Mahé
Beau Vallon on Mahé is the beach with sand so white and finely grained, one would believe to walk on flour instead. The island is green and rocky with steep slopes. The climate is tropical, and thus adding to the difficulty of simply being there. It does take a week to get used to the humid heat.
After the rain, of which we had a surprising amount, there are mosquitos. And lots of'em! These tiny nuisances are inaudible and unnoticable when landing. Slapping one to death after getting stung feels like a satisfying achievement.
The real attraction above sea level - after the giant tortoises, of course - are the fruitbats. They are most active at dusk and dawn.
We visited Mahé from September 2nd to 21st. For scuba diving this is not necessarily the ideal time, October would be superior. Nonetheless, we had our moments. Especially with sharks.
Moyenne
Bought in 1962 and subsequently inhabited by Brendon Grimshaw, Grimshaw in 2009 eventually managed to turn the island into the smallest national park in the world!
Because of Grimshaw the giant tortoises have a home on the island of Moyenne. They were relocated to Moyenne after their old habitat on Silhouette island had to make way to commercial use.
Today, Moyenne island is inhabited by around one hundred giant tortoises and their offspring.
Brendon Grimshaw died in 2012 and is buried on the island next to supposedly two pirates.
Sea Life
These pictures display corals, moray eels, three box fishes, a green turtle and a hawksbill turtle, a cowfish, a porcelain crab inhabiting an anemone, an eagle ray passing by, and a scorpion fish exercising at what he's doing best.
Of worms, nudibranchs and other sea creatures
The following pictures display worms, nudibranchs and a very colourful peacock mantis shrimp.
Of Beautiful Grey Reef Sharks
Scavengers of the shallow sea, misunderstood creatures that instill neither fear nor terror, these sharks are Grey Reef Sharks.
The very curious animals they are, they investigate everything and are scared off very easily. Making them coming as close as these pictures show, one would ideally behave like a stone fish.
