Today’s post is going to be about our recent trip to Seychelles. The quick take away is for you to add it to your list of places to visit. Last year Charles and I decided we wanted to take an adult only trip before Google (our nickname for the little boy we are adopting because we can’t decide on a name) makes his arrival. One night after putting Little Miss to bed, Charles got a tweet about a great flight deal to Seychelles. (He is always getting these tweets and has learned you have to act fast). He started texting my mom to arrange childcare for Little Miss and dates. Less than 30 mins later, we had flights to Seychelles! (Note that this post is picture heavy).
Seychelles is located off the east coast of Africa. Princess Kate and Prince William honeymooned at an exclusive island in Seychelles. It was a long, long flight to get there but was so worth it. The first thing both of us noticed was how not commercialized the islands felt. Tourism is a huge economy for them, but it wasn’t filled with tourist and definitely not tourists from the USA or even the Americas. We read something that all of the Americas (North, Central, South) only make up 14 percent of their tourists. The quiet laid back vibe was amazing.
After our flight, we headed to the ferry terminal and took an hour long ferry ride to the island of Praslin. Now, I have never gotten sea sick, but it was a rough ride even for a big boat. Let the adventure begin! Our first hotel was on a beautiful beach, and we started to notice how quiet the island really was. The Seychelles’ population is around 100,000, so there are not many people. We tried to stay awake as long as we could, but by 5 p.m. we were exhausted and went to bed and slept for 14 hours. I don’t think I have slept that much since my college days.
Valle de Mai
The next day we were ready to conquer the island and go to a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We visited the Valle de Mai. Here we were able to see the coco de mer which is the world’s largest tree nut. They were massive, and they take seven years to fully mature. When we were walking around at one tree, there was a small sign basically saying walk fast under the tree. The nuts on that tree were seven years old and could fall at anytime.
After hiking, we decided to check out a beach. In guide books, this beach, Anse Lazio, was listed as one of the top ten best beaches in the world. Say what!!!! We drove up, and I was shocked at how it wasn’t busy, full ,or touristy at all. There were no restrooms and only two small restaurants that you would never know were restaurants. I think there were maybe ten others on the beach. We couldn’t get over it. Plus, it was stunning. I have always had a special place for our beaches in Hawaii after living there and spending so much time on those beaches, but this was beautiful.
Testing out the waters and it was not cold. I loved it! This cover-up is swimsuit material, and I have a few. Here are some that are similar from the same brand. They are great for travel because they are good coverups during the day, and you can easily add some fun earrings and have a dress for the night.
After spending some time at the beach, we headed back to our taxi and came across this giant tortoise. Such a gentle thing.
La Digue
We decided to take a 15 minute ferry one day to the island of La Digue. Oh, did I love this island! Right where we got off the ferry we could see sting rays off of the dock. On La Digue, there are only a few cars, and most people bike. We rented bikes and had a blast riding around. The island is not that big, but I couldhavef spent longer than a day on this sleepy island. While biking we came across a vanilla plantation.
There you can see the vanilla pods hanging off the trees. You always hear about vanilla from Madagascar which isn’t too far, so it makes sense having vanilla plantations.
While biking to the beach, this fella crossed in front of me. Like I said, it was like stepping back in time.
This beach had HUGE granite boulders all around. We had to walk past them to end up with this view.
This was our beach for the day when we were on La Digue. Again, there were very, very few people. In the distance you see someone in a white shirt, and that is Charles.
Praslin
We set up camp under this palm tree for some shade. Y’all, the sun was intense. Being south of the equator, we had to be careful, and we both did great. However, somehow on the last day, we ended up with some burns. One thing I loved about the beach culture was all we needed was a towel and a book. We didn’t have to fill a wagon with a cooler, chairs, sun shades like many Americans do when they are having a day at the beach. It wasn’t an ordeal to get to the beach. We did see some families, and they too just brought towels and let the kids run around naked and have the time of their lives playing.
I always travel with an umbrella but not only for sun protection when walking around. It did come in handy for a quick afternoon rain shower.
After spending a few days on Praslin, we took the ferry back to the island of Mahe. Here was the view from our hotel. We spent lots of time reading and enjoying this view.
Our vacation was the laziest vacation we ever had. It was nice knowing we will be going into a crazy wild year when Google comes home. I read a ton, took naps, snorkeled, ate amazing fresh seafood, and enjoyed some one on one time with Charles. We joke we can always make the most of where we are, but this place was paradise.
I did think this was cool a coral farm growing more coral. We saw lots of coral when snorkeling, and it was fun to see how they were trying to grow more.
Now back to reality. I hope you were able to escape to a little bit of paradise while reading this post. If you ever have questions about Seychells, I am happy to answer them!
Cheers!
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Beth Harper says
Stunning! Would love to see you when you’re back down this way!