A day’s journey east into the Indian Ocean has brought us into a completely different world; Zanzibar and the east coast of Africa now seem far behind. It has been a change from a continental world to the world of the ocean, a shift from places dominated by human history and all the wonders of African wildlife to tiny islands fringed with palms and Casuarinas, where life is centered on the wonders of the coral reefs and in the blue depths of the surrounding seas. Here, in the Aldabra Group of the southwest Seychelles, gentle surf curls onto white beaches of coral sand and the infinite line of the horizon circumscribes the world. In this world we understand that the true name of our planet is not Earth. This is planet Ocean.
We arrived this morning at Assumption Island, a raised coral reef in the Aldabra Group of Seychelles’ Outer Islands. After a few brief formalities clearing into the country, we rode our Zodiacs ashore, landing at a lovely beach in the middle of the long, gently curving bay that forms the west coast of the island. The warm crystal water beckoned and we were not slow to respond. Donning our masks and fins we swam out across a narrow strip of sand to a gorgeous coral garden where we had a fantastic introduction to the reef fish and other creatures of the Indian Ocean. Parrotfish, butterflyfish, squirrelfish, angelfish, pufferfish and many, many more swam among amazing sculptures of coral, all lit by the bright sunshine and blue sky. Octopuses hid in small dark corners and giant clams closed their shells to hide their beautiful mantles as we floated over them. Those of us who chose not to get wet also enjoyed the beauty of the underwater world from the glass bottom Zodiac, cruising over the coral in comfort while Tom identified and explained what we saw.
After a quick and delicious lunch in the Outdoor Café we went out again, this time to the snorkel platform, which had been anchored on the outer part of the reef slope. The platform served as a small beach, making it easy for us to get in and out of the water some distance from shore. With deeper water below us we had a new view of the reef, looking along the line of living coral that was backed by healthy beds of sea grass in the shallows and sloping steeply into the blue beyond us. Bigger fish, sea turtles, and small sharks were the highlights here.
In the late afternoon we landed again on the beach and walked inland, strolling for exercise, enjoying the scenery and chatting with the photography team while we snapped away. Many of us hiked over to the airstrip in the center of the island where we found a number of Aldabra giant tortoises emerging from the shade where they had spent the hot hours in the middle of the day. The lower light and open grass of the runway gave us an excellent opportunity to shoot these strange and impressive animals.
We returned to the ship for dinner, but our day was not yet done. On the beaches around our landing sites we had seen many tracks left by sea turtles that had come ashore recently to dig their nests and lay their clutches of soft round eggs. Intrigued, we decided to make an after-dinner excursion to see if any were making their slow way out of the waves and up the beach tonight. As it turned out we the turtles eluded us – it was probably a little too early in the evening, even though we stayed until after 11:00 p.m. – but we did enjoy a gloriously beautiful night, a star talk from Tom and quiet walks on the soft sand of the dark beach. We were alone on a tiny island on planet Ocean, drifting in a sea of stars.
