Haibun

    THE SEYCHELLES

 

While my husband attends an international conference I explore the hotel.  Mahe, the largest of the islands, has everything you would expect on a tropical paradise.

 

                a salamander,

                green against the pink wall

                waiting…

 

Seen from our balcony, an expanse of rough lawn and the glinting Indian Ocean.   Day and night, the repetitive sound of the surf and rattling palm fronds.

 

                inside, outside,

                the voices of insects—

                French tourists next door

 

A thatched roof on the hotel lounge and open on three sides. One evening during dinner there is a power outage.

 

                the scented darkness—

                luminescent waves

                crash the reef

 

When the conference is over, we fly to Praslin.  Less populated and with a slower pace.

 

                an empty cove—

                footprints in the sand

                ending at the water

 

Home of the coco de mer, the large double coconut shaped like part of a woman's anatomy thought to be an aphrodisiac.  Also, home of the giant tortoise.

 

                eye to eye

                with a tortoise in the road—

                we drive the verge

 

We take a boat to La Digue, an even smaller and more remote island with dirt roads and no cars.  Wagons pulled by oxen or bicycles, the favored modes of transportation.  Chickens wander the roads.  Lush greenery, the changing blues of the ocean and sky, the myriad colors of flowers, birds in their resplendent feathers and their various songs… all are the riches of the island. 

 

 Perhaps there had been a plan to encourage more tourists and development.  Now… small cottages, once the dream vacation homes of the hopeful, slowly being absorbed back into the greenery. This natural, unspoiled island pleases me more than the developed ones.  The islanders may feel differently, as every day they are reminded of what could have been.

 

                still standing

                just a chimney

                girded with vines

 

Yellow Moon