Coping with the coronavirus, seeing the Seychelles: Mahe to Praslin, Day 4

Meanwhile, back in the jungle...

I'm writing this blog post at home, as I always do. What is unusual is that I'm doing this at home on a Thursday, on a day when under normal circumstances I would've gone to the office. But as we all know, these are not normal times. 70% of the Americans in my section have left or are leaving as normal operations have ceased, except for emergency cases, while virtually all local staff have been told not to go to work until further notice. Authorized departure has been approved, meaning those who wish to leave Ethiopia may do so, but we've decided to stay for the time being. Why? Mainly because we don't have a home in the U.S. to which to return. The option would therefore be to relocate to D.C., and be housed in a small apartment and placed in some office somewhere in order to keep me busy. Considering the seeming inability of American health authorities to come up with a coordinated plan to handle the situation with Covid-19, we're better off here, at least for the time being. Whether or not the Ethiopian government decides to shut down the country, or at least the capital city, remains to be seen. It's a situation that is continually changing, but for the time being we aren't in quarantine.

Yet.

Which is why I'm glad we were able to enjoy the Seychelles while we could. And so this blog series continues, as on a Tuesday morning we checked out of The Palms Seychelles, drove to the Cat Cocos Berth in Victoria (where we left the rental car in the parking lot with the keys under the floor mat - car return is very casual/trusting in the Seychelles), and then took the 10:30 ferry from Mahé 45 kilometers (28 miles) northeast to Praslin, the second-largest island in the Seychelles:

Leaving the port in Victoria:

Approaching Praslin:

We picked up another rental car in the Praslin port parking lot and drove from there to the Vallée de Mai national park, where we first had lunch. The nature reserve is one of only two places in the world (both in the Seychelles) where the rare coco de mer palm tree grows in its natural state. The coco de mer coconut is probably the most erotic fruit on earth, as this example at the cafe demonstrates:

Vallée de Mai is one of two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Seychelles. The other is the Aldabra Atoll, 1200 kilometers (700 miles) southwest of Victoria:

We spent a couple of hours walking through the forest. Shu-E checks out some other examples of the sexy coconut:

The national park is home to more than just the coco de mer, as this jackfruit proves:

The coco de mer trees can soar as high as 30 meters (98 feet) above the forest floor:

Vallée de Mai is home to the endangered Seychelles black parrot, of which there are between 520 and 900 left in the wild:

I strained to see any parrots in the canopy overhead, without any luck...:

...but I'm certain I heard one, as they have a distinctive whistling call:

We did see a Seychelles blue pigeon:

On our way out of the reserve, I took this photo of the male coco de mer tree, the flower stem of which can grow up to a meter in length and only adds to the tree's steamy reputation:

It was the middle of the afternoon by the time we had finished at the Vallée de Mai. We drove to the northwest side of Praslin and located our accommodations for the next two nights. The Sunset Cove Villa is a comfortable three-bedroom house just steps from the sea. Shu-E relaxes outside the bedrooms:

The back of the house faces the Indian Ocean. We would eat all our meals outside. At night Shu-E and I would relax on the chaise lounges and gaze up at the star-filled southern night sky:

Two kilometers offshore lies Cousin Island, a nature reserve:

We even had our own private beach. Amber and I went for a swim before dinner; Shu-E took a dip after the sun had set:

The sunset was glorious, truly glorious:

This is how I would like to spend my retirement - in a small but comfortable house by the sea, listening to the waves crashing against the shore, and staring up at night at a star-filled sky.

Fuck the coronavirus: