on this 2nd journey of a lifetime.
You’ve called me back, Seychelles.
Let’s go.
Love,
Heather
