Saturday
Dear Elsie
Today we arrived in the Seychelles. We crossed the equator late last night.
Seychelles – Tiny country just south of the Equator makes it super hot. They said it was 30C but felt like 34C. From the comfort of our cabin balcony we watched with interest as we passed the many islands that make up Seychelles.
Seychelles has beautiful crystal clear waters and some amazing looking equatorial forests on the mountainside interspersed with impressive looking homes.
Coming into the harbour…
The port, however, is unassuming, although the locals were very welcoming.
Mike and I had a late lunch and then once the crowds had disembarked we did too. We watched the guests stream off the ship…
Our plan was to do some shopping at the local mall and then spec out where we plan to walk tomorrow.
That done, we strolled the streets of Port Victoria where a street market was in progress.
It was super humid. We were dripping, so eventually stopped at a cafe and bought a couple of cokes. They were happily, half the price of the ship! We sat on a bench and enjoyed them. Then we just hung around watching the buses going by – looking at the cars – most of which were quite modern and just observing how young the population of Seychelles seems to be. There are a lot of young people.
And so here we are! Tomorrow, we hope to walk to Beau Vallon Beach, which is about 3.5km away. We saw a lot of buses today. I don’t know if they run on a Sunday but we have some Seychelle Rupees if they do. We are ready to catch a bus or a taxi to get us back to the harbour should the need arise. Elsie, your Granpa Mike is a marvellous tour guide. He just knows where to go and I just follow.
When we arrived back on the ship, two things had happened. The internet was completely non functional in the cabin, so I came downstairs to closer to the reception and am typing this in the dining room. But, look, a gift from MSC. They have a loyalty programme and a free cabin gift – choc dipped strawberries! Yum.
Today, I felt my clothes were slightly tighter! Groan! Even eating twice a day is not enough to keep the extra kilos at bay. And I’ve done 16000 steps today. I’m consuming way too many calories with each meal. There are things I want to do at least once on this cruise. One of them is having the afternoon tea which is like a high tea every afternoon at 4pm. I haven’t done that yet. The other thing I did this morning. I kept seeing the breakfast cake and said just once I want chocolate cake at breakfast. Mike and I shared a piece! This was my half.
As soon as we arrive home, we’ll get back into our normal routine and I’ll shed the extra kilos.
Our comfortable floating hotel…
The deck above the MSC Sinfonia was where we were yesterday. This one…
Isaiah 42:10
Sing to the Lord a new song, Sing His praise from the end of the earth!
You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it. You islands, and those who dwell on them.
We saw a Church with the words on the front door, ‘Come Holy Spirit Come!’ There was choir practice going on inside a couple of churches in the town – His praises being sung from the end of the earth – on the islands.
The best is yet to come – we are only passing through.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Gran xx 🙂