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Happy Thanksgiving from Seychelles! Today, I am rather thankful and grateful for this turn of events in my life.......

No, I didn't learn how to jump backwards and up a small sand cliff, nor have I learned how to land on my feet, and I clearly have not mastered any type of stop motion photo editing software....I GOT A JOB WITH GVI HERE IN SEYCHELLES!!! I will move back over to Cap Ternay and start the job in December after I complete my divemaster at the Underwater Centre. Needless to say - I am SO EXCITED I get to stay here, work here, live here and dive here for another full year! I will be taking on the roll of community coordinator and coordinate all of the events, snorkels and lessons we do with the local kids and communities here. I will also be diving with the volunteers, getting a boat license so I can drive Manta, the infamous GVI boat, and helping out with whatever needs to get done around base. This is pretty much my dream come true! It also means I will spend the holidays here and have myself a white sandy Christmas, which I am also pretty dang excited about. I will probably make a short trip back to the States sometime in the spring, but I'm working out those details over the next few weeks. In the meantime, I keep pinching myself as I still can't quite believe that this will be my office and my back "yard" for the next year........

Cap Ternay and Baie Ternay Marine Park (a.k.a BTC) and my new home, sweet home!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!!

Beaches, Sunsets and More Terrible Photos of Paradise

Sunset in Beau Vallon

Boys playing soccer on the beach

Silhouette 

Sunset from the balcony 

Sunset beach near the MCSS house

Fishermen at sunset

Best. Dive. Ever.

Eagle rays, octopus, mantis shrimp, anemone fish, humphead wrasse - these are just a few of my favorite things to see underwater and part of the reason I absolutely love diving. I happened to see them all on one dive last weekend at the dive site Grouper Point, along with a pod of dolphins (including a baby!) that swam over us and then came down and cruised next to us. The dolphins were pretty much the most amazing experience of my dive career so far. Especially since I had a conversation that very morning about the fact that I really wanted to dive with dolphins at some point in my life. A few hours later, that dream comes true underwater and fortunately, I had my camera to document it. I don't think you can hear it in the videos, but I was pretty much screaming (and jumping up and down) underwater. We encountered the dolphins again on our boat trip back to the shop, this time you can actually hear my screams though you can't quite see the dolphins themselves - just a few splashes and fins breaking the surface, but trust me - it was freakin' awesome.  Below are my GoPro videos from that awesome dive. Pease excuse the shaky, terrible underwater cinematography, fog on the lens and lack of color correction - still working on my filming/editing skills.

Eagle Rays & Barracuda 



Humphead Wrasse



Fiesty Anemone Fish



Hilarious and Playful Mantis Shrimp



Octopus Hide and Seek






DOLPHINS ABOVE US!
Watch the upper portion of the video closely - you can see the dolphins above us before I actually see them myself. Sometimes, I'm not so observant, thankfully Dan saw them and pointed them out. 



After the dolphins swam over us, they came back and swam next to us - which was incredible. Unfortunately, I only got photos of them swimming next to us and not any video, as I was too busy freaking out and banging on my tank trying to get everyone's attention to look over at them. 

Dolphins on the ride back to the shop



More dolphins from the boat

Shark Bank

Shark Bank. Another awesome dive site we've been going to recently. Except it should be called "Snapper Bank" or perhaps "Stingray Bank" since I have yet to see an actual shark there. Though a few people did see some white tip reef sharks and a nurse shark on our last trip there, allegedly. I still need photo evidence though. Shark Bank is a granite site about 20 minutes north of Mahe towards Silhouette island. It is about 25-30 meters down in the middle of the ocean, no rocks or anything stick out to indicate it's whereabouts. One of the experienced Seychellois divemasters has to jump in and look around for it to make sure we drop anchor on the correct site before we descend down. It is one of my favorites since it is a little different than our normal dive sites and we usually get to see a large amount of fish and big sting ray or two and get to dive deeper than our typical dives. Here are some pics from my last two trips there.....

Microlight: Part Deux

Yes, I am still reliving that amazing microlight trip. During part of the trip, I actually got to steer the microlight, which was terrifying and fun, as you can probably imagine. Steering a giant kite a few thousand feet about the sea? Incredible. The pilot took some videos while I was flying, which are below, along with some pics from the trip itself. My father, who is usually supportive of all my adventures, told me this is the one thing he really really doesn't like that I've done, so these additional videos and photos are for him. You're welcome dad.

Bay Ternay from the air

The microlight

Long ways down

Pilot's glory

Whale shark! (that dark shadow thing)

Whale shark!