I woke with the sun, which was a little too bad since I went to sleep wayyyyyy too late and could have used an extra hour or so. No worries, the final day of a trip is always a big and busy one for me, and I knew adrenaline and perhaps a second cuppa would keep me going.

Part of our local cuisine has included the spectacular dragon fruit. We bought some from Nicole, our dinner host, who picked them from the tree in her yard. These sweet and meaty fruits pack a munch and turn everything - EVERYTHING - red. Delicious and beautiful.

A breeze and a swell moved in late yesterday. Breeze is nice for sleeping for those of us in forepeaks and outside, swell not ideal for swimming but not a deal breaker. We decided to stay where we lay at Grand Soeur for our morning swim, and I found it fitting that we swam at Big Sister at the start of our final day.

We noticed a few “friendlies” under the boat before we jumped in - I’ve started calling the sharks this, because we’ve not had any other experience with them. So proud of this group who all got in calmly, checked out the scene below, and then went about our morning swim experience. Miriam was in need of a straight swim so she could do some backstroke. She’s had a shoulder problem dogging her when she does freestyle, but more importantly, backstroke keeps her calm when she’s feeling a bit scared.

A word about Miriam and her courage. This is her 15th trip with us, and in all of those many trips, she has felt some measure of fear of open water. She copes with music in her ears, and by swimming backstroke. I’ve seen her swim miles and miles of backstroke. She swam the entire length of the IronMan swim course in Kona, Hawaii backstroke. Her backstroke is as fast and strong as her freestyle. What amazes me and inspires me about Miriam, is that in spite of her dance with fear, she comes back to the ocean to swim again and again. Being fearful and doing something anyway is called courage. That she finds something in the experience that feeds her and sends her home better, is a testament to her openness to what arises. It’s a blessing for me.

*Miriam at the start of our morning swim, hovering courageously above the friendlies.*

So this morning Simon swam Miriam in a straight line and stuck by her side so she could backstroke to her heart's content. Alina swam Catherine who likes to stretch it out in the morning and pack in some miles. And I took Maria, Dana, Myssie, Natalie and Samantha on a good ole fashioned Meanderswim. We cruised along a little further from the wall than normal because of the swell and stopped at a few particularly awe-inspiring rock formations for pictures.

We hadn’t gone far when we came across a group of 3 young men fishing from a small dory. They had one homemade speargun between them, and one of them wore the lines from the dory as a backpack so he could tow it along with them in the water. I was a teensy bit wary as I knew there were friendlies about, and dead sea creatures on a stick seems like something they would find interesting. But within a minute of seeing us, Thomas, one of the young men, called us over to show us a small octopus he had found. He pointed it out, then coaxed it out of its den and brought it up for us to see. He told us that it was too small for him to take, so he put it back after we had a quick look.

*Amazed how Thomas spotted a tiny octopus from the surface of a swelly sea. Also amazed he isn’t overheating in a full wetsuit.*

We swam on. The fishermen sort of ran parallel to us about 100 meters offshore. We meandered through all kinds of schools of reef fish, on morning rounds for breakfast. There were schools of fusiliers and jacks, sergeant majors and even a rare school of black parrot fish down on the bottom. Of course there was a turtle.

Suddenly Thomas called to us again. We decided to venture out offshore to where he was to see what it was about. After passing over some deeper water, we found him and his two friends on an undersea ridge where they had found an enormous octopus. He was bringing it up as we approached, and he wanted us to see and experience this sea creature. These young men were searching for dinner, or fish they will sell to make their living. Of course as our meals our prepared for us, it’s easy to have mixed feelings about watching the octopus meet its demise. It helps me to know that this is the Seychelles fishermen’s way of life, and it was a very unique experience for them to share their time so generously with us. We experienced the octopus a little longer than I would have liked given that it was still alive, but fairly quickly he put it to rest and said to us “I must get back to work!” His friends' names were Christopher and Marka, and I was hoping to send them some photographs, but alas we had to leave before they could swing by our boat to give me contact info. I tried in vain to see if Josepha or Nicole knew of them. I will continue to try to find them.

So it was a very Seychellois local experience morning. I cherish these kinds of opportunities to see how other people live with and from the sea. Big Sister gave us the kind of experience that helps you feel part of a place, feel connected to it, rather than just visiting.

Our lunch came out and did not include octopus, but did include tuna and shrimp in a nicoise-esque salad that hit all the right notes. There were other fixin’s that rounded out the meal, and now everyone is below decks cooling off and resting before our final swim in this incredible place.

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*While we were on our adventure swim, the “Ice Fairy” filled all of our water bottles with ice and cold water! These little touches make our trips so special.*

Simon has been also carrying a GoPro on our swims and always gives me his card so I can pull some I like. Here’s a little gallery of his best frames, including two with me in the frame! These frames make me envious! Great captures, Swigs!

Romesie moved us to La Digue, closer to port but still in the islands where the water is cooler and so clear. The swell made swimming along shore tricky, but Simon and Catherine still had a swimmie swim. They saw an enormous hump head wrasse! Very rare sighting so close to shore. Simon got a few pics but I have been so swamped editing I haven’t seen them yet.

Swamped with editing because I jumped in with my big camera rig again to do some swimmer portraits for our guests. I give each swimmer a few minutes with me and my camera and we play and make something special together. Everyone was into the idea today, and I think they all look beautiful.

*Myssie always brings a little class and bling to our photo shoots! She even makes goggle look elegant! xx*

*Miriam brings strength, laughter and love to everything we do together. This time she brought a little Seychelles flare to our session. xx*

*Samantha doesn’t even know how beautiful she is underwater. She was so surprised when she saw this and couldn’t believe it was her. It is, girl! That’s YOU! xx*

*Dana took a leap of faith and joined us even after her alum friend had to cancel. I’m not sure I saw her in the water without a smile on her face. xx*

*Margon got in touch with her sea spirit and made a new turtle friend. So glad to have her as part of our SV Crew family. A lemon was randomly in the water in this photo. I kind of love it. xx*

*Natalie inspires me every day of every trip she’s on. She has a quiet confidence and only terrified me once climbing this time! xx*

*Maria has a very natural gift for being in and under water. I hope she finds a way to make it part of her life forever. xx*

*Catherine is tireless and her enthusiasm for time spent in the water is infectious. xx*

*Alina is strong and beautiful on the inside and outside. xx*

*I didn’t get to photograph Swiggy today, but I love this pic of him with our schooling herring a few days ago. He’s rock solid with a heart of gold. xx*

We lingered in the clear blue as long as we could before yanking the hook one last time and heading back to port. Lisa knocked dinner out of the marina with an apricot stuffed chicken (crusted cod for Catherine and tuna for me!) with sides of cajun cauliflower and the most perfectly caramelized cabbage which I normally don’t care for but couldn’t stop eating. Dessert was one of her signature specials, Orange chocolate mousse. Divine.

After dinner we had our slideshow of the last 10 days. There were so many special moments on this trip I had a very hard time winnowing it down to keep it under 25 minutes. I like to pick a custom sound track of songs for each location, and this trip gave me an opportunity to dive into some of my deep cut favorites. Everyone laughed and got teary remembering all of the things we did, all of the amazing things we saw. When you look at the photographs all at once, it really is amazing to absorb the enormity of this trip.

We swam nine different islands in 18 - 20 swims. We visited the wizened tortoises of Curieuse and the old growth Vallee de Mai on Praslin. We made friends with sharks and hung with turtles and were escorted by a fever of spotted eagle rays. We played in an enormous school of pacific herring and twitched and powered through some sea licey swims. We oohed and ahhed at the Spanish dancer egg mass and had a local fisherman share some water time with us. We kept an impressive log of all species of fish and birds we saw, and we made countless photographs of the indelible memories we created together.

Sometimes a trip just ticks an extra special box. Our seven ladies all swam about the same pace which meant we experienced almost everything together and made so many photographs with us all in one frame. The connection of shared, wild experience is something that sticks over years and miles.

We trickled off to bed, and this morning shared a final cup of coffee, had our hugs and some tears and made our final goodbyes as our ladies loaded up into a van bound for the airport. The texts to our group chat are still flying as I type - an indication that no one is ready to let go.

As we crew packed up our gear and checked out with the Dream Yacht Charter base here on Praslin, I had to say my goodbyes to the sisters I’ve made here on shore as well. Davina, Nicole, Josepha and Farida all opened their hearts and hands to me as we moved into their sphere for a while.I like to make family when I travel. It helps me feel at home wherever I go.

A little anecdote about Farida who is the boat supply gatekeeper at Dream Yacht. Three years ago when we were here, I borrowed a roll of duct tape from Farida for something we needed before we started our charter. She implored me to bring it back. I’m usually very responsible with other people's things, but somehow her roll of duct tape ended up going missing. I apologized profusely and never had time to replace it before we left. Today I gave her a roll of duct tape and reminded her of the story. I don’t know if she really remembered, but it felt like closure to me. I also gave her one of the blingy necklaces that my ladies wore for my surprise party. Because every Queen should have a little bling. Farida said “Don’t go! Come stay at my house!”. It’s nice to know that if I am so lucky to return to Seychelles, I have family here to catch me.

Richie and Lisa have once again made a near impossible task not only doable, but they made it look easy to our guests who have no idea about the problems encountered and solved, and the improvisational maneuvers it took to pull this off. Margon fit into our tight team seamlessly, bringing hard work and light heartedness to us and to our guests - not to mention a different pretty napkin creation every night for dinner! Simon and Alina were selfless in their service to our ladies both in the water and out. They are both incredibly competent, wise, gentle and kind and that is exactly the type of person you want guiding you on an adventure of this magnitude.

I feel like just about the luckiest mermaid alive. I am so at home in the sea, and I get to bring other people to it and spread the love. That our seven sisters were excited about it all - from the tiniest shell to the largest friendly - makes this work much more passion than job.

To Miriam, Myssie, Samantha, Catherine, Natalie, Dana and Maria: Remember where you’ve been ladies. Remember what you’ve seen and what you’ve done.

Sisters, we will always have this.

And so, Seychelles. We did it again, didn’t we? I do believe you gave me everything you have. Thank you. I hope you know I did the same.

Love,

Heather

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