Aride Island: Snorkelling with a turtle

Friday, 11 January 2008

Snorkelling with a turtle

Well I don’t know who was more surprised, me - when I encountered a turtle on my last snorkelling trip, or the turtle - to see me in a bikini!!

The snorkelling here is superb; as quite a novice snorkeller, with my only experience as a kid, when I used to spend all time emptying and de-misting my mask, then getting a snorkel full of water as I failed to stay at the right height - going into the water here has to date been one of my favourite bits. It is just like another world that opens up as soon as you peep through the water’s surface.

I am now starting to get the hang of the various bits of gear and also managing to avoid getting crashed onto the rocks. The current here can be quite strong and the waves are particularly forceful – so extra large fins are a bonus – but extremely entertaining for any onlookers when I try to stand up.

The underwater camera is a must and is proving to be a real asset and rea

lly beneficial when trying to identify species. The colours are fantastic and when the water is calm, with no sand being stirred up, the sun shines brightly through to the reef below lighting it up, providing a fantastic chance to get some excellent images.
Seeing the turtle was a real bonus, but the usual residents are species such as powderblue surgeon fish, moorish idol, scissor-tail sergeant and threadfin butterflyfish, to name a few. We have also had daily views of spotted eagle rays, lemon sharks and parrotfish coming in close to the shore – with no need for a mask!

Unfortunately most of the reef around the Seychelles has really suffe

red from the bleaching in 1998 during the El Nino event. However around Aride, much of the coral reef to the south of the beach is dominated by Stag’s Horn Coral, which is starting to regenerate and over 450 species of fish have been recorded. Other beasties which can be found are; octopus and grazing sea urchins together with sea cucumber, so plenty of delights for future snorkelling trips!!

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Food in the Seychelles

When we first heard we had the job here, we asked around all the people we knew, who’d worked in the Seychelles to get some idea of what to expect, conservation is a small world so it wasn’t that difficult, the one thing they all said, the food is bad. Well at first I suppose we would have agreed with them, the tinned rubbish from Asia, is just that, and there is some irony in the fact that at home, all the tinned Tuna comes from the Seychelles and is fantastic, here in the Seychelles it’s like dog food. The first week or so on the food front was not good, we were new, and had little or no help in sourcing descent local fodder.

We’ve now learnt to steer clear of the Asian stuff and red meat (you can’t tell by the look or taste which animal it comes from) and things that are poor imitations of western fare. We live with Seychellois rangers who cook every day and were more than willing to show me their techniques. The food could be said to be samey, but that’s only if you were being picky, or lazy, what would one of those celebrity chiefs you see on the tele give to have fish so fresh that its still moving when you get it to your kitchen. When food items are limited you have to be inventive, with the freshest of ingredients and a little effort we now eat extremely well. The tropical climate grows fruit and vege all year round, a lot we’ve never heard of, it’s picked in the morning and sold that same day, its delicious and couldn’t be better!

One things is for sure, when we handover to the new wardens in two years time, I won’t forget our first few weeks and so a big part of the handover will be about food.

Fish Cakes

We always seen to have fish left over from barbeques, so we freeze the surplus, this recipe is one of the best we’ve invented so far, to use it up.

Serves 2

1 tin red kidney beans+ equal amount of fish
3 slices of bread baked crisp in the sun or oven, or 1 large cooked spud mashed(we can’t get them)
1 egg
Ginger, garlic and chillies to suit your taste.
1tsp of dried herbs(we can only get thyme, but its good)
Juice of ½ lime and one bilimbi chopped finely, or just the juice of one lime.
S&P
Flour
Oil

Flake fish with your fingers to remove all bones.
Mash the beans with the fish, egg, juice, herds and S&P
Very lightly fry ginger, garlic and chillies in the smallest amount of oil and add to the mix.
With what ever method is available to you, turn the crispy bread into fine crumb.
Mix in enough of the crumb to make the mixture really thick, then put in the fridge to get cold (it’s easer to mould).
Lightly flour work surface, divide mixture into 4 and on the flour shape into cakes,
Fry in 1\2 inch of oil until golden brown.

Serve with a fiery hot fresh chilli sauce, the recipe for the sauce is too easy, make it up yourselves.

Aloo Gobi with Coconut Dhal and Pumpkin Pudding

GUTSGONE - ENTRY 2

GUTS BY A JOB FISH

I know that I normally talk about all things stomach, but I’d just briefly like to mention another part of our anatomy, feet. Bloody hell! is this place hard on feet, out of the allowed combined quota of 20 toes, a present, between us, we only have 4 fully functional. Coral is just evil on feet, either on the reef (which is fare enough because that’s where it should be) or the broken off bits that hide in the sand like little b-----d landmines. For running repairs, take a box of waterproof plasters and through them as far out to sea as you can, their bloody useless, a dab of cotton wool and insulation tape is tops, I tend to use green but that’s just for aesthetics, I’m sure black or even red would be fine.

GUTSGONE - ENTRY 1

ENTITLED GUTS BY A PALM TREE

It’s been two eventful weeks in Seychelles, delicious curries in Mahe, fantastic fish in Praslin, but then we got to Aride.
It’s absolutely undeniable that the island is paradise, the wildlife, the plants, the sea, the beach is all second to none, but no food! Before we got to the island we were told to buy supplies from Praslin, enough to last at least a week, which is great if you can find a shop that sells things other than rice. Our first week, it has to be said was poor on the food front.
When you’re hungry your mind starts to do strange things, e.g. one evening while on turtle patrol, I saw one come out the sea and make its way with purpose to the beach crest, with the turtle bag on my back, (which has everything turtley in it), I crept up behind her, and as trained, with counter in hand, waited for her to lay. While I was counting the eggs and please remember a Hawksbill can lay up to 200 eggs, so it takes some time, as I lay there clicking away my stomach exerted its powerful will, I can remember thinking, I wonder what they taste like, and would any one really miss a dozen, but the head soon overcame the stomach and I did my duty, she laid 185 eggs and all were safely covered with sand.

Recipe Of The Week
Coconut Dhal

First find a nice little Indian shop with a nice little Indian man and buy your lintels, soak in filtered water for 1 hour. While you’re waiting, go to the bottom of your garden and pick up a fallen coconut, remember to shake to see if there’s water inside. To open, strike the nut 4 times around its middle with a machete taking care not to remove your thumb. With a strange but effective metal spike remove the flesh and cover with boiling water and leave for 10 mins. Go to the other end of the garden and dig up garlic and ginger and pick one red chilli.
Boil lentils for about one week, when they are soft, pour off cooking water.
Put coconut mush in a clean, (I you have one), cloth and squeeze out the milk and add to lentils, chop ginger garlic and chilli and add to the pot.
Cook for a further 5-10 mins until creamy then add salt.
Serve with rice fresh fish and pumpkin chutney, yum.

Weight Watchers or Seychelles Slimmers

Seems a little extreme to move all the way to the Seychelles just to loose weight...until you realise the full extent of the problem. After 20 years of curry and Guinness abuse my six pack has turned into a sickpack. You know you're in trouble when you hit a bump in the road in the car and it takes 5 mins for your guts to stop wobbling. Drastic measures needed. We primarily chose the Seychelles because of its lack of food, when I say lack of food, I don't mean they are starving, because they're not, I mean the lack of guts increasing food like curry, chips, chocolate, potatoes, bread, meat, sugar, crisps, milk, butter and of course Guinness. There's no processed food in the Seychelles, a take away is what you can take away from a tree or bush, and fast food is something you can't catch. The staples are rice, pulses and lots of beans, all very gassey, in fact the Seychellois are in the Guinness Book of Records as being the most flatulant nation in the world; Mademoiselle Marie-Jacquline Smith of Mahe is the current holder of the worlds loudest fart, 93 decabells, what a girl!
The gutsgone project entails starving for a month and a measuring of the guts with a tape measure, hopefully with ever decreasing numbers. Melv

Aride Island

Friday, 11 January 2008

Snorkelling with a turtle

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Class 4 from Meare Primary School Somerset, share Seychelles experience

Food in the Seychelles

Plenty for the BBQ & fish cakes too!!

Fish Cakes

Aloo Gobi with Coconut Dhal and Pumpkin Pudding

Home grown

GUTSGONE - ENTRY 2

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Official measurement 97cm

GUTSGONE - ENTRY 1

Weight Watchers or Seychelles Slimmers

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