THE SEYCHELLES: Although a two-day sail from the east coast of mainland Africa, the Seychelles archipelago is still considered to be part of Africa. The Republic of the Seychelles is Africa's smallest nation with a population of less than 100,000. The main island of Mahe is very lush and green with imposing mountains.
Unfortunately, we arrived on a rainy Sunday. Everything in the capital of Victoria was closed, and as there was a heavy cloud cover we didn't see the point of spending money travelling the mountain roads around the island. Thus, we simply walked into town, stopping occasionally for shelter from the rain. The town/city is quite lovely and looks very prosperous. I can't really complain about the rain as this was the first rain we saw since arriving in Africa three weeks earlier.
The Seychelles has the highest per capita prison population in the world; even higher than the United States. Unlike the United States, however, that loves to imprison its own citizens, most of the incarcerated in The Seychelles are captured pirates from Somali.
INVESTMENT IN AFRICA: Wherever we went in Africa we would see some construction; a bridge, a highway, etc. This would not be unusual except that every single time a guide would say "Oh, the Chinese are building that."
THE MALDIVES: Like the Seychelles, the Maldives is a small country in the Indian Ocean (actually a series of atolls). However, there are many differences. Wheras the Seychelles are mountainous, the Maldives never rise more than a very few feet above sea level. Much, if not all of the atolls are threatened by rising sea levels caused by global warming. Culturally the two nations are very different as well; the people of the Seychelles are largely Roman Catholic. On the other hand, the Maldives is a Sunni Moslem country and all other religions are illegal.
After sailing around several of the small atolls (which appear to have beach resorts on them) we anchored off Male, the capital. The entire Male atoll which appears to be about 1.0 kilometer long is crammed with 10-20 story buildings. About 100,000 people live on the atoll which appears to have no green space at all. After arrival in mid-afternoon we tendered to shore and spent an hour or so walking along the narrow shopping streets. I am guessing that the national sport is picking off pedestrians with your motor bike. The cyclists especially love to drive at high speeds along the sidewalks. When a bike is on the street it appears that there is a rule that you must accelerate when coming to a crosswalk, especially if some elderly tourist is trying to cross.
The airport occupies the next atoll to Male. A bridge between the two atolls is currently being constructed by the Chinese.
For our second day the Maldives we had planned an atoll-hoping tour with stops for swimming and snorkeling. However, we awoke to rain and lightning. After discussion with the others in our group we cancelled and spent a quiet day on the ship.
DRILL: This morning the ship's crew practiced a "Man Overboard" drill. They threw a life-size dummy overboard. The next thing they did was toss a orange smoke flare into the sea to mark where the dummy was last spotted. It seemed to take the ship forever to get stopped and turned around, after which they launched a rescue boat. It was amazing how far the dummy got from the ship in only a few minutes. All told it took 30 minutes to rescue the dummy, and this was in daylight and calm seas.
The Captain did say that he was involved in three overboard rescues last summer. Most overboards occur, however, in the middle of the night and are presumed to be suicides or suicide attempts.
Should I fall overboard I don't expect to be rescued, as I doubt I could tread water for 30 minutes, especially when under the influence, which does happen to me occasionally.
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