Tuesday is time to GO.

Well as predicted yesterday was a full court press by our tight crew, though we hadn’t counted on the torrential rain. This cooled things very slightly, and dampened things quite considerably. We managed somehow to move our bags from apartment to boat in a minor rain spell, and actually managed to get the boxes and boxes (and boxes) of food aboard in between squalls, though the boxes were wet enough that many of them were disintegrating by the time we got them from dock to deck. It’s a hectic process getting it all unpacked and sorted so Lisa can figure out what she has and what she needs, but we managed to get it all done and dusted and dragged ourselves to the picnic tables for more tuna belly delivered by our wonderful airbnb hostess, Nicole. I fell asleep in my soup, almost literally.

The highlight of the day yesterday was our team picture in The Tub. I had remembered that our apartment had a massive tub, and begged everyone to get in it with me for a group photo. It’s practically the only reason we came back to Seychelles. Well not really but a little bit. Mission accomplished.

We all stumbled into bed, mine was half wet from a leak and the rain, but I managed to make myself a nest in the other half. We rose to bright sunshine and I aired out my bedding and had it all remade and leaky spots caulked (I hope) before our guests arrived at noon. Margon did a lot of learning the ropes (literally) on this boat this morning, and from what I can tell, she’s a quick study and definitely fits right in. I’m always amazed by our crews at the beginning of these trips. We work so hard in the 24-48 hours beforehand. We get stressed and hot and do a lot of problem solving. We bump our heads and stub our toes and get bruised by bungees. We laugh and try but fail to stay hydrated and run ourselves ragged, and then, our guests arrive and we all just turn on. It’s really quite a thing to be a part of a team like this. 

A Long fin spade fish (Platax teira) and its pals came to check us out as soon as we jumped in. These fish are strange enough looking that you know you’re somewhere new and far when you see them swimming around.

At noon our esteemed guests arrived: Seychelles Alums Miriam and Myssie came from Texas. SV alums new to this location include Samantha, Natalie, Catherine all came from the west coast along with Dana who is new to us. She was planning to come with her bff and SV alum (and Alina’s sister) Elia, who unfortunately could not join us because of an injury just a few weeks ago. Elia, we miss you and hold you in our hearts here! Elia gave her spot to Alina’s daughter, Maria, who reached us from her travels in India! Everyone has come a long way to be here, and most of them only arrived hours before stepping on our boat and were bone tired from the travel. The world is a big place, and 36 to 48 hours in transit is a long time. We got them all aboard and got off the hot dock and Lisa nourished us with a fantastic lunch full of proteins and cheeses and salads and where did it all come from (it’s a good thing I didn’t see that cheese when we were loading the boat yesterday or we would not have had it today)??! They all ate and I think I saw one or two of them nearly falling asleep in their soups. Some went down for naps, some chatted quietly in the cockpit. We planned an easy breezy swim which was a lot of floating and fish finding and gabbing and generally just letting the water restore what the hours (days) of travel had worn down. I noticed the fruit bats circling overhead, checking us out. We probably look like a bunch of oranges and limes to them.

An Emperor Angelfish (Pomacanthus Imperator) flashed us a showy goodnight at the end of our swim.

We boarded to sugar rimmed champagne flutes of Seychelles Sparklers, yummy little hors d'oeuvres and a fantastic meal of local fish and quinoa topped with asparagus and avocado. A delicious,  healthy start. The beautifully folded napkins were courtesy of Margon who revealed that origami was her childhood past time. We look forward to a new napkin surprise every night! Don’t forget the rich, dark choco brownies and pistachio ice cream for dessert.

HOW did Lou Lou manage to get ice cream on this boat in the unthinkable equatorial heat. I’ll never know and that kinda makes it taste even better.

Everyone was off to bed by 730 beneath a sliver of moon and a cooling breeze brought by an evening rain shower. I’m the last one left and if I had any soup in front of me I’d be falling asleep in it right now.

Miriam often says things that I repeat on the blog, and walking down the dock to me today she gave me a little gem:

‘Traveling to Seychelles is like giving birth. You get off the plane and you swear you’ll never do it again. Then you swim and all the good things make you forget, and you do it again.”

Miriam, I’m so glad you did it again. We have so many good things ahead of us.

Love,

Heather