October, 2023

Getting from Madagascar to the Seychelles required a little bit of logistical planning. To avoid going back to Johannesburg, we found that we could fly to Mauritius and then head to the Seychelles- no backtracking needed.

However, because flights don’t go to the Seychelles every day, we needed to stay on the island for a couple days to get the Thursday flight. We found a little Inn on Blue Bay Marine Park and decided it would be the perfect spot to snorkel and relax after our birding trip.

Tell Me About Dodos

We had no idea why there were so many pictures on the walls of the Mauritius airport of dodo birds. Welllll, it turns out that this little island nation was the home of the dodo that became extinct around 1690.

It was a flightless bird that was about 3 feet tall and had a large, hooked beak. They were relatively fearless which made them easy prey for the Dutch and Portuguese sailors who hunted them in the island. They only laid one egg a year and they quickly became extinct. So, we were a few hundred years too late to add the dodo to our bird count.

Fun Fact: “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” was the first cartoon to feature the dodo bird.

Let’s Go Boating!

Since we had no plans to drive around the island, the front desk clerk suggested that we do a full day of boating to see the islands, do a bit of snorkeling and maybe cross off a few Mauritius birds species off our list.

Ok, sold. I’m pretty sure this boat would not have been deemed “Coast Guard Approved”, but we didn’t have any reason to see if they actually had life jackets onboard. Plus, an eight hour trip for $50, you can’t expect a 5-star ride.

All in all it was a great day on and under the water. We saw coral reefs, endemic birds, waterfalls and nasty macaque monkeys and a pod of feeding dolphins.

As Americans, we were obviously a rarity as an island visitor. Even though this stop was not really considered a “destination” location, it certainly did impress us and was such a major difference from Madagascar. This is truly a country that is operating in the 21st century. It’s very clean, great roads and lovely people. So glad we stopped here for a few days.