Actually it is a he, but more of that later.
We caught the overnight flight ( 4 ½ hours ) from Dubai and arrived early in the morning. With time to kill before check in at our guest house, and having picked up our hire car, we stopped in Victoria for a bit of a look around and breakfast at the Pirates Arms which looked rather pleasant.
Victoria the main city, its a large town really, is nestled in an amphitheatre shaped basin between towering granite hills surrounding it and a sheltered bay which also serves as the port.
The Seychelles islands are comprised two distinct regions, the granitic islands ( the inner Islands ), the world's only oceanic islands of granitic rock and the coralline outer islands. The granite islands are the world’s oldest ocean islands and the highest point on Mahe is 905m.
Lynne had a traditional bacon, eggs, beans and toast and I thought, well, here we are on an exotic island in the Indian Ocean why not try the Creole Soup. Bad choice – there was nothing noticeably creole about it, about the only time it got slightly spicy was when I added pepper. Never mind the food was to get much much better.
Having fuelled up, changed some Euros into local money we set off around the top of the Island.The roads are pretty narrow and windy but the cars are small and driving is a pretty sedate affair. What a spectacular introduction to the beauty of Mahe ( Seychelles main Island ) with drop dead gorgeous bays, crystal clear azure blue water, white sandy beaches and the famous remarkable rocky outcrops making up the stunning coastline and lush tropical greenery from the edge of the shore inland up the steep hillsides.
Timing was good and we arrived at Panorama Guesthouse at check-in time 12.00. A pleasant wee spot overlooking Beau Vallon beach which is the most popular and one of the longer beaches on the island. It was midday and rather warm, the humidity high and the temperature perfect water was impossible to ignore so after unloading our bags it was straight down to the beach for a swim.
Then after organising our room, making a cuppa etc... we headed off down the beach again for an explore. There was a kind of carnival thing happening with food,crafts and drinks stalls set up just inside the palm tree line and a big barge anchored just offshore complete with stage and large speaker systems pumping out reggae music which the locals have adopted ( along with dreadlocks ) as the music of choice.
Our hosts were not too happy with the loud music playing till fairy late but it didn't worry us a bit. I guess they are more used to the quiet life and I imagine that it is pretty quiet most of the time. Before dinner we found ourselves a nice spot on the beach amongst some of the iconic boulders that are dotted everywhere around the island, settled down, opened a bottle of NZ Pinot Noir and took in the blazing sunset slowly washing everything with a sumptuous purple hue. Heavenly.
We dined that night at our closest restaurant, a Pizzeria which although seemingly out of place served up the most fantastic pizzas, better than most we have tried including Italy. Lynne had the pizza and I had fresh fish which we could share and was very much enjoyed.
Next morning after a good breakfast we set off in the car to explore the south western coast. To get there we first had to cross back over the island to Victoria where we stopped in to check out the colourful local Market. We then had to take another road across the middle of the island. We weren't in any hurry and this was a good move as the road is narrow winding and steep and we had to cross very close to the highest point. On the way up we came across a fenced in area housing about 30 tortoises. It seemed a little strange having them way up in amongst the lush vegetation so far from the sea, but they seemed happy enough ( it's actually kinda hard to gauge tortoise happiness ) and one male seemed particularly ecstatic having successfully mounted a female ( well I think it was female – do you get gay tortoises ) and was making quite a din. After that interesting voyeuristic interlude it was over the top and down the other side where we came across tea plantations and stopped at the Seychelles Tea Tavern for a cuppa. High hopes for a nice cuppa were ruined upon tasting this poor excuse for tea – it was really rather awful. What a pity as I am sure the tea can't always be that bad – maybe it was just the way it was made, teabags in a pot seemed plainly wrong at a tea plantation. We bought some green tea from them anyway and can report that it is actually rather tasty.
Around this time it started raining and we're talking about serious tropical downpour rain here. Not having seen the wet stuff for many months it was all quite exciting.
Prior to leaving the UAE I had checked out all the likely good fishing possibilities on Google Earth and it was becoming apparent that these exciting looking places were all but impossible to access for a few reasons. Firstly most of the best spots on the islands have been bought up by overseas resorts and unless you stay you cant get in ( more on this later ) and secondly the size of the rocks and boulders along the coast don't allow for easy rock hopping and the rain as delightful as it was prohibited any safe rock clambering. Never mind as we travelled further down the coast the rain subsided and we found the most devine little beach - Anse Soleil. To get to the beach you had to go through an appealing little restaurant overlooking the beach. This has to be one of the smartest business ideas I've come across and I'm pretty sure most people stop in for a bite or a drink. It was after lunchtime anyway so we stopped ate and drank.
The local beer Seybrew is quite a tasty drop, enjoyed on a few occasions and was really savoured as we tucked into spicy Creole fish curry for me and fresh tuna for Lynne. Wow this was seriously good food and what a little bit of paradise to be in and would have to rate as one of the prettiest places we've ever dined in. A pleasant swim and some sunbathing were halted by threatening drops which soon turned tumultuous and so we got wet getting back to the car, never mind as we were still in our togs anyway and when you live in a dry desert country rain like this was just so invigorating and fun. Back to Beau Vallon with the rain on our tail arriving only a few minutes in the lead. Plans for dinner out that night and checking out the carnival were thwarted by the downpour which didn't seem to want to stop. We have found when travelling it pays to go prepared so we always take some food and nibbles, nuts, dry fruit, wine etc...when we can. That night we were able to concoct a sufficient home made dinner in our room of spicy noodles and afterwards lay back listening to the rain on the roof as we nodded off for the night. What a great day.
Day 3 dawned with the rain gone and clear blue skies. After another hearty breakfast we were off again to check out the remaining southern parts of the island. The airport is about 5 kms south of Victoria and not far past that we rounded a corner to discover, yes, another beautiful beach where the car park seemed to be fairly full - about 8 cars. After finding a park we could see immediately that this was to be a great place to snorkle. No disappointment as within a few metres of the shore tropical fish of all shapes, sizes and colours cruised in and out of the rocks – spectacular and the beach itself was also just stunning. An explore along the rocky shore at the end of the beach I found schools of fish in barely knee deep water in picture postcard surroundings with palm trees growing almost right down to the crystalline waters. A salt water fly fisherman I found assured me that he hadn't caught anything and I'm quite convinced he was just happy casting away, surrounded by such beauty and just filling in the time. Fair enough too – what a fabulous place to not catch fish. Although I had packed rod, reel and plenty of tackle I really only had one half hearted attempt at fishing myself. At first I was a little disillusioned about not getting the chance for some serious fishing, but soon came to realise that just doing nothing was plenty enough to occupy ones time and with only 4 days we were pretty busy going from beauty spot to beauty spot successfully trying to fit in as much doing nothing as possible
It was hard to up and leave this magnificent little spot but off we went to explore the remaining south. The bottom tip of the island is majestic in it's own right being where the swell brings fairly large waves crashing on the shore. I had read that this was a dangerous place for swimming and it sure looked powerful so we stopped briefly for a few obligatory photos and carried on around and up the remaining yet travelled part of the south west coast. A few more beaches, a swim, and it was after lunchtime already. A small roadside cafe restaurant was found and more fish curry and fresh fish with a couple of beers was again heartily enjoyed. We had been told that the smaller local places were where the best food was to be found as the larger places and the hotels tended to bland down their fare for the tourists and this was good advice.
Back home to Beau Vallon to check out the carnival's last day. The beach was humming with beach soccer games and a band from the barge competing for entertainment with the food, drinks and craft stalls. Families were out in force and kids were just having a ball playing in and out of the water. Plenty of alcohol was being consumed and it seemed to us that there was no loutishness at all, people were just having a great social time and everyone was very friendly not only that evening but everywhere, wherever we went.
Some of the stall food was sampled and a T shirt purchased but we were still a bit peckish so it was back to the pizzeria as this would be our last chance for their delicious pizza washed down with a few cold beers. This place is always busy and I imagine you cant always get a seat straight away as we got some of the last seats both times we visited.
Last day and as planned we caught the 1 hour high speed ferry trip across to Praslin, the second biggest Island, and the only place in the world where the famous Coco de Mer palm grows in a beautifully lush Unesco heritage park in the middle of the island. The female part of the plant, the coconut is very interestingly shaped like a woman's bottom and unsurprisingly the male part of the plant is appropriately very masculine. Some stories talk about the Seychelles being the original Garden of Eden and something, apart from the absolute beauty of the place, sure is going on here with this suspiciously erotic looking plant.
Staying on this island and the next little island La Digue was originally on our itinerary, but as our holiday got shortened from 9 to 4 days ( thanks Ministry of Education - most of the kids and teachers, as predicted, didn't turn up for the 2 days you took away ) that became impossible, but is on most tourist agendas and would be highly recommended. We didn't have time to visit and swim at Anse Lazio, a beach at the far north tip of Praslin, which is said to be the most beautiful in the Seychelles. A good thing, possibly, as there have been two fatal shark attacks there in recent months – not so good for tourism and according to locals caused by the over fishing of the tuna resource ( thereby messing with the oceanic eco system ). The sharks ( big notoriously aggressive Bull Sharks in these instances ) are now coming close in to shore in search of food – seems to be a world wide problem.
The return ferry ride coincided perfectly with sunset as we arrived back in Victoria. Having some time to fill in before heading to the airport for our flight back to Dubai we thought we would give the Pirates Arms ( not many restaurants to be found in Victoria ) another try. Surely they could do a good curry. Unfortunately not. The chicken creole curry could only best be described as a bland chicken casserole and not even a very good casserole at that.
We ought to have tried the only other restaurant we could find that evening even though their prices were well over twice the Pirates Arms. Next time maybe.
I doubt we will ever go back to the Seychelles although it is tempting and such a beautiful place.
We did it pretty much on the cheap and quite successfully, however the place can be very expensive.
Given that there are quite a few plane loads arriving every day we were surprised by how few tourists we saw on our travels. It is because they all hiding away at the big hotels and resorts along the coast. Largely the place is geared to staying at these resorts costing upwards of 300 Euro per night ( we paid 80 Euros ). We did hear of one place costing Euro3000 a night. That's an insane amount and is an indication of more than just wealthy insensibility.
Many opt for game fishing and diving and this is another expensive option, and I imagine a pretty amazing experience for those who can afford it.
The upshot of this is that most of the tourist spending doesn't make it past the resorts ( ultimately going back offshore ) and out into the general community which is a shame. The locals by and large appear to be fairly poor partly due to this tourism mismanagement. Millions of Euros and Dollars come in with tourists but very few locals benefit.
The country is governed by one James Michel who is self described as a man of the people and by people as a man for himself.
Corruption is rife. Elections are said to be rigged and votes bought. He is rumoured to be super excessively rich, yet the country is seemingly quite poor. Much infrastructure is run down ( roads, health, schools ) and too often hefty price rises for food, electricity etc eat into the locals already low incomes. Places where locals arent allowed to buy have been sold off to the mega rich from overseas. One Abu Dhabi identity has recently built a humungous multi stories holiday home on a prime hilltop, possibly the biggest building in the country. He bought in his own labour force and they apparently toileted in the bush surrounds and polluted the water supply making the down stream locals quite sick ( in more ways than the literal ).
Scratch the surface anywhere and the nasty stuff oozes to the surface. Politics in Paradise – you go away on holiday to get away from this sort of thing.
Maybe if we'd stayed at one of those big expensive resorts instead of mingling with the locals we would still be blissfully ignorant. Poorer in more ways than one I suspect.
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