By Bob Van Leer

  (MAHE, SEYCHELLES, Feb. 19, 1995) - We disembarked our ship, the Renaissance V, at 9:00 a.m. today and went for a bus tour around the island.

  According to information from the ship's bulletin, we sailed 1886 nautical miles from Mombasa, Kenya, to Mahe, Seychelles, at an average speed of 13.38 knots and spent 138.5 hours at sea.

  Mahe is a bigger port than we have been in lately. There is one freighter here as well as two other cruise ships, Renaissance VIII and the Silver Wind we saw in Praslin.
Mahe is the largest of the 115 islands that make up the Republic of Seychelles. It is lush and overgrown with palm trees and philodendrons growing wild.

  The mid-Indian Ocean location of this chain makes it an ideal location for communications. The United States has a satellite tracking station on Mahe and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has a big relay station here.

  According to our guide, tourism is the big industry here with fishing second and agriculture third. A lot of spices are grown here: cinnamon, cloves, lemon grass and other.

  We stopped at a restored colonial house developed into a craft village. A bronze plaque on the house reads, "This project is financed by the government of the United States of America".

  Creole is the first language here followed by English and French. The English were the last colonial power here and the English seemed to have left a better legacy than other colonial powers. More of the former English colonies seem to work. Income here is better than most of the region. Our guide said an average pay would be 1600 rupees a month or about $320.00.

  The red bird I noticed in Desroches was identified for me as a Madagascar fody. After the tour we were taken to a beach hotel for lunch. The weather is hot and muggy here but we will be back in winter in a few hours. The hotel has two of the giant land tortoises in a pen on the grounds. I hadn't realized before they were native to this area.

  Right now we have a flaw in the system. We've finished lunch but it is about three hours until we board the plane. There are periodic rain squalls that send everyone running for cover.

  It will be a long trip home, 12 time zones. We are leaving on Sunday, but it will be Tuesday before we will be home. It has been an interesting and informative trip, but we will be glad to get home.