Seychelles Carnival may have a bigger audience than even the ambitious tourist board had bargained for. Within the next 24 hours, the crippled cruise ship Costa Allegra is expected to arrive in the picturesque harbour of Victoria, the island state's bijou capital. A fire in the engine room on Monday knocked out the power supply, leaving the ship helpless in the pirate-infested waters south of Somalia. Converted many years ago from a container ship, Costa Allegra is suffering the humiliation of being towed into port by a French fishing boat.

The racial and cultural background of the Seychellois people is complex, with European, African and South Asian components, so it is hardly surprising that the music reveals equally varied roots. Influences include French and English folk music, African rhythms and Indian styles. As in Mauritius and Réunion, a popular music is sega, which has similar origins to calypso, although it has gone down a different route in its development. A fusion with reggae is known as seggae. Also of African origin is moutya, a call-and-response form of singing that’s associated with a suggestive, though non-contact, dance style.