Seychelles

May 2018

I suppose everyone wants to visit the Seychelles. It has a reputation as a tropical paradise but you pay for the privilege. When I found a discounted package last year, we bit the bullet if only to tick it off the list. Emirates Airlines were offering a 6 night half board offer to the Avida Barbarons Hotel. We flew from Gatwick at 2145 on the evening of Saturday May 26th on a packed flight of half term school holiday families to Dubai arriving at 0735 in the morning. Emirates had an excellent entertainment centre which you could use as soon as you boarded. I think I was half way through a movie before we took off. We gained 3 hours en-route.

As we landed we could see El Burg, the tallest building in the world. I had passed through Dubai airport a few years ago, but now it was the world’s busiest airport. We boarded the near empty connecting flight for a 0855 departure and sat on the runway for an hour as the 30’c+ temperatures outside baked the airport.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon around 1330 on the island of Mahe. Seychelles International Airport was a small affair and we were processed pretty quickly before claiming our luggage. I had arranged for a transfer to the hotel in advance and a friendly driver called Damian was waiting. He drove us away from the airport and over the twisting mountain road ‘Chemin la Misere’ down to the village of Barbarons where our accomodation was located on the coast. The Avani Seychelles Barbarons Hotel was a medium sized hotel with two story blocks of rooms. We go a ground floor room with palm trees and grass outside. The rooms were standard en-suite affairs with a fridge to cool our drinks. There was also a de-humidifier that filled up twice a day from all the humidity.

There was a lovely swimming pool with enough loungers and also a spectacular beach with a secluded swimming area created by a rock barrier. The tides were in twice a day to cover the beaches. The restaurant was a buffet job. The breakfasts were excellent but the themed meals in the evening were sometimes under whelming. There was also a Thai restaurant where we ate the standard menu on three evenings. Not on an all-inclusive, we had brought duty free rum and gin with us and an Indian shop across from the road from the hotel supplied local beer at a quarter of the hotel price and nibbles. The deal was that you could consume your on alcohol as long as you didn’t do it in pubic area. We were able to sit outside our room and do it. With everything imported, prices are higher than in Europe. The local birds were very friendly. Their sparrows were bright red.

Scattered over 54000 square miles of the western Indian Ocean, the 115 islands that make up the Seychelles archipelago offer visitors some of the most beautiful and unspoilt destinations on earth. There are 43 ‘Inner’ Islands and 72 ‘Outer. The inner islands include Mahe. They are the oldest oceanic islands in the world (750 million years) and the only islands not formed from undersea volcanic or coralline activity. 1,000 miles from India, Africa and Madagascar, their remoteness has meant they have only been inhabited for the last 200 years. The French landed on Mahe in 1742 The diverse population drawn form over two centuries of history, was shaped by French and British settlers, African and Malagasy slaves and Asian immigrants. Independence from Great Britain was granted in 1976.

The pristine beaches framed by swaying palm trees, a pleasant year round climate and a country that is a treasure trove of unique flora and fauna has allowed the Seychelles to promote itself as a ‘luxurious’ holiday destination. A charming easy going life style, no racial tension, a politically stable government and a relatively safe and crime free environment also enhances its reputation.

By far the largest and most developed of the Seychelles islands, the granitic island of Mahe is home to 81,000 people. 17 miles long by 5 miles wide (at its widest point) Mahe has a backbone of high forested mountains (now the rugged interior of Morne Seychelles National Park). “The soaring mountains of Seychelles, covered in lush jungle, emerge from deep blue seas and a hundred glistening reefs.” (Globetrotters)

I had booked some scuba diving on the first day with Dive Resort Seychelles at Anse a La Mouche, a deep sheltered bay. I was picked up at the hotel on Monday morning at 0830 and driven down the coast for around 15 minutes. The bay looked wonderful in the rising sunshine. Kitted out, I walked to the boat moored off the beach with my gear. Half a dozen divers were on board. We motored out into the bay to a dive site called Stalk Patch. The sea was warm and calm. As soon as I back-dropped off the boat and looked beneath the surface, I could see some reef sharks. While I waited for other divers to prepare themselves, I had counted 9 sharks swimming around and we hadn’t even descended yet. Once we did, there was another surprise – a large flock of eagle rays, at least 50. I hadn’t seen something like this before. It was an outstanding dive, swimming through two caves and shoals of blue and yellow striped fusiliers, spotting large batfish with their lumpy noses, a fantasee ray and its baby lying on the sand, and a large lobster. Maximum depth was 23m and we dived for 44 mins. When we surfaced, even our guide was ecstatic claiming it was a very special dive.

We came back to shore for a rest and then went back to the boat for a second dive called ‘Alice in Wonderland’ diving for 62 mins to a max depth of 17m. The dive started slowly with not much to see but then aquatic life started to be spotted. 6 large cuttlefish were lined up like a squadron. Our guide pointed out a green fish in a hole called a ‘Leaf fish’. I had never seen one of these before. Three deadly stone fish were spotted attempting to camouflage themselves on the rocks. A shrimp poked out of a hole and at the end of the dive a turtle appeared and we followed it for 5 minutes. I would thoroughly recommend diving in the Seychelles.

The following afternoon on Tuesday, we caught a local bus outside the hotel which took us over the twisty mountainous route we had crossed on our first day, over to the other coast to the capital of the Seychelles called Victoria – one of the world’s smallest capital cities. With a population of 27,000, it is the country’s main economic, political and commercial hub. Situated on the northeast coast of Mahe and backed by the mountains of Morne Seychellois and Trois Freres, the capital is spread around a large bay sheltered by the islands of Sainte Anne, Moyenne, Cerf, Ronde and Longue. It was founded by the French in 1778 as a military post and renamed by the British in 1841 after Queen Victoria. As with any island capital, there was too much traffic for the roads and we crawled into the central bus station passing a few things en-route. These included the Botanical Gardens (1901), the ‘Liberty Monument’, an eye catching bronze sculpture erected in 2014 to mark 38 years of independence. We also saw the ‘Twa Zwazo’ (Three Birds Monument) symbolising the fusion of Africa, Europe and Asia in the Seychelles people. The bus station had signs in Kreol (a bit like pidgeon English/French).

In the centre of town was the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception with its elegant portal and colonnaded façade. 89% of the population is Catholic and this was completed for them in 1874 when the island was under British rule. To the left was the imposing La Domus (the Domicile) built in 1933 and used as a seminary for priests.

The Clock Tower is the focal point of the city. It is a downsized replica of the clock tower on London’s Victoria Station Bridge. It was brought to Victoria in 1903 as a memorial to Queen Victoria in the year when the Seychelles became a Crown Colony. During the 2004 tsunami, waters swept up to the base of the clock which is a fair distance from the sea.

On Wednesday, we had arranged to have a car rental delivered to the hotel so we could explore the island. On Mahe, there are 75 beaches and coves (known as ‘anse’ ) from long, sweeping stretches of sand to isolated little bays tucked among granite cliffs and thick green trees. They all have palms and gnarled takamake trees shading them with crystal clear water. The west coast from top to bottom is one long string of stunning beaches. A few hundred metres in front of most beaches are long lines of rumbling white water at the edge of the reef. Except for the western corner, a narrow twisting tarred road rings the island; it fringes sea, reef and an overgrown coconut jungle dotted with green and red tiles homes and general stores.

From Barbarons we headed south past Anse Boileau, Anse Louis, Anse a la Mouche, Anse aux Poules Bleues over a promontory via Baie Lazare village to Baie Lazare and down to Anse Takamaka before cutting east across the island to the other coast with the endless sands of Anse Marie-Louise, Anse Forbans, Anse Parnel, Anse Bougainville, Anse Baleine, Anse Royale, Anse aux Courbes. At the Village Artisanal we returned back to the west coast via the Chemin Montagne Posee. From Barbarons we headed north west via the impressive Grand Anse an isolated beach with it granite boulders and huge sweep of white sand to Port Glaud. Here a narrow lane led west to Port Launay Marine National Park and Baie Ternay National Park and then stopped.

Back at Port Glaud we took the twisty Chemin Sans Souci north towards Victoria, heading west to Beau Vallon and around the northern section. At Glacis we found a beach BBQ roasting freshly caught fish and pork kebabs accompanied by salad. Then we went round the north point, past Carana Beach, heading south past Anse Northd’est and back into Victoria. Fortunately we were ahead of the rush hour. From Victoria it was back over the twisty but familiar Chemin la Misere to our hotel. It took around six hours to tour the island and we were stopping to take photos all the time. With time to spare, we drove back down to Anse Boileau and went for a swim.

The next morning before breakfast we headed south again and deliberately tried to get lost inland but the roads all eventually ended back on the coast. There didn’t seem much point in renting the car for a second day and we decided on a couple of days R&R by the pool and on the beach. On the last day (Friday) I was mauled by sand flies and was scratching the bites for weeks after.

Our departure was a gruesome 0530 pickup by Damien, though the hotel did offer an early breakfast. Back over the twisty road for a final time in the dark just for a change and to the airport. There was a tremendous sunset over the runway as we waited for our 0815 flight to Dubai. More movies on a packed plane. Arriving at 1240 local time, a 90 minute stop over at Dubai was ended by boarding the 1445 final flight to Gatwick arriving at 1945 on the same day and catching up the 3 hours we lost on the way out. It was a long day of travelling.

It was a short but sweet visit to the Seychelles. With more time and a lot more money than we have, we could have explored other islands but you do what you can afford and we were just pleased to be able to get to Mahe. It is a lovely island, laid back with friendly locals. The beaches and lush vegetation are lovely, especially the blooming flowers. The diving is outstanding. It was everything that we were led to believe it would be but somehow it was no better than many other islands we have visited. Maybe we have just visited too many nice islands in the last six months and it looked very familiar to others. There was not a lot to do on the island except eat, drink and sunbathe (not necessarily a problem) and we didn’t feel the need to do the usual tea factory, rum factory etc. While I can see the attraction of getting married in the Seychelles we were glad we had done it on a cruise ship. When we got home I discovered that our fridge was cold enough to have exploded beer bottles and coke cans. Outstanding