THE SEYCHELLES

We have had three idyllic days in the Seychelles, the smallest African country: total pop. 95,000 scattered on 115 islands or so in the Indian Ocean. So boats of every sort abound, crisscrossing the turquoise waters, carrying goods and fishermen and tourists from one place to another. One thing doesn’t seem to move very well: the 250,000+ giant tortoises that creep across the landscape. The coco de mer is endemic here also, the world’s largest nut that quite closely resembles female buttocks etc.

The culture is rich and energetic. French and English settlers (18th century) acquired African slaves to work the land (of course!), and then small colonies of Indian and Chinese came --- and then --- they all seemed to slowly merge into a multi-racial, multi-cuisined, multi-linguistic harmonious blend of Creole culture that seems to work. The Seychelles have the highest per capita GDP ($30,000) in Africa; they export fish and spices originally planted by the French horticulturist Pierre Poivre. Their churches - and their Hindu temple - are spiffy; smartly painted picket fences line the roads on which most folks bicycle along.

And then there are the beaches. The sand is REALLY finer than sugar, the water warm and the birds atweet.