Call-Sign Mango 10

We have taken to doing a morning dive followed by beach activity in the afternoon and Lady Luck is with us today and we are off to a site unvisited for 3 months due to poor conditions. South Marianne is a 35 minute boat ride from Praslin, past La Digue and far out into the Indian Ocean. A small island of granite rock, mirrored beneath the waves, with vast columns of granite standing upright in the water. We are having to pay an additional €5 each due to the distance involved, but we have decided that we would rather dive 1 good dive than 2 mediocre so are happy to pay the extra.

4 minutes in and we are surrounded by skittish grey reef sharks and schools of eagle rays. It's really busy down there. So much so, that I spend my time swirling around checking out what might be moving in my direction next. Whilst my very own underwater David Bailey is in his element, I have to admit being just a little bit fearful, the visibility is not fabulous and an array of large marine life keeps flying out of the deep blue.

So after Steve runs low on air, he is told he can surface alone and, whilst gulping on mine like its going out of fashion and surprisingly having enough to stay longer, I decree I will go up with him. If one of us is going to be eaten we may as well both be. I have no idea why as I have not been gripped by "the fear" for a very long time but bobbing on the surface with the boat out of reach, fight or flight takes hold and I decide we are going to swim for it. To be honest there was nothing particularly dangerous (that we saw) although the nurse shark was the first time we had been so near to something quite so big but I have never got my dive kit off and back on board so fast. All the while, Captain Slow drifting along not a care in the world obviously hoping for a macro shot of Tiger Shark teeth!

So what to do to get over the adrenaline rush? Oh let's see, go to Anse Lazio where a British Tourist was eaten 2 years previous! We could have caught a taxi but that would be 300SCR (£18)  so we catch the local bus for 5SCR each (a total of 55p). How these things made by Tata are still going is beyond me. Cranking into first gear up hill, screeching worn out breaks back down, but is does afford a scenic view of the coastline. The bus stops about 1 km from the beach and (guess what?) there is a mountain to climb with subsequent down hill stomp to reach what is regarded as the most beautiful beach on the Island. In all honesty, it is truly stunning but the meters of shark nets do take the edge off of things, just a touch!

The Seychellois have a policy of picking up who ever is walking along the road, and people are forever running and jumping into the back of pick up trucks. A lovely Dutch couple had got into the spirit of things so 2 minutes in and hike over as we ended up being offered a free lift for the remainder. Unfortunately, they weren't driving back up when we left! So far this shoestring Seychelles lark is surprisingly easy, so much so that for sundowners a revisit to the Verve Cliquot cocktail bar (part of Cafe de Art) is decreed as we haven't spent more than a couple of pounds today (excluding the adrenaline junkie diving) so we are having a heavily rum based treat for all our good work and sticking to the mission. As an aside we have found it very strange that there are no beach bars to speak of, just areas linked to restaurants. It turns out that the Seychelles were previously under Communist rule and therefore such places were deemed possible meeting places and not really allowed to operate. So we now understand the preference for tourists to be put in their hotel pen and encouraged not to leave the all inclusive.

Two cocktails, two Seybrew and £20 later, we are so in the chill out zone that we don't bother going home to change but flop into Da Luca (a lovely Italian restaurant) because we know we can get a free ride home after purchasing dinner for the princely sum of £35 for two.