Since it was early, I walked the 2KM to Victoria, the capital of Seychelles.  It was after 5:00 PM by the time I got to town and almost everything was closed.  I ate dinner at a lively place called Pirates Arms on what seemed to be the main street, and then took a taxi back up the hill to my room.

I walked one kilometer on the white sand beach to Le Meriden Resort where I ate breakfast.  Then I walked back on the road and found an Internet Café where I did some research on where I should go next month.

At 12:30 PM I went to The Coral Strand Hotel where I hoped to register for diving lessons.  The person I needed to see was not in today so I arranged to come back tomorrow morning.  I need to inquire about deep-sea fishing at the same hotel tomorrow also.

In the afternoon, I put the finishing touches on my journal and activated the links before emailing it to Sandy to upload to my website.  I had lunch at The Birdcage Restaurant on the beach and then took a taxi back to La Louise Lodge for my final night.  At 8:00 PM there was a knock on my door and I discovered that somehow I had given the impression that I wanted to have dinner at the lodge that night.  I don’t remember discussing this, however, since they had made dinner for me already, I did not want to offend anyone and I decided to eat.  Dinner was Creole chicken and fish, which turned out to be very good.

At 9:00 PM I returned to my room and packed my stuff so I could check out early tomorrow morning.

Wednesday, March 5, 2003 – Beau Vallon, Mahe, Seychelles

I had coffee and checked-out of La Louise Lodge and moved over to The Sun Resort on the other side of the island.  I walked to The Coral Strand Hotel to meet my dive instructor and watched as a half-dozen people put on dive equipment and swam out to the dive boat, which was moored 150 meters off shore for a day of diving.  The water was very rough and two of the people who were novices were not allowed to go today because of the weather.  I completed the paperwork to register in the course to become an ‘Open Water Diver’ and then returned to my hotel to start to read the 250-page manual.

I walked to the Internet Café in the afternoon to take a break from studying and also to buy some food for dinner.  My room has a full kitchen, which I plan to take advantage of instead of eating out all the time.

Thursday, March 6, 2003 – Beau Vallon, Mahe, Seychelles

Class was over at 4:00 PM and I went back to my hotel.  At 5:00 PM I went over to the Internet Café and then purchased some food for dinner at the little grocery store next door.

Friday, March 7, 2003 – Beau Vallon, Mahe, Seychelles

I finished chapter three of my homework and ate breakfast.  At 8:15 AM I walked over to the Underwater Center to begin another day of class.  Today we spent the morning reviewing the bookwork and then in the afternoon we went back into the pool.  At 4:00 PM class was over and I walked home to finish studying the last tow chapters of my book.

I had pizza for dinner from the restaurant’s take-out service and it proved to be one of the best pizza’s I’d ever had.  I spent the night studying and watching the UN Security Council debate on Iraq.

Saturday, March 8, 2003 – Beau Vallon, Mahe, Seychelles

I woke early and finished studying my dive book.  I ate breakfast and walked over to the Underwater Center where we spent the morning again doing bookwork and then got in the pool for our last confined dive.

I walked back to my hotel for lunch and then returned at 1:30 PM for the afternoon session.  Jules did not feel well so he was not present for the afternoon dive.  This was my first open water dive and I suited up with the other experienced divers and we drove to the other side of the island where we took a boat to a small rock island named Beacon Island about a mile off shore.  My first open water dive was in about 12 meters of water and lasted about 50 minutes with the dive instructor.  It was raining, but that did not affect the underwater environment.  I had a little difficulty finding neutral buoyancy and I had to equalize my ears and sinuses more often than I thought, but the dive was successful and I even saw a small shark.

We got back at 4:00 PM and I walked home and showered.  I had dinner in my apartment and spent the rest of the evening reading.

Sunday, March 9, 2003 – Beau Vallon, Mahe, Seychelles

I walked over to The Underwater Center this morning and found that we could not dive today because the van that ferries us to the other side of the island was not working.  So instead of doing my last two open water dives, I took the final written exam and postponed the dives until tomorrow.

I walked back to my hotel at 11:00 AM, passing by 4 giant turtles, which The Coral Strand Hotel keeps in an enclosure on their grounds.  Giant turtles used to be found throughout The Seychelles, but are now principally found on one island, which is located 12 miles off the coast of Beau Vallon.  The government limits access to this island and the turtle population is flourishing (180,000 at last count).  Some of the tortoises are over 100 years old.

In the afternoon, I walked up to the north end of Mahe Island and back.  There wasn’t much up there but it was a nice walk.  I swam in the afternoon and read before having dinner.

Monday, March 10, 2003 – Beau Vallon, Mahe, Seychelles

Today it was raining hard in the morning so I was not able to complete my final two dives.  It did clear up in the afternoon, however, and we were able to go out and I completed the course.  I’ll probably return to Beau Vallon next week and take an additional dive course so I am qualified to dive on shipwrecks and other interesting sites.

Tomorrow I plan to take a boat to Praslin, the Seychelles second largest island where I’ll stay for a few days before going on to La Digue, another island.

Tuesday, March 11, 2003 – Grand Anse, Praslin, Seychelles

Since I was leaving before breakfast, the hotel brought me breakfast last night so I could eat at 6:00 AM in my room.  By 6:30 AM I had packed and checked-out.  I had arranged for a taxi to take me to the ferry terminal where I caught the Cat Cocos to Praslin at 7:30 AM.  The 60 km trip took an hour and there were about 50 passengers on board.

Upon arrival in Praslin, I walked to Baie St. Anne and then took a bus to Grand Anse.  The bus took one of two roads over the mountains passing through Vallee De Mai National Park.  This park is a UN World Heritage Site and is the natural home of the Coco de Mer plant which produces the world’s largest nut at 20 kilograms.  It is also home to the black parrot.  I plan to visit the park tomorrow.

Once in Grand Anse, I didn’t spend too much time shopping for a hotel since I had a 50-pound backpack.  I checked into La Cuvette Guesthouse for one night and then went to explore the area.  I found an Internet Café and a number of hotels in the $250/night range.  The law in Seychelles states that you must pay for your hotel and other tourist type expenses in foreign currency at the official exchange rate, about twice what you can get on the black market.  This is putting a squeeze on the dollars and pounds sterling I have and my ATM card will only get me local currency.

I found a small hotel I liked better than the one I had checked into earlier so I made a reservation to move there tomorrow.  It rained a little in the afternoon and I spent time reading and swimming in the hotel’s pool.  I skipped dinner as I was feeling guilty for neglecting my exercises recently, but the heat and humidity here on the equator makes it difficult.

Wednesday, March 12, 2003 – Grand Anse, Praslin, Seychelles

I checked out of La Cuvette and walked a kilometer down to road to Casa de Maestro where I had reserved a room with half board (breakfast and dinner) for $50/night.  I left my large backpack and walked to the Internet Café and spent an hour on-line.

At 10:30 AM I walked up to Vallee De Mai National Park where I walked the nature trails for an hour.  At noon, I continued down to the other side of the mountain and walked 5 km to Cote D’Or, the beach on the northeast side of the island.  I found a casino where I spent a couple hours in air-conditioned comfort, and then walked to The Berjaya Praslin Beach Resort, which has a dive center.  I spoke to them about arranging some dive trips and will probably move over to this side of the island the day after tomorrow.

At 4:30 PM I took a bus back to my hotel where I took a dip in the pool to cool off before dinner.  Dinner was served at 7:00 PM and consisted of Grilled Parrot Fish with coconut sauce.  For some reason, I was the only person at dinner, even though there are at least a few other guests in the hotel.

Thursday, March 13, 2003 – Grand Anse, Praslin, Seychelles

There were twelve other people at dinner, mostly French and German.  I think I must be the only American in Seychelles presently.  The group of Germans is going to La Digue tomorrow so I shared my experiences there.  Dinner was grilled parrotfish with mango sauce.  In talking with the server, I learned that they serve grilled fish (usually parrotfish), every night – only the sauce changes.

March 14, 2003 – Cote D’Or, Praslin Island, Seychelles

I ate breakfast and then checked out of the hotel.  I walked to the Internet café and although the network was down, I was able to spend an hour typing my journal.

I found a road (which turned out to be a trail) that went over the mountain to Cote D’Or so I decided to walk to the other side of the island instead of taking a taxi or bus.  The path was steep, but much faster than walking all the way around the island.  Somehow, I must have taken a wrong turn, because I wound up 2 kilometers west of where I thought I would meet the beach on the other side of the island.  I walked to Cote D’Or on the beach and checked into Rosemary’s Guesthouse, which was next door to the dive center and right on the beach.

I spent the afternoon walking on the beach and reading.  I’ve finished four books now on South Africa, two of which have to do with the struggle to overthrow aparthide and I must confess that my views on the necessity to use violence to overcome government oppression (in that case) have softened.

I had planned to eat dinner next door at the Beach Resort, but was not hungry so I skipped dinner and went to sleep.

Saturday, March 15, 2003 – Cote D’Or, Praslin Island, Seychelles

I woke early and went out to the beach to watch the sunrise.  With the exception of a few fishermen, I was the only one on the beach.  Every now and then, a fish would jump up out of the water, and then dive back in.  I also noticed lots of sand creatures busy making their homes in the sand.  The sunrise was beautiful illuminating the tops of the few clouds and making them glow orange.

Breakfast was served on the patio.  I picked up a new book from the guesthouse library and hope I’ll be able to finish it before I leave tomorrow or Monday.  At 9:00 AM I walked to the dive center next door.  I was the only customer for this morning’s dive so Vivi, the manager, had arranged for us to dive with another dive company’s group.  We got our gear and drove down the beach road.  Using their boat, we went about ½ kilometer out into the bay where we dove in two groups; Vivi and I, and three other people in the second group.  The water was 13 meters deep and we dove for almost an hour.  We say a large octopus, lionfish and thousands of tropical fish.  I did not experience any of the discomfort I had on my last dive and had a great time.

We got back to the dive center at 11:00 AM and I spent an hour getting some lunch.  At noon, I took a boat with another group of people to a small outcropping of rocks where we snorkeled for a half hour.  This time I saw a 4’ shark, although I don’t know if it was a reef shark or a white tip shark – I’m still practicing how not to panic when I see a shark.  After snorkeling, the boat took us to Curieuse Island.  This whole island is a national park and I saw giant tortoises, coco de mur palms and walked through a mangrove forest.  The boat returned to pick us up at 4:00 PM.

I showered and read my new book ‘Angela’s Ashes’ for a while.  At 7:30 PM I walked to the Beach Resort next door and had a nice dinner.  It was the first time I had not been served fish for dinner since arriving in Seychelles.  The resort had a singer for entertainment, but I did not stay long and went back to bed at 9:30 PM.

Sunday, March 16, 2003 – Cote D’Or, Praslin Island, Seychelles

I went for a 2 mile run this morning on the beach.  To cool off, I went for a swim in the ocean, but the water here is so warm, I had to take a cold shower afterward to stop perspiring.  Breakfast was at 8:00 AM.  I walked down to the Internet Café but it was closed on Sunday.  Instead I mailed some postcards and walked back to my hotel to read.

At 2:00 PM I went to the dive center and met a group of seven other people who were diving today.  Several of the people were from the film crew that is making a feature length movie ‘The Thunderbirds’, and seem to have taken over many of the hotels & rental cars.  We took the boat out to ‘Red Point’ where we dove for an hour.  We saw two 6’ sharks, a stingray, octopus and thousands of tropical fish.  We were back by 4:00 PM and I went home and showered.  Tonight I plan to go up to the casino for dinner and some gambling.

I walked to the casino at 5:00 PM and spent a couple of hours playing their slot machines.  At 7:30 PM I went upstairs to their very elegant restaurant (which had been recommended by a chef I met diving the other day).  I saw Vivi & her husband, from the dive center and said hello.  The dinner was excellent with wonderful presentation and atmosphere.

Monday, March 17, 2003 – Beau Vallon, Mahe Island, Seychelles

I ran the same two-mile course along the beach as yesterday and then had breakfast.  I checked-out of the guesthouse and walked down to the bus stop where I planned to get the bus to the ferry jetty.  I passed by an ATM, but when I tried to get cash it malfunctioned so I’ll have to call them to make sure they don’t charge my account.

The bus was late and I was concerned about missing the 9:00 AM boat, but it finally came and I got to the jetty with five minutes to spare.  I read during the one-hour boat trip back to Mahe Island, and then took a taxi over to Beau Vallon where I checked back into the Sun Resort where I’ll spend the next six nights.

I walked to the Underwater Center and signed up for a new 4-day course to qualify me as an ‘Advanced Open Water Diver’.  The course will start tomorrow.  Jean-Paul suggested I go with the group on their afternoon dive, so I suited up and we went to L’illot.  I dove with Jacques from South Africa who is here on business.  He’ll be in the same class as me tomorrow so it was good to have already met him and dove with him once.

At 4:00 PM I went back to The Sun Resort and started studying my new textbook.  I ordered a pizza from the coffee shop and ate half of it for dinner.

Tuesday, March 18, 2003 – Beau Vallon, Mahe Island, Seychelles

I woke at 4:00 AM to watch President Bush give Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave Iraq.  At 6:00 AM I went for a run and did three laps of what I think is a one-mile loop.  I ate breakfast at 7:30 AM and went to the Underwater Center an hour later.  It turns out I was unable to dive this morning so I returned to my hotel to continue studying.  At noontime, I returned to the Underwater Center to do a navigation dive with Jean-Paul.  As we were getting ready to leave, one of the Dive Masters spotted a huge manta ray about 100 meters off shore slowly swimming parallel to the beach.  I was amazed he could see it from that distance, but I finally saw it also.  Jean-Paul raced into the water and swam the 100 meters so he could swim alongside the manta, which was much larger than he was.

My navigation dive was at ‘Willy’s Point’ and lasted about 45 minutes.  Tomorrow I’ll do a deep dive, scheduled for 80 feet.

In the late afternoon, I spent some time working on my journal and then bought some fruit, which I took back to my room for dinner.  I spent most of the night watching the continuing developments on Iraq.

Wednesday, March 19, 2003 – Beau Vallon, Mahe Island, Seychelles

I ran my new loop three times again this morning, ate breakfast and went to the Underwater Center.  Today I did my first deep dive to 25 meters at a wreck site called ‘The Dredger’.  The dive went well and did not seem too much different than the shallower dives I’ve been doing for the last couple weeks.

I went back to my hotel at lunchtime and spent a couple hours studying before my afternoon dive at 2:00 PM.  This afternoon we dove on another wreck named ‘The Twin Barges’.  This was also considered a deep dive, although it was only to 18 meters.  Both of today’s wrecks were intentionally sunk by the Seychelles Navy to create interesting dive sites for tourists.

In the afternoon, I went up to the Internet Café for an hour, and then bought some food, which I took home for dinner.  I spent the evening studying and watching more coverage on CNN of the Iraq situation.

Thursday, March 20, 2003 – Beau Vallon, Mahe Island, Seychelles

After running this morning, I ate and then walked over to the Underwater Center for my first of two dives today.  In the morning Jacques and I dove together at The Shark Bank, about six miles straight off the Beau Vallon Beach in about 30 meters of water.  It was very rough and just getting into the water took about ten minutes.  The current was strong and we descended on the anchor line to the bottom.  It was so deep that we only had 15 minutes of bottom time.  We say a ray, lots of fish, but no sharks.  I hope that learning to dive here in Seychelles, where I’ve become disappointed when all I see is ‘thousands of tropical fish’ – but no sharks or turtles, will not spoil me for future dive lications.

I went back to the hotel for lunch and then returned in the afternoon for a second dive.  This dive was full so Jacques couldn’t go.  I was paired with Jean-Paul for a multi-level dive.  We took the boat seven miles to the other end of Mahe Island where we dove at a site named ‘Conception’.  My dive was planned for 10 minutes at 18 meters, and then 36 minutes at 12 meters.  It was still rough, but we were close to the shore and there was a good size surge.  I did see a couple of small sharks, a turtle and lots of fish.

After the dive, I had completed the diving portion of my ‘Advanced Open Water’ certification and will complete the written exam tomorrow.  I spent an hour at the Internet Café in the late afternoon, and then went home for dinner and to watch CNN.

Friday, March 21, 2003 – Beau Vallon, Mahe Island, Seychelles

Today I ran four miles before breakfast and then went to the dive center for my final exam.  I spent about an hour with Glynis, the owner, going over my coursework, which served as my final exam.

I walked up to the Internet Café at 11:00 AM and spent an hour trying to finish my journal.  At noon, I went back to The Sun Resort for lunch, reading and an afternoon swim in the pool.  I returned to work on my journal when the Internet Café re-opened at 1:30 PM.  At 5:30 PM I bought some food and headed back to my hotel.

Saturday, March 22, 2003 – Beau Vallon, Mahe Island, Seychelles

I cut one minute off the time it took me to run my four-mile course this morning, and then cooled off in the pool.  I had planned to dive this morning, but I still had more work to do on the computer and the Internet Café was only open in the morning today.  I changed my dive to the afternoon and spent the morning on-line.  At 2:00 PM we took the boat six miles offshore to a small outcropping of rock named ‘Brisare’ where we dove for 45 minutes.

This last dive was the best of the last three weeks.  We saw octopus, rays, two huge moray eels, a small shark, lots of colourful coral and millions of tropical fish.  I dove with a guy from Yugoslavia who now lives in Seychelles, and who had fought in The Kosovo Army.  He said he was on the ground in Kosovo when the USA/NATO bombed the country for 78 days and was lucky to escape.  It was an unusual time to meet someone when we just started bombing Iraq yesterday.

I said my good-byes to the people I had met and dove with during the last few weeks, and went back to my hotel to start packing my stuff for the flight to London tomorrow.

Sunday, March 23, 2003 – British Air flight 64 to London

I ran three miles this morning, swam and then ate breakfast.  Since my flight to Nairobi is not until 4:00 PM, I planned to stay at the hotel until noon and then make my way to the airport.  My taxi driver came at 1:00 PM to take me to the airport.  I gave him two red hundred rupee notes for the 125-rupee fare and he was elated when I told him to keep the change and quickly stuffed the bills in his pocket.  A half-hour later I realised I had given him two red hundred yuan notes (worthless outside China) by mistake.

My flight to Nairobi was uneventful and I was able to wait in BA’s first class lounge for the four hours between my arrival and the connecting flight to London.  The London flight was crowded with intense security getting aboard.

Monday, March 24, 2003 – London, England

My flight landed at Heathrow at 5:00 AM, but immigration and customs were both open and I got through quickly.  I stopped at the BA ticket counter to buy a ticket back to New York on Wednesday.  It’s cheaper to buy a round trip ticket than a one way ticket.  Plus, anyone buying a one way ticket is flagged for extra security and it takes longer to get aboard.

I checked a bag I wouldn’t need in London at the airport and took the Underground to the city where I checked back into the Adelphi Grange Hotel (at a much better rate than I had paid before).  I’ll sty in London for a couple days and return to Connecticut Wednesday for a few weeks to take care of some personal business and plan where I should go next.