Savouring the Seychelles

March 2017

Today I thought I should close the loop on a few of the sub-plots that have been developing and provide a report on whether we accomplished some of the goals we had set for ourselves.

First Gym would like to dwell on the fauna of the Seychelles and report that both land creatures and sea creatures exceeded our expectations.

Of interest to my readers, two national geographic struggles of species vs. species have been unfolding around Gym since he arrived here in the Seychelles. These epic struggles have both been daily occurrences and Gym has been very fortunate to capture bits of both these struggles pictorially.

1. The Grey Heron vs. Four Seasons and it's Koi Pond dwellers:

Most days we see a beautiful Grey Heron sitting on top of the ZEZ Restaurant which is the main dining room at the resort. He is waiting for a chance to swoop in and grab some of the hotel's expensive koi that they have been stocking in the pond near the entrance way. The staff have been trained to shush him away but he is patient and when the staff aren't looking and there are no kids around, he can be found where he is not supposed to be.

The beautiful Grey Heron

The unfortunate victims

The Heron's perch when pesky Four Season's
staff are around.

He knew Gym and Mrs. Gym wouldn't shush him away because we are kindly humans and we needed a picture. I am sure that Mr. Heron, who is just doing his job, costs the hotel a few rupees.



2. The second grand struggle is also a daily affair. It is between a male Zebra Dove and Mrs. Gym. Every day the dove will visit our sun-deck and loudly insist that the villa is his, not ours. However, when asked to produce a room rental receipt he refuses. Mrs. Gym stands her ground to ensure that the interloper does not enter the villa and mess up the rooms. The following pictures need no explanation:

As is always the case, the dominant species wins out.

In addition to these one-on-one struggles, The Four Seasons sponsors its very owns coral regeneration initiative. As you may already know, the corals have been dying because the sea water is too warm. The Petit Anse project involves hanging bits of young coral on steel rebar about ten meters out from the granite cliffs that frame the southern part of the bay. If the young coral animals survive a year or two and start to grow then they are moved out further into the bay to form new colonies. An organization called WiseOceans is teamed up with the hotel in this regard. WiseOceans staff are always on hand at the resort to help snorkelers identify fish that they may have seen on their swims and to monitor the coral regeneration program. Gym took the picture below from their website (with permission).

This is coral regeneration in progress at Petit Anse. Gym can also say
that the fish you see are Damselfish.

Gym and Mrs. Gym would also like to report that the beaches here are the finest beaches we have ever walked on. They are coral-sand beaches and sure they get messed up a bit after a storm but those little bits of coral that collect in the bay here are wonderful, bright white and powdery. Yesterday, I learned that some of the "sand" is created by parrotfish that actually devour the coral and poop out the sand fragments. One type of fish in particular, the Bumphead Parrotfish actually bashes coral to smithereens. Unfortunately, Gym did not see any of these in action but the WiseOcean instructor had seen some during our stay. Gym's sightings so far include Parrotfish, Damselfish, Striped Surgeonfish, Cornetfish and many others. I think the variety of fish and the presence of fish like the Parrotfish mean the reef here is relatively healthy (although WiseOcean staff have indicated that the water is a little too warm at present and there has been some bleaching).

Our powdery coral beach at Petit Anse

The weather here is consistently warm and so far there has been very little rain. Most days, like today which is our last in the Seychelles, the ocean is smooth as glass and there is very little cloud cover. White guys have to slather on the sunscreen.

The people here are all very friendly and have no attitude like you get from some of the folks in the Caribbean. This is in spite of the fact that many of the Seychellois have eaten fruit bat. I invite you to google Marie Antoinette's Restaurant in Victoria and pull up the menu which features fruit bat, in season.  Mrs. Gym didn't want to eat there.

By now, the staff all know us by name and it is unfortunately time to leave this island. We will be flying out tonight on Emirates to Dubai and then on to London for a  couple of days to visit some friends. I will send a post from London detailing our time there and wrapping this vacation up.

P.S. I have since learned that La Reduit Restaurant serves an excellent fruit bat curry.