December 1992
I suppose that the desire to visit tropical, sun-kissed, palm-fronded, deserted, golden, sandy beaches came from my reading of books like Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe) and Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson) when I was a child. I had camped on quite a few beautiful sandy beaches while I was in the Sultanate of Oman, but they were missing the palm fronds and tropical island location. Strangely enough, I was able to fly off to spend my Christmas holiday in exactly this environment, in a bizarre manner. I was standing near the bar at the Intercontinental Hotel in Oman, on the coast between the capital, Muscat, and the international airport at Seeb, when I got into a conversation with an Omani gentleman. I use this word with care, because this man was both refined and polite. After chatting about my travels and plans for a while, he looked at me and said, "Would you be interested in going to the Seychelle Islands?". "How come?", I replied. "Well", he said, "I've won a return flight ticket there in a competition and I won't be able to go because I'll be spending time with my wife and family. The ticket is only valid until the end of this year." We arranged a price that I would pay, which was a fraction of the commercial cost, and the deal was done. On the 18th December 1992, my friend John gave me a lift to the airport, I had a short connection in Dubai, and then was on my way to Victoria, the capital of this island nation located just to the north-east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean 1,600km off the coast of Kenya.
The view from the plane window as we came in to land, confirmed for me that I was on the right track to finding my 'desert island'! The palm trees were certainly there, and the island of Mahe, looked very similar to how I had imagined the islands I'd read about in my youth. I booked into a hotel in Victoria and arranged to pick up a Mini Moke the next day. I'd never heard of this form of transport before, but it was certainly well adapted to island exploration. After breakfast the next day, I set off in my Mini Moke. Firstly, I paid a visit to the giant tortoises, which weren't very inspiring, then I had a chore to complete. One of the training directors at PDO had requested that I buy a silk screen painting for him. Therefore, I made my way to the gallery of Michael Adams. The artist's wife met me, and after I had collected the painting I had been sent to get, I couldn't resist buying one myself, which is currently hanging on the wall in my living room. I was able to meet and chat with Michael before leaving his gallery; he is a truly talented artist. He gave me some tips as to local sights to visit, and then the Seychelles treated me to one of several fabulous sunsets I was to experience.
In order to get a taste of a slightly more 'deserted' island, I decided to take a short schooner voyage to the island of Praslin, which I expected to be a bit more relaxing. It's funny how lonely it is to travel by oneself at Christmas. On my last night in Victoria, I went out to a disco, but there were very few people out and about, and the town had a lonely feeling to it. I felt a similar 'aloneness' at Christmas on Ibiza and in the Peloponnese while on my way to Israel.
Sailing is a wonderful way to travel. My first experience of this was while at Plymouth Polytechnic and, although I can't swim very well, I love moving across the water powered only by the wind! The schooner from Victoria to Praslin was about 23 foot long and raced through the water. I had booked a small chalet, a short walk from the beach and, as I found out the next day, I had finally discovered my desert island palm-fronded beach!!!! I was especially proud of the last of these three photos, as it represents a flash in time, where the silhouettes of children on the quayside* were caught in the setting sun (a pity about my leg getting in the way!).
The next day, I set off to visit the Praslin National Park. A local guide explained the history of the sea coconut. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's an interesting little tale. This tree only grows in the Seychelles, more particularly in Praslin and the smaller islands nearby. It has the largest seed of any plant, about four times the size of a normal coconut, and which can grow to a weight of 36kg! These huge nuts, when fully ripe, have the formation of human female genitals! The Seychelles weren't inhabited until the 18th century, so before this, when the sea coconuts fell in the sea and were washed up in foreign lands, no one knew what the were or where they had come from, and, according to my guide, a sea coconut in those days was more valuable than gold!! To complete the bizarre nature of these trees, the male part of the tree, involved in fertilization, bears an uncanny resemblance to a human phallus! (if you don't believe me, check out the last four photos as green links!).
Unfortunately, I could only spend one week in this fantastic archipelago, so after taking one final photo of the bay near my chalet, I made my way to Praslin airport, where I took a small propeller driven plane back to Mahe, and then my flights back to Oman. I left on Christmas Day 1992 and the air crew made us as happy as possible, with Santa hats and free drinks.
*The pronunciation listed under the British flag is incorrect. This word is pronounced /KEE SAID/ in both British and USA English.
