Sunday 22nd October 2017
You are reading the words of a very tired lady! My feet are throbbing BUT! We arrived in the Seychelles today!! The scenery from the ship was amazing. A whole lot of tropical islands (115 in total) make up Seychelles, surrounded by the azure balmy water of the Indian Ocean.
At 3pm, Mike and I went to the ship exit where hundreds of other passengers were also queuing to get off the ship. Only problem was that we hadn’t docked yet, so we all stood for 45 minutes waiting for proper docking and permission for the passengers to disembark.
Once on land, we headed off immediately to a local hypermarket that the internet said was open until 4pm on a Sunday. We need toothpaste. We got there at 3-55pm and guess what? It’s not open on a Sunday! So then we decided to just wander round the capital city of Victoria and see what it has to offer. There was a bit of a carnival taking place. Mike and I went to the Botanical Gardens…
We really didn’t want to pay R240 for an hour’s visit, so we walked around the perimeter and got an idea of the lush vegetation that grows in the Seychelles. It is a tropical island and so there seems to be no lack of rain or heat. Everything grows out of control.
We walked up the mountain along a steep road and encountered some amazing views of the harbour…
We also saw this incredible palm tree…
Almost at the top of the hill, next to a very steep bend, there was a large white cross….
I couldn’t find anything on its origin. Mike did a location check on his cell phone only to discover that he had been wrong about where this road would take us. He thought it would be a bit of a ring road and take us back down to the ship. Instead we were walking towards the other side of the island. Here he is….checking his phone and about to tell me this road goes nowhere and we need to retrace our steps. At least it was all downhill.
After walking for hours, we returned to the ship, had a swim and then got something to eat. This was our balcony view…
It literally has been a flying visit to this island. It appears poor but peaceful. All the people we spoke to were fluent in English and spoke it well. It’s population is less than 100 000. I once tried to learn (or at least recognise) the capitals of all African countries and learned that Port Victoria is the capital of the Seychelles. Now when I go onto sporcle.com and see how many African capitals I know, Port Victoria will have a new recognition for me.
#454 of my 1000 thanks is for this bed on the boat with my feet up!
We have just pulled out of port. Next stop Mauritius on Wednesday…
We are edging our way home.
Today I read wonderful Psalm 90.
Psalm 90:1
Lord, You have been our dwelling place through all generations.
Absolutely.
It’s so interesting walking around these new places. Different yet so much the same. God has a blue print that He uses consistently. People are all the same, yet each one is different. We all need to do the same things. We all need food and water. We all need to live somewhere – accumulate stuff and dispose of the rubbish. We all need to do laundry and do our ablutions.
On thing stands sure from one generation to another.
God – the Lord Jesus Christ and our faith in Him – that does not change. In 200 years, if Jesus has not returned, there will still be people who walk the earth who have faith in Him.
My prayer is that in 200 years from now, my great, great, great, great, great, great, great-grandchildren will be men and women of faith, who carry the Words of the Bible in their hearts.
These are the days!
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂