The Seychelles Wrap-Up

As I sit here in Africa, (Africa man, can you believe that? Africa!) sipping a Tusker, watching Celtic v. Hibernia on the bar TV (weird, I know,) and sweating my ass off, (of course it's hot - it's Africa!) I'll try to wrap up my Seychelles experience for you.

But 1st - three important bits of info:
# of dives so far on RTW trip - 99
# of books read on same trip - 67
# of cold showers on the trip - I don't wanna think about it!

It's been over a week already, and I'm still finding it hard to believe GVI actually kicked us off the base. Oh, I know we had to leave, but still - we were all having so much fun..., how could they?

Here's a quick Seychelles story. I'm still not sure about the locals. A few Seychellois are really friendly, but the majority seemed pretty distant. I just don't think they know what to make of us volunteers. Are we tourists? - No. Permanent? - No. Spending lots? - Only on internet time, Seybrews and milkshakes. We're some kind of weird in-between people... The closest contact, (literally,) is on the bus into town. The local buses are very busy and crowded - SRO on just about every trip. The bus company could double the buses to take up the load, but at 3 Rupees a ride (30 cents,) why would they? The rickety buses wind their way up and over the mountain, riders swaying back and forth on every curve, and getting packed tighter and tighter with every stop. But despite the solidly packed aisles with straphangers the entire length of the bus, I never once saw an older lady forced to stand. Even the thuggiest LA gangsta wannabe automatically stood up to give his seat to the the print dress and straw hat wearing gray-haired lady as soon as she paid her fare. I felt like I might have made a small difference when I noticed the small smiles from the locals who noticed the times I was able to stand to offer mine. It's the little things we have in common that bring people together...

The Seychelles experience?? I had a fantastic time. Not that the diving was great or the accommodations all that plush. The islands are certainly very beautiful, the green of the mountains, the turquoise seas, and the dazzling beaches are the stuff of romance movies. But the reefs are still very damaged from the '98 el Nino and will most likely never compare to those in Indonesia or Fiji. Still, there was cool stuff to see and my experiences with whale sharks, mantas, sea turtles, lionfish eating octopus, and dolphins will always bring a smile to my face. What really made this volunteer experience so terrific was the people I got to meet and work with - learning reef life and research methods from the staff and interns, making close friends with a great group of like-minded volunteers, and sharing the joys of the ocean realm withthe local children we taught every week.
My best memory? It's tough to choose between whale shark dives, raucous parties, turtle tagging, table dancing (don't ask,) bread from scratch, hours long card games (Shithead, Asshole, Hearts, Truth-Or-Dare Spoons, Shit-Fuck-Damn, where did we get these names?) watching people line up for thirds for my jambalaya, soccer err - football games, and an amazing week on Curieuse, Praslin and La Digue. In the end, it was easy - having a Momma Hawksbill lay her eggs in my hand Thanksgiving Morning. Wow - definitely life-changing.
Oh yeah, and I like lentils now too.

Jambo & Nakupenda,
Clement