Seychelles: Heaven on Earth

To be honest, the Seychelles was never on my radar because it always felt unthinkable, unimaginable, and just downright unattainable. Known as the honeymoon destination of choice for celebrities and royalty, never did I imagine lil ole me would be able to afford a vacation there…and with my family in tow! However, after snagging a $400 error fare on Kenya Airways and doing some research on the cost of food, hotels, excursions, visas ($0 since it is a visa-free country for ALL passport holders), and special vaccines ($0 because we already had the standard ones that were recommended), I realized I wouldn’t have to break the bank and the trip became a reality!

From the crystal clear beaches, amazing Creole dishes, and warm hospitality of the Seychellois people, to the delayed luggage, sunburns, and itinerary turned completely upside down, our trip was definitely one for the books!

The trip started off to a not so great start with a 5-hour delay in Nairobi on top of a scheduled 3-hour layover there…and then when we finally landed in Mahe, we discovered that the entire flight’s luggage had been left in Nairobi (yes, you read that right…the ENTIRE flight’s luggage was left behind). Amidst all of the day’s events, we were too exhausted to head out for dinner so instead went directly to our hotel (which shall remain nameless since we didn’t like it), ordered room service, and called it a night.

Our ferry to Praslin didn’t depart until 10:30am, so the plan was to visit Sir Selwyn Clarke Market in the capital of Victoria which opened at 7am. However, since we now had to fit in a visit to the Kenya Airways office to get $100 vouchers for our delayed luggage and also pick up a few essentials since we didn’t have our suitcases, we weren’t able to fit in the market which would’ve been a great place to buy some fresh fruits, veggies, spices as well as souvenirs, clothing, and local art pieces. Oh well, there is always next time!

With over 115 islands that are a part of the Seychelles but only a few that are inhabited, we wanted to make the best use of our 5 full days there and were excited to check out as many islands as possible. The Seychelles’ unique location offers some amazing day trips and excursions and I wanted to experience them all 😊 Although Mahe is the biggest island (and where the international airport is located), Praslin seemed to be the most central for day trips to nearby islands (which is why we based our stay there). Note: there are two ways to get to Praslin from Mahe: by ferry (which takes about an hour) or by plane (a short 15-minute ride). We were able to experience both, taking the ferry to Praslin and then at the end of our trip, taking the plane back to Mahe.

We purchased our ferry tickets ahead of time (50 euros for adults and 25 euros for kids) for the main deck inside (yes to all of the air conditioning because it was HOT outside). The price for the main deck was already steep since the operator (Cat Cocos) has a monopoly on the route so we didn’t think it was worth splurging on upper deck or business class ferry tickets for an hour long ride. Tip: The boat leaves ON TIME (and one time actually left a couple minutes early!) so don’t show up whenever and think the boat will still be there waiting for you! I advise arriving at least 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled departure time because even if you purchase your ticket online, you still have to trade in the voucher for an online boarding pass. And if you have luggage, you have to drop it off in another building. Another tip for the ferry ride: if you are prone to seasickness, make sure you bring Dramamine! We were fine but I did see (and hear) quite a few people puking their brains out! Don’t worry, there are plenty of seasickness bags and staff on hand to help 😉

Our transportation from the jetty to the hotel was punctual and super helpful (courtesy of Coconut Services which I highly recommend). Some of the roads were really narrow and steep on the way to the Coco de Mer & Black Parrot Suites Hotel but when we pulled up to the hotel, all of the thoughts about our earlier travel mishaps faded away. I guess I shouldn’t have been THAT surprised since I always do a ton of research before booking hotels and this one had a ton of great reviews, but sometimes you never know what you are going to get! However, we were not disappointed.  We were warmly greeted with refreshments and cold towels, given a thorough rundown of the hotel’s beautiful property, and then quickly whisked off to our room.

Our room was equally as nice as the hotel exterior (though there were a ton of stairs since it was situated on a hill with great views) with a luxurious bathtub, spacious balcony with a spectacular view, and comfy beds (Avery had his own bed and space!).

Despite not having our luggage, we made the best of things and made a beeline directly for the drinks and the pools.

Since we still didn’t receive our luggage which contained some essential items needed for our tours, we rearranged our itinerary a bit and rented a car so that we could go beach hopping. There is only one main road around the entire island of Praslin so we were pretty confident that we wouldn’t get lost 😉. There is also free parking everywhere…just don’t ever park under a coconut tree (for obvious reasons).

Before we began our self-guided beach tour around the island, our first stop was the Vallee de Mai Nature Reserve. One of Seychelles’ two UNESCO World Heritage Sites (the other being the Aldabra Atoll), Vallee de Mai is home to the coco de mer palm, which has the largest seed in the world and only grows naturally on Praslin and Curieuse islands in the Seychelles. Admission was 20 euros for adults. There are guides hanging around by the entrance so you can join one of their tours but since it was extra and we preferred to go at our own pace, we chose to explore on our own. There are three different paths that you can take (ranging in length from 1 hour to 3 hours) and with the sun blazing and the humidity near 100%, there was no question about us taking the shortest route. It was a nice walk but honestly a bit underwhelming with not THAT much to see aside from the trees (clearly we aren’t nature people) and the elusive black parrot which we didn’t see.

Finally, we were ready to start our beach hopping! We started at the furthest point from the hotel in the northwest part of the island and made our way around the island.

First stop, Anse Lazio. Consistently voted as one of the best beaches in the world, Anse Lazio is famous for its turquoise water and golden, pristine sand. Seeing it with my own eyes, it was truly breathtaking. The only downsides are that the waves were a bit rough on this part of the island and the beach was teeming with tourists.

We were planning to drive to nearby Anse Georgette (another highly recommended beach) only to find out that it wasn’t accessible by car; instead, you had to walk across Anse Lazio to get there. Since we were already in the car (and heard that the waves could be a bit rough in that area), we didn’t bother to go and instead drove to Anse Boudin in the northeast part of the island. There were no tourists around and only a few locals in a car nearby playing music so we had the beach all to ourselves! Such a stark contrast to the hordes of people that were at Anse Lazio.

Our next stop was Anse Cote d’Or (aka Anse Volbert) and it was vastly different from the previous two beaches. East of Anse Boudin, Anse Volbert is the longest and one of the most popular beaches on Praslin. It has beautiful, shallow, calm water and plenty of restaurants, shops, and activities nearby…the perfect combination!

We ended the day at the beach (Anse Cimetiere) in front of our hotel. While the beach wasn’t completely terrible, it paled in comparison to the others we visited earlier in the day. On the bright side, there were tons of fish!

The next day, we took the 7am Inter Island ferry (called Cat Rose) to the island of La Digue, only 15 minutes from Praslin. Although Praslin is small, La Digue is even smaller. The island is so small that there are less than 10 cars on the entire island, with most locals and tourists getting around via bicycle.

We had two separate tours planned in La Digue: a hiking tour with Sunny Trail Guide and a glass kayak tour with Crystal Water Kayaks. The founder of Sunny Trail Guide met us on the jetty at 7:15am and showed us where we could rent bikes to get to the meeting point for the tour. After meeting up with the other folks in our group, we took a short ride in the back of a pick-up truck to the starting point of the hike. We had already taken three different modes of transportation and hadn’t even started the tour yet…I could already tell it was going to be a long day!

We started the hike at Anse Marron and it was pretty intense. Although the tour says suitable for kids as young as 6, we were climbing, bending, jumping, and ducking between huge rocks high above the beach and through the jungle. Needless to say, Avery loved every minute of it while Will and I were drenched in sweat and huffing and puffing after the first hour of the hike. All of our hard work was rewarded with indescribably breathtaking views. La Digue is truly paradise on Earth!

About halfway through, our guide made us a light lunch while we swam in a natural pool before continuing the hike.

In total, the hike lasted about 4 hours and ended at Anse Source d’Argent. Thankfully, the hiking tour ended about a five-minute walk from where our glass kayak tour began. Note: we didn’t find out the time the kayak tour would begin until a couple of days before because it was dependent on when high tide would occur. Although we were a tad bit late for our glass kayak tour (ok, more like an hour late!), we were still able to join the rest of the group.

The first stop was an area where we saw fish nurseries and a variety of coral, including fire coral and mushroom coral. Then we kayaked down Anse Source d’Argent…ok, I’m lying. Since we were still tired from the hike earlier, we were pulled down Anse Source d’Argent by the main boat 😊 Still, the views from the ocean were amazing and completely different from the views we had from our earlier hike. We couldn’t believe that the huge granite rocks that we were looking at were the same ones we hiked earlier!

We stopped at Anse Pierrot (which is only accessible from the ocean), saw where parts of the movie Robinson Crusoe were filmed over 30 years ago, and also enjoyed a natural pool.

Our last activity on the tour was a coconut survival competition where we were taught how to break open coconuts. I totally failed at opening my coconut so had to get a bit of help! The coconut water was refreshing and much needed afterwards.

Our time on La Digue was incredible and I wish we had more time to spend there. The only downside is that it is SO small that we almost missed our ferry heading back to Praslin (which was the last one for the day) because there were no taxis (which was really just a tuk tuk) available. Thankfully, we made it and while we were waiting, found a little shack and got some bacon noodles (who would’ve thought!) for about $5 and it was the best meal we ate.

The next day, we had a tour scheduled for Curieuse & St. Pierre islands. A 30-minute speed boat ride from Anse Volbert on Praslin, it wasn’t long before we arrived on Curieuse, home to the world’s largest population of Giant Aldabra tortoises.

Our first activity on the island was a 45-minute self-guided, “moderate” hike to the Doctor’s house (where the island’s doctor lived in the 1870s and is now a museum containing information about Curieuse Island’s history). Although it was a scenic walk filled with lush mangroves, unexpected tortoises and crabs, and tottering wooden bridges, between the extreme heat, the bugs, and our ambivalence to even see this house, we only made it to the halfway point…well actually, we noticed a beach off the path and decided to go there instead 😉

After making our way back, we stopped to admire and pet the tortoises. Of course, we were immediately enamored by the tortoises as soon as we saw them. They were HUGE…no exaggeration. It was surreal to see them up close and in their natural habitat, completely unbothered by anyone and anything.

Then we visited the tortoise nursery where the baby tortoises were and also stopped at a little hut that had some coco de mer. We had built up an appetite by that time and thankfully lunch was served shortly. It was a typical creole BBQ, with fish, chicken, rice, salad and seasonal fruits. It was actually really, really delicious and we went back for seconds.

A couple of hours later, we left Curieuse for St. Pierre island. No one actually lives on the tiny island but it is a great snorkeling spot. We didn’t actually land on the island (no one can) but just snorkeled around it. The water was crystal clear and teeming with a variety of fish, including clown surgeonfish, blue tang, sergeant major fish, and jacks. A great way to end the tour!

Since we were running out of islands to visit at this point on our trip, for our last day in the Seychelles, we stayed at our hotel and enjoyed the pools.

We had done a lot in 5 days and I haven’t even talked about the food yet!

Let’s talk about the food…it was delicious! Given the islands’ proximity to Asia, its cuisine is rooted in Indian and African flavors while also blending some European influences of Britain and France.  On every menu, you can find fresh fish and seafood, steeped in curry and spices like chili, ginger, and garlic. We tasted so many delicious dishes during our stay, even the food at the hotel was pretty good (and I rarely like food at hotel restaurants!).

I would highly recommend Praslin’s best restaurant, Café Des Arts. We went on a Friday night and it was a complete vibe. Overlooking Cote D’Or beach, the restaurant had an upscale, romantic vibe but there was also live music, an open-air bar, and seating right by the beach. The drinks were refreshing and the food was top-notch.

We also loved The Fish Restaurant (which we visited twice). I would highly recommend the Singapore spiced curry crab and lobster thermidor there (though it can’t hold a candle to the one I had at Café des Arts 😉).

Overall, we had a fantastic time in the Seychelles! The people were warm and friendly, the weather was perfect with only a passing shower on our last day, and the scenery was picture-perfect everywhere we went. I’m thankful I was able to experience such an amazing vacation with my family and can’t wait to go back!

Some additional tips:

• DO NOT take Kenya Airways! The flight was delayed 5-7 hours from Nairobi to Mahe (along with every other flight that I heard announced) AND to add insult to injury, when we arrived in Mahe, we learned that they left the entire flight’s bags in Nairobi AND wouldn’t have another flight leaving until 2 days later! While things happen, I heard this was typical of this airline. Beware! I learned my lesson the hard way and won’t take them again…no matter how cheap the flight is!
• When you arrive in Mahe, change your currency to rupees.  Most places only accept rupees (sometimes Euros but not often) so you want to make sure you have enough for food, activities, and souvenirs. We pre-booked all of our activities ahead of time online but many of the nicer restaurants accept credit cards.
• There is only one ferry operator in the Seychelles that travels between Mahe, Praslin, and La Digue so be sure to check ferry times when visiting other islands.
• Most people speak English, French, and Creole so no need to worry about language barriers.
• If you rent a car, try not to get sand in it…lol. There will be signs in the car instructing you not to get sand in it, but it is absolutely impossible! You are on an island and most likely going to the beach…sigh! Nevertheless, we spent damn near an hour getting all the sand out of our car so we didn’t have to pay extra (that extra fee would’ve been STEEP!).
• Always order the fish or seafood at restaurants. Several times we tried to order a meat dish and it wasn’t available, and when it was available, it was just mediocre. Will tried to order a ribeye steak from two different restaurants, and was always told they don’t have it (probably because we never saw any cows there!).
• The airport in Praslin is in an open-air space which means no air conditioning in the check in area so don’t get there too early before your flight, otherwise you will be stuck waiting it out in the muggy air.
• Lastly, don’t forget to pack ALOT of sunscreen! That sun was no joke and we felt sunburned by the second day (despite all our melanin!).