For the past five days we have been sailing the Seychelles islands on at 47 foot boat called "Navio". On the small uninhabited island of Cousin, hundreds of thousands of colorful and rare birds nest in low branches and on the ground. With no predators on the island, the birds are tame in the wild and let you get within a few inches of them. On the island of Curieuse we ran across several giant tortoises, some weighing 500 pounds and more than 100 years old. They are surprisingly agile for their size and we quickly discovered that they liked being scratched on the neck like a dog. Skyler and Sherry are now trying to figure out how to get one home - "Maybe we could tell customs it's a coffee table!!"

We stopped at a small island called Big Sister that is no more than 1/4 mile long and about 500 feet wide. At each end of the island are 50 foot piles of huge granite boulders. These boulder mounds are connected with a strip of flat grassy land with beaches on both sides and numerous palm trees along the beaches and scattered around a small lagoon in the center. We snorkeled just off of the island for about an hour. The water is clear and shallow, only three or four feet deep even several hundred feet from the shore. Effortlessly we floated along looking down upon huge colorful coral in all shades of yellows, blues and whites. Tropical fish of every color and description swam by, some even following us on our meandering path. The snorkeling has exceeded any of the scuba diving we have done in either the Caribbean or here in the Seychelles. After snorkeling we picnicked on the beach and barbecued the previous night's catch of red snapper.

At the end of each day we anchored in a bay and were treated to a gourmet meal fixed by Frederick, our 27 year old captain and trained chef. After dinner Frederick and his crewman and friend Albert, would entertain us with stories of the islands' pirate history and contemporary life in the Seychelles.

We have all fallen in love with the Seychelles, but none more than Skyler. He is ready to stop here for good and sail with Frederick and Albert forever. So it was not very hard for us to decide to extend our stay here another week. Skyler's going to work with Frederick on the boat taking tourists from the hotels on day cruises, while Ken, Sherry and Piper hang out and discover some more of those fabulous beaches and that great Creole food. If you don't hear from us after another ten days, you'd better send a rescue party to get us on the move again.

- From Paradise, Ken, Sherry, Piper and Skyler

              
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