Monday meadows, meanders and moments.

Myssie captured this beautiful shot of the school of fusiliers at the back of our boat this morning. It would make a gorgeous fabric print.

Last night when I popped out of my hatch to pee, I looked up and the sky took my breath away. I saw the galactic core of the Milky Way clearly, arcing across the sky. I sometimes can see this at home in Maine, on summer nights at my family camp on Moosehead Lake, far from any light pollution. When I am away, remembering shared views of the night sky helps me feel connected to home. Not far above the horizon, I saw the Southern Cross. That is not something I get to see at home, and tells me I am very, very far away. I like to feel connected to home, and I like to feel far. Both are true and within me. A trip like this feeds all parts of me.

I considered popping back down into my bunk for my phone to try to get a photo, but then decided to just sit in the night air for a few minutes and just be. It’s not often on a trip I get to just be and not photograph. To some extent, that’s on me. I think my compulsion to document it all is my way of holding onto these adventures forever.

This morning’s swim was an adventure I’ll cherish. We plotted a course about 3/4 of the way around Petite Soeur, or Little Sister, which is just a few hundred yards from our anchorage at Grand Soeur. I was impressed with everyone’s gumption to go this morning after our shark sightings yesterday afternoon. I think, I hope, our discussion helped. Also, this group of women has been game and brave in the face of all sorts of challenges Seychelles has pushed our way, so I’m really not surprised.

This was a Swimmie Swim - a phrase we use for a swim that is head down and swim to the destination with little or few stops. In spite of the lure of exploration, we resisted the urge to Meanderswim. We did a live drop and a live pick up. These women are so seasoned now they executed with precision and efficiency. And this Swimmie Swim had it all. Calm, rough, a tiny bit of sting, a tiny bit of itch, clear waters, current behind us, current against us, dramatic granite rock scapes and so much incredible wildlife. Sea turtles every time we round a bend. Huge schools of fusiliers, tang, sergeant majors and jacks. Moorish Idols in every nook and cranny. A small shark even passed beneath Samantha and she felt totally at ease. And the coral gardens. My word. The corals.

An Eden.

Swiggy (Simon) put it perfectly when he used the phrase “rolling meadows of coral”. On the back side of the island we skimmed over acres and acres of healthy, living coral. It was spectacular. 

Richie took this shot of us swimming around Petite Soeur.

Worth noting is the metal these swimmers showed rounding two distinct corners. Island corners can often be chaotic - currents clashing, surge and swell colliding. Sea life of all kinds gathers at intersections like this. It can feel tumultuous. Nine times out of 10, there is relative calm on the other side. They pushed through and so it was. They all wanted it. They all earned it.

When we were all aboard we sort of sat around gabbing about it for a while. I love hearing what an experience like this evokes in our guests. I love feeling the group connect after a shared journey like this.

Romesie motored us south to the east side of La Digue, where we enjoyed a stellar lunch of falafel. Seriously. Lisa made falafel from scratch on a boat. For 13 people. Complete with dippins and side salad. It was delicious.

We planned a swim with options: a swimmie swim across the bay for those looking to stretch it out and get some more meters, or a meanderswim along the rocks for those looking for wildlife. As I was capping up, Alina, who was already in the water, said quite casually, “oh wow there’s like 10,000 fish under the boat” She was so casual that I thought she meant that there were just a bunch of spadefish and maybe some jacks or something under the boat as usual.

No. 

She meant, literally, 10,000 fish (or more) were in a tight ball under our boat. I jumped in with my cap, goggles and GoPro, then jumped right back out and switched to my mask, fins and the new big rig. This was too good to not go whole hog with.

Thousands and thousands of Pacific herring formed a ball under our boat.

Meanderswim aborted, we’re playing with this huge school of fish, friends.

We identified the fish as Pacific Herring (Clupea, pallasi) and I would say this school was about the size of our boat - over 50 feet long, 30 or 40 feet wide, and at least 4 feet deep. Stunning.

What a blast. I dove down again and again as everyone took turns diving down to be photographed with the school. As we swam through the fish, they would spray out like leaves from a leaf blower. They would part and reform, close in big donut rings around us. Just incredible to immerse in. To be part of.

Richie got in on the fish fun.

We reluctantly left our fish school behind as we had a dinner date in Praslin to make. Another hour motor and we docked at the marina. We were collected at 630 by two lovely men sent to us by Nicole.

You may remember we stayed at Sea Splash Self Catering apartments before each of our trips here. You may also remember me waxing on about owner Nicole’s incredible tuna belly dinners. We had two of these dinners before we started the trip. Last trip, we brought all of our guests and crew to tuna belly dinner at one of Nicole’s apartments. This trip all 13 of us dined on tuna belly poolside at Nicole’s private home. It was a special, elegant evening, and now our bellies are tuna belly full, along with papaya salad, mango chutney, breadfruit, roasted vegetables, and homemade coconut ice cream with banana coconut nougat for dessert. Uncle.

I joined the rest of our crew in the back of the pickup truck for the return ride to the marina. The night air was just the right temperature, and the ride was like a rollercoaster as we traversed the steep hills and sharp turns, all sort of sloshing into one another and laughing and having a high old time (our guests were safely in the mini-van, enjoying air conditioning and lovely conversation with Nicole). It was one of those peak experiences for me - when I look up and around me and feel intense joy about my immediate circumstances. I felt connected to this place and this endeavor and the people I am sharing it with.

What a day. Tomorrow comes in 3 minutes’ time. I better finish this up and get to sleep. More memories are waiting to be made.

Love,

Heather