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We settle into our cottage at "The Bird Island Lodge", a small coralline island, 700 yards wide and a less than mile long, and wait out a light shower before exploring.
The cottage is comfortable but the Telltale Heart of the island's diesel generator is audible from the patio. Who said "Paradise is Never Perfect". We did.
We meet our "roommates", a dove nesting in the blinds and a gecko on the wall.
As the drizzle tapers off, we venture out with umbrellas to meet Esmeralda, a 150+ year old land tortoise (and the world's largest), and friends. The kitchen staff supplies us with scraps of bread to feed them.
What do people do on Bird Island? Watch birds. It's a reserve that hosts millions of Sooty Terns from May to October, but there are plenty of other birds any time of year.
Bird Island is also home to the lovely Fairy Tern.
The Common Noddy nests quite happily here too.
Lynn would like to spend another day or two, but we must move on, back to Mahe, and then back to reality. We take off from Bird Island's grass air strip with Amelia Earhart in the co-pilot's seat. The pilot gives Lynn instruction on co-piloting: "Just don't touch the controls!"
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