Of all the island nations we have visited, the Seychelles appeared to be uninhabited prior to the 16th century, when Europeans first discovered this archipelago of 115 islands.

Also unique from other Indian Ocean island groups–The Seychelles are leftover pieces of Pangea (Gondwanna) as continental drift and the flooding oceans filled in around these granite outcroppings, clearly visible from the Port of Victoria where the Serenity docked.

Arriving at 3PM and cleared to explore we attempted a quick foot explore into town. It was really hot even by Florida standards: in mid August at high-noon. Meredith and I got to a point of no return, meaning if there was nothing worthwhile in town it was going to be about 10,000 steps under the sun directly overhead.

I sacrificed myself to scout further and report back while Meredith returned to the ship. Marching on I wandered the sidewalks and navigated through the traffic of a Friday afternoon, passing a few open market stalls of goods and made it past the clock tower, where a woman stood in the shadow and away from the unrelenting heat, only to find that the charming view ahead of the town center was a town of commerce: Mobile phones, hardware, food concessions, liquor stores, electronics stores. In hindsight, Meredith made the better choice. I passed a promising Art Museum but by that point I was drenched and worn out.

The next morning we awoke leisurely, had breakfast and I headed down to the computer lab to catch up on my postings while Meredith planned out the days to come.

At 1 PM, we headed to the Galaxy Lounge for our day’s excursion on a Catamaran, heading down the eastern cost, a snorkeling adventure .

In the harbor was a boat, a big boat, a vessel… a super-yacht. You can find out the specifications and amenities by clicking on The Nord.

Our Snorkeling excursion was not the clearest we have had on our trip due to the water heavily stirred up by some recent swell. I asked the crew if they had packed a surfboard so I could hit the perfect breaks on the reef, but unfortunately, not. At any rate, it was delicious (We’re thinking of you Martha) just getting into the water and floating around.

We snorkeled for about 1/2 hour then got into a zodiac where the crew motored us to shore and we chilled out on the beach and went in for a dip and sheltered under the trees with the locals and some good beats from the boom box.

We stayed there until the rest of our crew were shuttled ashore then boarded a small jitney that trudged up the steep mountain curves, the windows scraping along the lush tropical brush that seemed to grow before your eyes. Finally, when I thought we could not make another curve upwards and the gears of the jitney would give out, we arrived at the spice farm.

We were rewarded with spectacular views and the grounds sweet with the scents of spice all around us.

Our guide from the catamaran led the tour, his knowledge of fauna and flora second to no one. It was amazing to crumble up a leaf and smell the cinnamon, open a seed releasing allspice, cracking open the fruit from a lipstick tree and using a stick to grind up the red berries into a paste for lipstick, hence the name. Our guide then pulled up lemon grass from beneath our feet that was so pungent and refreshing there was no need to ever buy a lemon. At the end of our tour we were served cool glasses of lemon grass ice tea that was sweet and delicious and like nothing we have ever had. I am going to explore this when we return home.

As we were walking the grounds–– what I first thought was a large bird–– a fruit bat flew overhead then clung and hung from a palm tree eating the fruit. What a treat to stand there and film this beauty before it became aware we were watching, its expression priceless before flying off. That was worth the price of admission.

Also on the property was a tortoise preserve.

Finally, after a full and fulfilled day, we headed back to the ship seeing the towns slip by and a Friday evening begin to unfold, leaving the festivities to the locals. It was time to say goodby to the Seychelles. Next stop–Mauritius.

But what would be a day be without the dress and a stage to show it off.