The Chagos

Still alive! Yep, I’m still here. You may notice if you have eyes, that the date of this post is far from the date of my last post. Be not confused, dear readers, for Jade never lies and I shall not lie on her behalf; I am not currently in the Chagos Islands. {Gasp}. I know, I know, I’m so sorry I haven’t been posting regularly, but I will try my best to bring up memories of our few days in the Chagos. And yes, I said “days”. Why, Jade, would you post about a place you were only in for a few days? Well, I believe that experience outweighs time, and my experience in the Chagos very much outweighed the time I spent there. I will now let you in on my precious time there.

For those of you that failed geography, the Chagos Islands are smack-dab in the middle of the Indian Ocean. If you do not know where the Indian Ocean is, I suggest you leave this site. Thank you. The Chagos have one amazing defining feature: they’re abandoned. Absolutely no native Chagossians live on any of the islands. However, on the main and biggest island, Diego Garcia, there are people. Military people, mind you. Actually, a fun fact, the US military.

Diego Garcia is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), which means its owned by the UK. In 1973, a joint US/UK air force was established, but the air force feared that native Chagossians, for whatever reason, would shoot their planes out of the sky. Because of this, between 1967 and 1973, the US and UK relocated all 1500 Chagossians to the island of Mauritius and the archipelago of Seychelles. This may seem like an interesting historical fact, but it actually affected me, my family, and Dafne as we planned to set sail across the Indian Ocean. 

If we wanted to stop in the Chagos, which we did, then we had to request a permit from the BIOT, which we did. Mind you, we sent our request in later than other boats, so we were at the bottom of the list. Then, because of COVID, even before the BIOT got to our request, they decided to not let any other boats into the Chagos. Their reasoning was this: they didn’t think we would infect any people, obviously because the islands were deserted and we weren’t allowed on Diego Garcia. They just didn’t want to have to deal with our medical needs if we got sick. To be fair, I can see their reasoning, but still, come on! We had already taken a test before we left the Mentawais, and we had been at sea for 2 weeks, so we almost definitely didn’t have COVID. I and my family explained those reasons and how we just wanted some safety from the open sea, so they relented a little bit. They said that if we had any emergencies, we could call them.

No coincidence, guys, I swear, we did have to stop in the Chagos. We had a couple of problems with our water maker and other things…..nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Anyway, a woman named Yolanda, who was policing fishing on a steamer in the area, came to our boat, looked at our passports, and cleared us. The next day, September 1st, we were out and about. We went to a few of the islands around us and we saw a ton of amazing marine life. There was an abundance of fish, rays, and black-tipped sharks. The islands were also super cool; tons of crabs and plants, and there were ruins of a town and cemetery; which was pretty creepy, even though the day was sunny and warm. And yes, I am admitting that I am scared of cemeteries. Don’t look at me like that, Claustrophobia! I know you feel it too!

So, props aside, the Chagos Islands were astounding. They were one of the very few places left on this Earth that show how breathtaking a place can be when there are no humans around. Of course, when I say no humans, I mean that there were no humans on land. Many cruisers pass through, and there was the steamer stationed there that cleared our entry. But other than that, I thought it was super peaceful being in a place that was surviving, and even flourishing, by barely being touched by people. I thought that was cool, but my family was excited to get to Seychelles, and on to South Africa. 

Some info about me; one of my favorite things is being surrounded by nature. I absolutely love being in any type of wildlife, whether marine, jungle, forest, or other. I feel super at peace and happy when I’m in these places, and, I kid you not, I’m even more at peace when there are little to no people around. OK, OK, I concede; there are a few crowds of people that I also love to be around, but for the most part, I don’t really love being in groups or crowds of people. This includes parties, and, if I haven’t given you enough information yet, being the center of attention at a party is even worse. So, I was elated when the celebration of my 13th birthday coincided with our time in the Chagos. 

Well, that’s not exactly true. Oh, no, you’ve got it wrong. I loved that we celebrated my birthday in the Chagos, but my actual b-day was during our next passage to Seychelles. We weren’t in the Chagos for my actual birthday, on the 3rd of September. We left the Chagos on the morning of the 2nd. However, we did celebrate my turning of age on September 1st, with a chocolate cake and my first viewing of Die Hard (Dad picked). The next day was even better: presents, cinnamon rolls (courtesy of Stella), and my first-ever legal cappuccino (On Dafne, you cannot have your own cup of coffee until you are at least 13). And let me tell you, I was relieved, positively blessed, to be in the company of my family, and only my family, for my smashing 13th.

Adios, amigos! Ciao! I promise to write from my travels while you’re stuck in your house, eating cold lasagna. I hope you get to go to all the places I’ve been to and see all the amazing things I’ve seen. And now, end scene. That’s it. The show’s over. Roll credits.