Curieuse Island
As soon as the sun had risen enough to clear the low ridge behind the rocks to the north, a small snorkeling expedition set off from the stern of Takamaka. I was part of it, but a leak in my mask brought back memories of an unpleasant snorkeling incident I’d experienced in Fernando de Noronha, and I turned back to the boat. As I rinsed off with the little fresh water hose hidden in the sugar scoop, three sea turtles slowly swam by, coming up for air several times.
Irina, Alisa and Mark plotting our course for the day
When the snorklers returned to the boat, we weighed anchor and motored around Pointe Chevalier into the narrow straight between Praslin and Curieuse Islands. In less than 15 minutes we were at Anse St. José on Curieuse Island where two other boats were anchored. We joined them, and a few minutes later two young ladies approached in a narrow fiberglass motorboat. The entirety of the island had been designated a national park, and they were there gather entry fees, which we paid using a credit card chip on a wireless handheld device. They gave us some information about features of the island, one of which was that if we motored around to Baie Laraie, it would save us a two hour-long hike out and back from Anse St. José to the more interesting parts of the island. I seemed to be the only one up for a hike in the wilting humidity, so we motored to Baie Laraie and dropped anchor in a frisky breeze from the southeast. After a bumpy ride in the dinghy we were ashore.
Baby Aldabra tortoises
