Ile des Pins: An Exceptional Christmas Day

Christmas day was exceptional for us. We spent it outside, for starters, on the beautiful Baie de Kunamera (best snorkeling on the island) and the Baie de Kuto (famous for its long silky-white beaches). We snorkeled around the rocher pictured above (sacred to the Kunies, so no climbing) and were surprised not only by the variety of beautiful tropical fish, but their varying sizes and multitude (see photo below)! A number of them swam with us and when we stopped to marvel at them, they swam around our waists and between our legs. The coral was also extremely colourful, and some of it fluorescent (a first for me to see outside of an aquarium).

After a picnic lunch on the beach, we wandered over to the Baie de Kuto where we refreshed ourselves with a swim, and a nap under the trees. We found time, too, to build castles in the sand. Far from the tradition of long Christmas dinners and foie gras and Christmas crackers around long tables with cherished family, we thought of absent friends and family and looked forward to speaking with them all again soon.

Photo by Laurent Guiader, 2005.