06/12/13 Island Adventures
First off, as of Thursday, HAPPY INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY
(round of applause)
Finally, it’s now the third week for our Newbies (Felicity,
Sophy, Caitlin, Daniel, Olli, Nathalie and Sarah) who aren’t really Newbies
anymore, the seventh week for Amanda, Charlotte, Liz and me (Kira) and the
eleventh (!!) week for Vova who called himself the chef of the Oldies. The end
of our fantastic trip is not so far anymore. I can’t imagine coming home back
home and being confronted with snow and (omg) having to wear long trousers.
Thank you to the volunteers and staff making these months an adventure that I
will never forget. But before we go here are a few things we have been up to.
We (Charlotte, Amanda, Liz and Kira) heard about this
magical island 100 km away from Mahe and populated with thousands of Sooty
Terns, unfortunately it wasn’t the season. There is also Esmeralda the biggest
tortoise in the world but our own 095 known as Mr McGregor is just a little bit
smaller! And finally Robby who is one of the most impressive guy we have ever
met living for 20 years on Bird Island and who has asked us to be assistance to
him on Aldabra (haha). After a 30minutes flight, we arrived at Bird Island. It
was like a vacation in a vacation with stunning beaches, beautiful sunrises and
sunsets, amazing food, snorkelling with 13 (!) Green Turtles and let’s not
forget the dolphins jumping and spinning by our boat. These 3 days away were
incredible but coming back to our beautiful island was finally like coming
home.
The “newbies” had our first weekend outside of the paradise
home we call Curieuse. Getting up at 7
am (which is late Curieuse time) to ride Dexter to Praslin followed by a brief
15 minute ferry ride we found ourselves on another stunning island named La
Digue. With only the bare essentials
neatly tucked into our bags, we set off in search of bikes. Mine was a cherry red chopper bike I named
Bailey. In order to see as much of the
island as we could, we all set off in various directions. Sophy and I (Caitlin) spent the day riding to
the furthest reaches of the island. We
cycled until the road finished, feeling as though we had found the end of the
earth we headed back to the villa for lunch.
After going a bit mad in the grocery store we headed off to the
beach. 2kms and very sore legs later
Sophy and I stepped onto silky white sand, Grande Anse. Although our day was rapidly coming to an
end, we snatched some time to do some sunbathing (girls will be girls).
The long cycle back to the villa gave us
time to daydream about what food we will eat at dinner. With such an indecisive group, out waitress
had a surprising level of patience with. Asian food is one of the comforts of
home we have all missed. With bellies
full, we headed in for the night to sleep in air-conditioned comfort. The highlight of the trip is an easy one, the
coconut plantation where they manufacture coconut oil the old-fashioned
way. Upon returning we realised that the
beach on La Digue voted “the most beautiful beach in the world” was actually on
level with the beaches on Curieuse.
This
place really is paradise.
With 3 turtle nests due to hatch, the 12 of us end this week
on a high. Another week in paradise
filled with mad stories and funny photos.
Who knows what our last week will bring….
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