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...