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At last I get to write a few words and update you ! Internet is sparse here, and very slow, and any way who wants to sit indoors on a pc when in such a beautiful place !
Been in the Seychelles for 5 weeks now and having an amazing time. Am on another GVI Marine Conservation Expedition (same outfit as Mexico earlier this year). The diving isnt great, as previous coral bleaching events have seriously damaged the reef but we've seen some great 'MegaFauna', the most notable being swimming with whale sharks and diving with Dolphins. I swum for up to an hour with 4 whale sharks from 4.5m to 6.5m long. They were massive animals and were only a few metres away. So exciting, but when they turned round and looked at you with their mouth nearly a metre wide, it was a cross between exhileration and scaryness ! Everybody on base got to see the whale sharks that afternoon, so feelings were running very high. Whilst diving the following day we could hear clicking noises in the water a few minutes before 13 dolphins swam past us, taking a wee look at us as they went, as seen in the photo !
So, an exciting few days and then I got my turn to go to our satellite base for one week. Everybody gets to go for one week out of the 10 and I went in week 4 with 5 other volunteers. GVI have a small house there with 2 resident staff and we were the only ones living on the island. A rangers station of giant tortoises is staffed in the daytime, but otherwise we were castaway in a beautiful place. (no photos of that yet, but to follow in due course). Saw lots of giant tortoises, watched a turtle lay 150 eggs on the beach, and saw my favourite beach yet on this island.
So I have now visited 4 islands in total, about 14 amazing white sandy beaches with beautiful blue waters, friendly people who all speak either English or French or creole. It's 15p equivalent to get a bus to anywhere on the island. We get every Sat and Sun off, so having a 'whale' of a time diving, snorkelling etc. Was paddling at the beach just by the bus stop today, and saw 4 baby hammerhead sharks in the shallows ! Our base is at the end of a private road and has its own private beach - stunning !
Right, that's probably enough superlatives. You all probably hate me again now, sat there in your offices in the freezing cold. I'm going to freeze when I get back to England 19th December with no coat ! If it makes you all feel any better I have just had a rubbish 5 days. Got bit run down and tired and picked up some kind of virus, sick and headachey and wiped out, which then became a cold ! Great, just when they gave us a 3 and a 1/2 day week end too. I must be the only person in the Seychelles with a cold ! Any way on the road to recovery now, but wont be diving for a few days until all the gunk is out of my head cavities - nice !
Bye for now everyone, and expect internetting from me to be very limited until I'm back in the UK.
Take care, big hugs all round
Nicky x
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