01/05/2018 to 14/05/2018 - Seychelles

02/05 to 07/05 - Mahe - Ocean Bird & Wanita's Self Catering in Pointe au Sel (7 km from Mahe)

02/05/2018

After a night flight with Turkish Airlines via Istanbul, we landed on Mahe, the main island of Seychelles, in the morning. The immigration formalities took some time and then we had to wait for our luggage. Everyone is relaxed here, we should now also switch to holiday mode. After picking up the rental car, we set off for Pointe au Sel. Fortunately, we already received a specific arrival description with various landmarks for our accommodation. The whole thing should take about 30 minutes. Landmarks and all is good, but the time in between should urgently be remeasured. In the meantime, we had already reached the south coast and had long passed our destination ;-). So we turned back and eventually arrived at Ocean Bird & Wanita's Self Catering.

Wanita, our hostess, greeted us very warmly. She showed us the accommodation for the next 5 nights - our own, lovingly furnished and well-equipped little cottage. A huge filled fruit basket with home-grown papayas, mangoes, lemons, and passion fruits was waiting for us in the open-plan kitchen. We gladly settled into this small living dream, but first, we needed a refreshing shower.

Time for the first exploration tour with the rental car. We headed south to Anse a la Mouche - unfortunately, no suitable dive center for us. We continued to Port Glaude and the inland road. We made a short stop in the middle of the island at the Tea Factory. Unfortunately, it was closed. The next stop was Mission Lodge. We enjoyed the first huge trees, spice plants, and a magnificent view of the green island here. We continued our car journey through Victoria, the capital of Mahe, to Beau Vallon, located on the north coast of Mahe. A tourist resort with large and small accommodations, supermarkets, bars, restaurants, and dive centers. And that was our destination. We met Mike at the second dive center. He was wearing an AIDA diving shirt. It made us feel right at home, and our first dive for the next day was scheduled. Today was market day in Beau Vallon. The locals awaited us with steaming pots and delicious dishes.

Now it was time to head home slowly. Through Victoria, south along the east coast until we reached Pointe au Sel. But we still needed to stock up on some groceries. We had a small supermarket right outside our door. The Indian Kumar Kumar is probably the best-stocked minimarket on the island, we got everything we needed. Now we just had to unpack our luggage and then it was time to say goodnight. Let's dream of colorful fish and white sandy beaches.

03/05/2018

7 am wake up. Breakfast, pack diving gear, and off to Beau Vallon to Ocean Dream Divers. We went out by boat. On our first dive 'I'ilot', we saw a green sea turtle, eagle rays, pipefish, batfish, trumpetfish, stonefish, and an octopus. 1 hour break. On to the second dive 'Twin Barges Wrecks'. Here we encountered a huge stonefish, lobster, shrimp, mantis shrimps, and of course, the turtle. Beautiful underwater. After some stories at the dive center, we started the journey back. We passed through Victoria again. We made a stop here today as we wanted to see the capital. We bought fresh vegetables at the Sir Selwyn Clarke Market and also got the first souvenirs - a magnet and postcards. On foot, we made our way to the jetty, passing by the Clock Tower and the post office. At the jetty, we bought ferry tickets to Praslin - quite expensive this crossing. A short stop at the pretty big supermarket. They should have everything here, but unfortunately no spaghetti. So we cooked Aglio e Olio with macaroni for dinner.

04/05/2018

Today was island exploring day. We went to the Jardin du Roi. We walked through the beautifully landscaped gardens and discovered some colorful flowers, special trees, and plants, as well as the first Coco de Mer. We treated ourselves to a cold drink with a fantastic view over the landscape. On the way back, we made stops at two typical street markets and stocked up on fresh vegetables. After a quick lunch at home, we wanted to enjoy a rum. We went to the Takamaka Rum distillery, took a short tour, and tasted a bit. But we didn't take anything home. The people of the Caribbean can distill the better rum :-). Perhaps the next small town - Domaine de Val des Pres - would have a nice souvenir for us. In the artist village, there were originally furnished colonial houses to visit and plenty of handmade items to buy. Before our trip, we saw a report on a model shipbuilder on TV and read in the guidebook that he should have his little house here. Unfortunately, no one here knew him. But there was a hot tip: He should be in Banyan Tree. So we went there. No luck, still no shipbuilder to be found. By now, we had covered quite a few miles on the beautiful island. A quick stop at a roadside vendor and we selected the freshest catch of fish. Grilled red snapper with vegetables was our dinner tonight.

05/05/2018

We were very impressed by Wanita's pet - a giant tortoise. It's quite fast and voracious for a supposedly leisurely animal. After the animal visit, we finally wanted to relax on a typical beach. We went to Anse Intendance. White powdery sand with palm trees and the typical Seychelles boulders. We took many photos, took a little walk, and read a book. After a few relaxing hours, we continued along the west coast through the interior of the island, and thus reached our dive center in Beau Vallon. At 14:22, we went for the third dive 'Lighthouse'. Bats, surgeonfish, emperor angelfish, octopuses, pipefish, moray eels, and various rays were there. Back at the dive center, we had some time to read and learn about the different fish species. Now it was time for the first night dive to the 'Twin Barges Wrecks'. In complete darkness, we descended to 18m deep. The usual underwater companions were there, just not directly visible. The lionfish followed the light beam, and the bioluminescent plankton became visible. An adventurous and exciting day.

06/05/2018

Today was a real lazy day. We used the day to sleep in, sort photos, pack suitcases, lie on the beach, and eat. We wanted fresh fish. We made two attempts at the market, but on Sundays, the locals also take a break from fishing, so there was only fresh vegetables.

07/05 to 12/05 - Praslin - La Petite Maison in Anse Consolation

07/05/2018

7:30 am wake up, 9 am departure to Victoria at the jetty, drop off luggage, park the rental car, and off to Praslin. The ferry crossing took 1 hour. It was a 15-minute taxi ride to our next accommodation. Nicole, our second host, was still busy cleaning the cottage when we arrived. It was a bit smaller and more sparsely furnished than in Mahe. But with Nicole, we found a good cook. On 2 evenings, she cooked us a delicious 3-course menu, of course with fish and fresh fruits. So we just briefly dropped off our suitcases and went shopping. We walked back a bit from where we came by taxi, steep up a mountain. In the small shop, we stocked up on the most important groceries for the next few days, then went back and settled in. We walked in the other direction - towards the west - over the next steep hill and discovered a small cove. However, access to the bay was only through private property. There was an old man sitting there who warmly invited us to his beach. He was happy to have some visitors and told us a lot. We only understood half of it, but then enjoyed our privilege. We took a little walk and decided to go snorkeling here. So we went back over the hill, picked up our snorkeling gear, went back to the beach, and enjoyed the colorful underwater world for an hour. Back at our cottage, we ended the day relaxed.

08/05/2018

Because today we had to wake up at 7:30 am again. Arno from White Tip Divers picked us up and took us to the dive center in Anse Volbert. After all the formalities were settled, we had two dives 'Shark Rock' and 'Caiman Rock'. We saw whitetip reef sharks, batfish, stonefish, puffer, and boxfish, finally also clownfish, and a cowrie shell. We walked through the town, had something to eat at a delicious takeaway, and strolled along the beach back to the dive center. Arno drove us back to Anse Consolation, where today one of Nicole's delicious dinners awaited us.

09/05/2018

Early in the morning, Arno picked us up again because today we had two exciting dives at 'White Banks' and 'Ave Marie'. After seeing more sharks, turtles, moray eels, boxfish, and batfish, we wanted to take the bus back today. We went to the bus stop, took the bus to the jetty, and bought ferry tickets there for the next day to La Digue. Going to La Digue without a camera - we had left it at the dive center - was not acceptable. So we took the bus back to the dive center, picked up the camera, and took the bus back to the other half of the island. What you don't have in mind... It was already evening, we had something to eat, and went to bed because we still had to get up earlier the next day.

10/05/2018

Wake up at 5:30 am - I want to emphasize again that we were on VACATION. The bus to the jetty left at 6:20 am, and in a 15-minute crossing, we were already on La Digue. The weather was lousy, it was drizzling, but we had hope that it would get better, so we rented two bikes to explore the island. Because La Digue is the bicycle island of the Seychelles, very few cars drive here. We went to L'Union Estate and the famous Anse Source d'Argent beach. There was not a soul to be seen. We had the dream beach, where several films and postcards were made, all to ourselves. We walked along the beach for 2 hours. Over rocks, through shallow and deeper water, and along the powdery sandy beach. The weather got better and better, so we were able to take some dreamy photos. We took our bikes and rode to Grand Anse, made a stop at Cafe Mimi, located somewhere on the island, enjoyed cool drinks and a delicious sandwich there. Now we went in the other direction of the island, to Anse Patates. Eventually, the road ends here and there is nowhere to go. You'll have to overcome quite a few steep hills in high temperatures, so not so bad that it won't go any further. So we slowly drove back towards the harbor, but still made a stop at a beautiful beach and jumped into the cool water. We returned the bikes at the harbor and took the ferry back to Praslin. We were back in our little cottage around 5 pm. After this beautiful, eventful, but also somewhat exhausting day, we let ourselves be cooked another delicious dinner by Nicole.

11/05/2018

Today we wanted to enjoy the beautiful underwater world of the Seychelles one more time. Arno picked us up early again. On the first dive 'Whale Rock', we saw a giant stingray, and some sharks were swimming just a few meters away from us. Quite impressive, but even more beautiful to see was the school of 30 spotted eagle rays that we got to observe around 'Booby Rock' on the second dive. With these great underwater impressions, we arrived back on land. Today we rented a car because we wanted to explore a bit more of the island. We made our way to Anse Lazio and then to Zimbabwe, not in Africa ;-), from where we enjoyed a magnificent view over Praslin. We drove through the green Vallee de Mai to the other side of the island, heading west to Pointe Ste. Marie. Suddenly, the road ended there, and we stood in front of a hotel complex. Our return trip to Anse Consolation, to our cottage, took us through small villages, along narrow winding roads, through green forests, past beautiful coastal views, and the airport. Here, the runway goes right over the road. So you're not waiting at the red light because of pedestrians and cars, but because of taking off and landing planes. When we arrived at our cottage, we just had enough time to cook and have dinner. Then there was a power outage in the entire street. It was pitch dark, and we could see millions, oh billions, no, much more stars in the night sky. We were granted 3 free wishes by the shooting stars.

12/05 to 14/05 - Mahe - Ocean Bird & Wanita's Self Catering

12/05/2018

We had already discovered so much in the Seychelles, but the Seychelles palm with the Coco de Mer had to be part of it. The Coco de Mer is an endemic palm species that only occurs in the Seychelles. The fruits - Coco de Mer - can grow up to 50 cm long and weigh 45 kg, and they bear the largest known seeds in the plant kingdom. So we went to the less known and not overcrowded Fond Ferdinand. During our 2-hour tour of the area, we learned and saw a lot about Seychelles' diverse plant world, including the Coco de Mer. Now the idea came up that we wanted to take a nice souvenir home with us - a Coco de Mer. But it was too expensive in Fond Ferdinand. In the afternoon, our ferry took us back to Mahe. We were already looking forward to Wanita and our little two-story cottage again. On the way there, we picked up a fresh fish from the street market, and of course, Wanita had another fully filled fruit plate waiting for us.

13/05/2018

Today, we had a completely relaxed vacation day. We slept in, did laundry, packed suitcases, cooked, and settled our debts at the dive center with Mike. We also gave Wanita two tasks because we wanted to take something nice home from our vacation. So she was supposed to find out where the model shipbuilder went and where we could get a beautiful Coco de Mer at a reasonable price.

14/05/2018

Our last day in the island paradise. Wanita organized a beautiful and affordable Seychelles palm fruit for us and found out that the shipbuilder is actually in the village 3 villages away. So we went to Domaine de Val des Pres once again and found the shipbuilder. He was a quite old man who designed ships including interior according to the original building plans. We liked the ships very much, so we chose one. We drove back and forth a few times between our cottage and the shipbuilder. Now we finally had the ship in our luggage and drove to the airport. Well packed, we left our own ship at the special baggage counter and checked in our 3 suitcases at the normal counter. At 9 pm, it was time to say goodbye to the Seychelles, goodbye.

We generally did not meet many tourists, and the beaches were not crowded. Eating out is quite expensive here. But if you want to grill your own fish, you can get fresh catch for little money at most roadside stalls. Mahe and Praslin are quite hilly. Originally, we were considering renting bicycles, but luckily we didn't. On the other hand, La Digue can be easily explored by bike, in a few hours you can see everything on the small island. The Seychelles have a diverse wildlife to offer. We observed giant tortoises, fruit bats, various birds, termites, geckos, crabs, and of course many marine creatures. But the plant world with flowering trees and flowers, cinnamon, vanilla, and the unique Seychelles palm should not be missed. A truly beautiful, relaxing, and eventful vacation in the Seychelles.