Well and truly spoiled!

On Thursday morning, we waved goodbye to my parents who had come to visit us and have a bit of a break on our beautiful island. It was WONDERFUL to see them after nearly a year of being away and they spoiled us rotten with lovely meals out and day trips that we otherwise would no way be able to afford! Here are some selcted highlights from the two weeks that we were able to spend with them...





Their first day on the island we whisked them away from the airport and did a whirlwind tour of town. Having flown through the night they were both pretty exhausted but we kept them going until about 8ish in the evening when they very gratefully collapsed into bed! Because it was Ramadan when they arrived there were very few places in town open for drinks and meals during the day. However, just as they were about to collapse with exhaustion, we found a hotel where we could have a much needed drink while looking out over the beautiful Indian Ocean!


After a hectic first day on the island, we allowed them a small amount of time to rest and relax at a local hotel with a lovely swimming pool. Here they are looking a bit more rested and like they're on holiday!!

At Prison Island, one of the few things to do here, visiting some tortoises that were a gift from the Seychelles many years ago. Apparently this guy was 16 years old (or something like that...)

Another great day trip - harassing dolphins! This picture was taken at sunrise one morning as we were on our way to find the dolphins in order to throw ourselves out of the boat in an attempt to swim with them.

One of Rich's highlights - the hotel mum and dad stayed in had a water sports centre and they had these little catamarans which my dad and Rich took out a couple of times. They were great fun to sail around in and I think even I could manage one (with some instruction beforehand) - there was only one rope to worry about!

We took the opportunity to go on our first spice tour after 10 months of living on spice island. For some reason they made silly hats and crowns out of coconut leaves that we then had to wear for the rest of the tour...

Rich didn't approve of this...

On our last day together, we went on a day trip to a sandbank which was about 5 miles or so from the island. We had the sandbank entirely to ourselves and went snorkelling in the reef surrounding it. The boat driver set up a table and chairs and sun shade for us and left fruit platters, cake, sandwiches and soda for lunch. He then took the boat and left us there to have lunch and to enjoy ourselves until the tide came in and the sandbank was swallowed by the sea again. This picture was taken after Dad and Rich had returned to the boat leaving Mum and I abandoned on what was left of the sandbank. You can see that we were very concerned about our fate!


On the way home from the sandbank, Mum asked the driver of the boat to stop and then promptly threw herself off the top of the boat. We were all quite astonished, not least because the boat hadn't quite stopped moving when she did it and she had a bit of a swim back to the boat. Rich and I then joined her and we all took great delight in jumping in just next to where Dad was sitting :)