拉迪格岛德阿让海滩上的岩石，塞舌尔 Rocks on Anse Source d'Argent beach, La Digue Island, Seychelles (© Roland Gerth/eStock Photo)

拉迪格岛德阿让海滩上的岩石，塞舌尔 Rocks on Anse Source d'Argent beach, La Digue Island, Seychelles (© Roland Gerth/eStock Photo)

An island hopper's paradise

Welcome to the sunny and sultry Seychelles, a tropical island nation just south of the equator in the Indian Ocean, roughly 900 miles off the eastern coast of Africa. The gorgeous beach you see here is the Anse Source d'Argent on the island of La Digue, one of 115 islands that make up this tropical republic. Anse Source d'Argent has long been a favorite of photographers, who are drawn to its contoured, dark granite boulders, pristine white sand, and turquoise-colored water. Beachcombers and sun worshippers also flock to the Seychelles because of the islands' consistently great weather—daily high temperatures almost always stay within a comfortable range of between 75 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit all year round.

Most any day is a day worth celebrating in the Seychelles, but today is cause for double celebration: June 29 is Independence Day in the Seychelles, commemorating the nation's 1976 independence from centuries of colonial rule under the French and British. It also happens to be the UN's International Day of the Tropics, a day of special recognition for the Seychelles and other locales within the zone between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. That accounts for about 36% of Earth's land mass and close to 40% of its population. The intent of International Day of the Tropics is twofold: as a celebration of the extraordinary diversity of this zone while also highlighting the challenges facing the region, like poverty, climate change, deforestation, urbanization, and demographic shifts.

岛上的天堂

欢迎来到阳光明媚、闷热的塞舌尔，这是一个热带岛国，位于印度洋赤道以南，距非洲东海岸约900英里。你在这里看到的美丽海滩是位于拉迪格岛上的安塞岛，它是组成这个热带共和国的115个岛屿之一。安塞源d'Argent一直是摄影师的最爱，他们被它的轮廓，黑色花岗岩巨石，原始的白色沙子，和绿松石色的水所吸引。由于塞舌尔群岛持续的好天气，海滩梳洗者和太阳崇拜者也蜂拥而至，每天的高温几乎全年都保持在75到90华氏度的舒适范围内。

在塞舌尔，任何一天都是值得庆祝的日子，但今天都是值得双重庆祝的日子：6月29日是塞舌尔的独立日，纪念1976年塞舌尔从法国和英国统治下几个世纪的殖民统治中独立出来。这一天恰巧是联合国的国际热带日，塞舌尔和其他位于北回归线和摩羯座之间地区的地区受到特别的表彰。占地球陆地面积的36%，人口的40%。国际热带日的目的有两个：一是庆祝该地区的非凡多样性，同时也强调该地区面临的挑战，如贫困、气候变化、毁林、城市化和人口变化。