Fairy terns, sooty terns
Trip Start
Aug 01, 1978
1
10
31
Trip End
Sep 01, 1978
La Digue Island, Seychelles Islands
Saturday, August 12, 1978
Finally, the boat came, took one look at all of us, and disappeared again. Then another couple came to wait. The boat returned about 45 minutes later, and all ten of us were able to get in. We had to wade out in thigh-high water, which was fun. Inside the cabin, the boat reeked of gasoline. And the ride over was rough. The two ladies jokingly complained, but I thought it wasn't too bad.
At Cousin, a native canoe came to take 6 people to shore, then came back for the other four. There was also a yacht waiting there. The family from the yacht was French. Our guide spoke excellent English.
We some some noddy terns and fairy terns perched on the tree right by the boathouse. Below the tree was a mother and a baby tropic bird. As we walked, we began to see many geckoes and lizards. We saw a brush warbler. There used to be only 20 of these birds left, but now there are over 200, all on Cousin. We walked, seeing fairy terns and noddy terns. Here and there were other birds. We also saw tortoises in an enclosure.
We climbed to the top of a hill, and our guide found a millipede. He put it on Ann's hand, but Ann dropped it. Just almost to the top of the hill, we saw an adult tropic bird. There were others, but they were pretty well hidden. At the very top was a juvenile tropic bird. The view from the top was fantastic. We saw many tropic birds, sooty terns, and noddy terns flying around.
Walking down the hill, there were two birds in our path. Mom snapped a photo, then the birds took off, hitting both of us. My shower shoe broke, but Dad fixed it.
Going back in the boat, Mom and Dad got soaked. As soon as we landed, we rushed off to the Chateau ... but on the way up, our car couldn't make it, so we hitched a ride from the two ladies and their tour bus. We had just enough time to grab our luggage, sanwiches, and a glass of water, then rush to the doc. There, the Lady Mary II was waiting to take us to La Digue. The ride over was rough. When we reach La Digue, we had our luggage transferred to an ox cart. Then we got in an plodded along the 700 metres to our hotel. Our rooms are "A-frame" and had two lofts. We relaxed the rest of the day, had dinner, and went to bed.
