This spider, along with all of it's relatives, is extremely large..We started to think there must be steroids in the rain on LaDigue.  Everything but the people is big on LaDigue (oh, the Diet Coke supply hasn't been hit by steroids yet either).  This bug is as big as my hand...no kidding.

OK, I've always hated bats...However, these GIANT fruit bats are so big you can't be scared of them..They are laughable.  When they flap their wings it creates a breeze and when they land on a fruit tree they are so big the giant trees creek and moan under their weight.  The bats would come out at dusk and fill up the skies looking for unsuspecting mangos and papayas.  Charlie was in his idea of heaven.  He loves our children's book about a baby fruit bat called Stellaluna.  He also LOVES insects so seeing snails the size of his fist and spiders the size of his face was totally cool for him.

Sunset on LaDigue..

One of the highlights of each day was going into a local market and getting everybody a treat.  On LaDigue we found donuts for the kids and lots of Diet Coke for the Mom.  YEA!  Cairo picked up a mango too.

Post donut sunset shot.  Charlie's face is an indicator that this shot was taken AFTER the donuts!

These are the street signs on LaDigue..I decided after seeing the fruit bats, the giant spiders, worms, snails and the graveyard that a Halloween tour of LaDigue would be perfect..It could be a scary place at sunset if you wanted to see it that way.

Even the plants are giant on LaDigue.  Look at this plant on the road side.  The plants are in perfect proportion to the bats, spiders, snails, centipedes, and raindrops.  We were the ones that didn't fit.  It was like we had been shrunk and were living in a world twice our size.

Our guest house on LaDigue had an outdoor shower on the way up to our rooms.  We took the chance to clean off the sand from the beach.

Charlie feeding the giant tortoises on LaDigue.

The best way to get around LaDigue is by bicycle.  The guest house had bikes for all of us.  Charlie and Jack were in kids seats on the backs of mine and Brad's.  We cycled all around the island, rain (AND can it ever rain!!!) or shine.  Cairo was especially into the biking.  By the last day she was taking off on her little bike to go the store to buy us all treats.  There was 

NO Diet Coke OR Diet Pepsi left on the island

so we had to leave..we went back to Mahe.. (Not really the reason, we were scheduled to leave but there really was no Diet Cola left on the island, believe me, we checked!!)

Cairo and Brad are perfect little travel buddies.  She ALWAYS wants to be out exploring, no matter what the weather is like.  The two of them took a bike ride around the whole island and came back for the rest of us just as it started to RAIN...CATS AND DOGS AND FRUIT BATS!

The 3 boys and I stood under some giant leaves of a giant tree on this island that has EVERYTHING BIG,  INCLUDING THE RAIN.  

We still got soaked but Cairo and Brad didn't even try to take cover.

We were at a beach voted the "WORLD'S 2nd BEST".  In my opinion, the number one spot goes to the beach we went to the following day..

Jack with the Cowry Shell.  We were on this wonderful beach with the clearest water and these gigantic black granite boulders.  We snorkeled, found shells and climbed on the rocks all morning.  After we had been there for about 3 hours the clouds came in and it started to rain so we headed back to the hotel pool.

Jack has the whole snorkeling thing down like a pro.  He had a great time.

Sam and I on Mahe.. Our last day in the Seychelles. The low hanging clouds just added to the beauty and the water and air were still perfect temperatures.

These are more shots from the island of LaDigue.  It is full of amazing beauty.  Crystal clear water, white sand and giant granite rocks tumbling into the ocean.  The most amazing thing was that we were virtually alone on every beach.  It was like our own private island. 

Charlie with our sand sculptures..a dolphin and a gecko.  There were plenty of geckos around the island so we were fairly certain this was an exact replica...just a little bigger.

Cairo and Charlie with the Cowry shells found while snorkeling.  They still had animals living in them so we watched them for a while then put them back to live out the rest of their lives in the waters of the Indian Ocean.

Charlie didn't quite have the snorkel thing down yet so he just wore some swim goggles and floated along with Brad.  The next day at the hotel swim pool we figured out he had the snorkel in his mouth wrong.  Now he just about has it mastered.

Cairo with one of the fish she saved yesterday after the net was pulled in.

shells and sea glass

We rented a car and took a drive yesterday.  BEACHES, BEACHES, BEACHES...the coast is dotted with granite rocks that look like giant hippos half submerged.  Around each corner is a new secluded beach with crystal clear water and NO PEOPLE.  It's amazing how quiet and private every beach is.  We stopped and enjoyed finding treasures on a beach.  I've always been intrigued by the idea of sea glass.  A broken bottle, rolled and tumbled to a soft, smooth, cloudy-colored treasure.  The beach was sprinkled with different colors of sea glass.  Once a dangerous, menacing piece of glass, now little treasures to be saved as souvenirs.  There were also so many shells.  It was as if nature had planned a treasure hunt for our entertainment.  We spent 2 hours collecting little treasures, climbing on rocks..And Cairo (the girl once chased by a buffalo in Yellowstone) found extra excitement by rousing a couple of guard dogs on some one's property on a cliff above the beach.  The dogs ran right past Brad and after Cairo's cute little tush.  The whole story goes like this:

Brad, Cairo, and the little guys climbed around an outcropping of giant granite rocks.  Sam and I stayed behind hunting for sea glass..After the 4 of them had been out of sight for about 20 minutes our peaceful treasure hunt was interrupted by the loud barking of two dogs above the rocks on a piece of property.  When we looked up we saw Brad's tan, shiny back sprinting away from two angry dogs.  We could even hear him kind of yelling "Eyyyeyyyyeyyyy!"

Had we not seen the dogs stop and Brad escape safely it would have been terrifying.  Instead we got a good laugh and waited for their return.  They had obviously climbed the side of the hill and were trying to come down a different way when they surprised..(or were surprised, or both) the two dogs.  On their return we were talking to Brad about how scary it could have been if the dogs would have gotten a hold of one of them.  That's when Brad told us that Cairo had been the one the dogs were interested in.  She was behind Brad and apparently the dogs ran right past Brad and were inches from having Cairo sandwich for lunch.  He was screaming to try to get them away from her.  

(That's his story and he's sticking with it...)

A room with a view.

The Seychelles..Wow, it's impossible to describe the beauty that is all around us.  Even the ocean, which isn't really a NEW sight for us, is bigger, bluer, more clear.  It couldn't be more clear.  There is so much green that while driving today Sam said it was hurting his eyes.  (That's a kid who's been in the desert too long.)  When I took of my polarized lenses, I realized it really was so INCREDIBLY BRIGHT.  The sun was bright and made the constant green of the hills brighter than seemed naturally possible.  

Our accommodations are PERFECT.  I know, it sounds like I'm in that "vacation ecstasy".  But really, we got all kinds of lucky when I got on the internet 24 hours before we were to arrive and sent out mass emails to several guest houses that claimed to have beachfront property.  The offices of all the places had closed for the day so we went to bed the night before our trip with a place in mind but we weren't too excited about it.  After a busy last day of school and lots of errands before our departure, it was evening before I was able to check on the responses from my emails the night before.  When I logged on I saw that 5 of the places had room for us.  One of which had only 3 nights available.  That one happened to stick in my mind as having a "Good Website".  Even though it was all written in french, the colors and graphics were nice, so I assumed the place must have some class. Right?  Brad and I looked at it again online and decided to take our chances and then move to another island after the 3 nights.

We LOVE THIS PLACE.  It couldn't be more perfect for our family.  Three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms a kitchen and....A T.V. AND D.V.D. PLAYER.  These last items are really hard to come by in this country where couples like to come to "Get Away From It All".  That's just the inside.  The outside steps down 5 quick steps to the sand and a giant bowing palm tree complete with a warning sign for dropping coconuts...Channelling Gilligan's Island anyone?  Our balconies, YES 2 of them.  Look out onto the beach and the sunsets and the french doors stay open all night for nature's air conditioning...which does a great job of cooling the place as well as allowing for that wonderful sound of crashing waves.  If our kids weren't sooo much fun and sooo darn cute, I might think Brad and I should have come alone...

Today's Catch..

Brad helped the locals pull in their catch this morning.  As the net got closer, Cairo and Charlie decided it looked like fun.  The guys couldn't believe they wanted to help them "work".  A great start to a PERFECT Day!

Charlie was thrilled with the flipping, flopping fish!  He grabbed the small ones and helped throw them back to be caught another day.

Charlie slept late.  The sound of crashing waves must have been his lullaby.  He slept 3 hours later than the rest of us...But, Cairo got us up at 4:30!  Did someone think we were on vacation?

We have to thank Cairo for helping us get up to see the sunrise and take advantage of a full day.

We're Off to the Seychelles

 Can we really go wrong visiting a country with a flag this CHEERFUL??

Really, it makes me smile just to look at it.

Thanks for voting.  We made the quick decision to take of for the Seychelles.  We leave tomorrow night.  It's a long flight but we are bound to have a wonderful time exploring the islands that can be found east of the African continent and just south of the equator.  It's going to be a different vacation than what we were prepared for with Thailand.  This location demands rest, relaxation, reading, sand castles, turtle watching, bird searching, island hopping, snorkeling, scuba-diving and lots of adventure for the family in a relatively untouched part of the world.