I might have been Alexander Selkirk, cast ashore by Dampier; there was nothing but white sand, pounding waves, and the tufts of sea oats and scrub grasses.At the eastern end of the island I came to the St George Island State Park, which has a nature trail and two campsites. Then I drove back to the small community of cafes and bars that, along with the characterful St George Inn, constitute social life on the island.Here, over a beer, I chatted with a local fisherman who explained that the water between the islands and the mainland (and they are properly called lagoons, not rivers or canals) is teeming with life. They got their name because they form a natural barrier against the storms that can swing in off the Mexican Gulf with great ferocity. As I drove along the coast of Apalachicola Bay, with Julia Mae's behind me, I had the choice of three islands. Stretched out along the coastline of the Panhandle in the Gulf of Mexico, these are composed entirely of dazzling white sand They are fairly remote and quite unspoilt. I went for the biggest, St George, because I could drive out to it over a four-mile-long causeway at Eastpoint.Driving past beaches and dunes as white as salt, I felt I was in a TV commercial - everything was dollied up just a little beyond reality.I had plenty of time to get over the sensation, though, for St George has 27 miles of unspoilt beaches. Tony Blair stayed at l'Union self-catering chalets: pounds 205 for a chalet that holds up to four people in two bedrooms, plus pounds 28 per person half board.. The map said I was in Florida, but the waitress sounded pure Georgia as she put the plate of seafood in front of me.
"The way I see it, food ain't food if it ain't fried," she drawled I was in Julia Mae's on US 98, south of Tallahassee. Hereabouts is where the Florida Panhandle starts, and I had come in search of the strange natural phenomena known as the barrier islands. Fares are likely to be lower on Air France via Paris; through an agency such as Bridge The World (0171- 911 0900), you would pay pounds 631 in June from London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Manchester or Newcastle.In Victoria, on Mahe, I stayed at the Hilltop Guesthouse for around pounds 25 a night. On Praslin, we stayed at the Paradise Sun, which was superb but expensive - around pounds 150 for a double with B&B - and at the Berjaya Praslin Beach which had an Easter special rate of about pounds 70 for a double with half board On La Digue we stayed at a place I would not recommend.
A small one, maybe just over a metre long, probably harmless. But just in case, I headed back to the shallows.Eden doesn't come cheap. The Seychelles government is focusing on high- end ecotourism. To keep the country from being overrun by grubby backpackers who won't bring in enough money to justify their strain on the environment, the number of tourist beds has been capped at around 4,200 Often, the cheapest way to go is to book a package tour.
For example, in the new Distant Dreams brochure from Cosmos (0161-480 5799), a fortnight, half- board, at the Paradise Sun on Praslin in November 1999 costs pounds 1,999 per person.Travelling independently, British Airways and Air Seychelles each has two weekly flights from Gatwick to Mahe. I let myself be gradually carried by the current towards the deeper, darker, more complex waters at the far edge of the reef. It was paradise.Until I spotted the shark.It was like the shadow of a nightmare, and made my heart stop I looked closer But not too close Yep, a white-tipped reef shark. We floated gently a metre or so above the forest of coral, some of it yellow, some blue, some white, all exquisite.
A young parrot fish, impossibly turquoise and pink, escorted me as I coasted over swarms of angel fish, blue-striped snapper, gliding rays and hawksbill turtles. Well-kept paths follow rivers and wend through pandanus groves. It is silent, except for the rattle of the enormous palms in the wind and the songs of the black parrots and tree frogs. It is like walking through a Hollywood-crafted prehistoric forest: all the atmosphere and none of the danger.But my own Eden is like one of those ridiculously perfect dreams from childhood.