One Week in the SEYCHELLES

4 mai 2018
12 min de lecture

Looking forward for a moment of relaxation and peacefulness, we jumped on the first occasion to spend time together as a family. We all needed a vacation and to wear shorts for a while. We wanted the ocean but something wild too. We wanted to see people but to feel far from everything. We wanted simplicity and exoticism at the same time. And nothing was more perfect than the Seychelles.

A confetti in the middle of the Indian Ocean. A drop of sand and granite in this turquoise water. The Seychelles has so much to offer and we wanted it all. But one week is short and we really wanted to make the most of this getaway. Here are all of our moments, good deals, picks and memories of this amazing experience in one of the most prized place in the world.

SEYCHELLES, Mahé, BeauVallon, 24 of March 2018

We arrived on a sunny morning in Victoria, capital of the Seychelles and the smallest capital in the world. It is also the only airport on the biggest and most inhabited island of the archipelago : Mahé. The first striking feeling : HOLY SH*T, IT'S SO GREEN ! The jungle on this island looks so dense and healthy. For me, who lives in a desert, the change is drastic. But it feels good. We then proceeded to go to BeauVallon, a beautiful yet touristic part of the Island close to Victoria. It his here where we are going to stay for the next three days. We dropped the luggage, rented a car and started to visit this place. And we were not deceived.

We needed to eat a breakfast and went to the Boathouse, a beautiful cafe right on the beach. Nice moment and preview of the general lifestyle here. See by yourself.

The weather there in this period is the best : not to hot but enjoyable if you want to swim or sleep on the beach. However, the sun is terrible. Seychelles are very close to the equator and we spent a lot of time under the shade and covering our bodies with greasy sunscreen. We we started to swim and snorkel, we wore t-shirts. The first bath in the Indian Ocean of this trip was very nice. But best was yet to come. We then drove all the way to the south of the island to the Anse Takamaka to swim and feast our eyes. We met some cute little tortoises and some of them were literally obese, like they were as big as a pig. But still cute.

We had a lot of fun and we heard of a beautiful place to go drink a beer and watch the sunset. We then went to Anse Soleil and had a cold local beer (the SeyBrew!) and watched a pretty dope sunset.

And then, we saw ourselves confronted to one big problem that we never thought of... Food! Okay so culturally speaking, french people are late owls! We tend to have a nice drink around 6 or 7 pm and start to think about what will be our dinner not before 8 or even 9 pm. When we were in Asia (Vietnam, Thailand,...), there was street food sellers EVE-RY-WHERE ! At any time, you could grab a snack. But in the Seychelles, there is no nightlife. I never had the chance to discuss with locals to understand why but we found ourselves hungry and desperate, looking for restaurants that were closed. Uh oh! Our "hotel" was actually a self-catering kind of villa so we had no solution but to go to the local 24/7 grocery store and to eat chicken noodles at 11 pm. And swearing to ourselves to eat a little bit earlier next time... But it was still a nice first day in paradise.

SEYCHELLES, Mahé, BeauVallon, 25 of March 2018

We woke up in a nice villa, in a nice place, in a nice weather and in a nice mood! A new day in paradise! And speaking of "paradise", it's Sunday, yay! 83 % of the inhabitants of Seychelles are catholic. And when we proceeded to take a breakfast at the same Boathouse cafe that we took yesterday, it was closed. Actually, the whole island was closed. Argh! Hungry, we went to Victoria with the hope to find something and, you know what, right in front of the church, three adorable ladies were waiting for the mass to finish to sell... HANDMADE PASTRIES! Bingo! We feasted on banana bread, nougat and papaya pies, coconut cookies and fruit cakes.

We then headed to our spot of the day : Baie Lazare. Located on the south again, this was our first time snorkeling in the Seychelles and it soon became my favorite part of the island. The view was postcard-ish and the water was an aquarium. Truly a great moment of pleasure and a feast for the eyes.

We then went to Chez Batista's, a nice and beautiful place on the beach to eat a Creole Buffet. It was very beautiful, the place was very nice, with live music and friendly ambiance. I drank a fresh pineapple juice and we ate various local specialties such as"boudin creole", papaya chutney, bat "cari", fresh fish and "Rougaille saucisse". Everything was spicy, savory and delicious.

We finished the afternoon on this beach and decided to go on the other side of the island, on Anse Parnel. The tide was very low and the reef stopped us but the air was very nice, the colors wonderful and the cold beer at the Surfer's Cafe next to it was sooooooo welcomed. It was the perfect way to finish a beautiful day.

SEYCHELLES, Mahé, BeauVallon, 26 of March 2018

Rise and shine, it's another day on this beautiful island! And you know what? We struggled to eat a breakfast again! Looks like here, when a restaurant is supposed to open a 9 o clock, well they open at 10 and a half! Nevermind, it's part of the experience. We ended up in Victoria, in a small and cut little place with a nice view called News Cafe and it turned out super practical because we wanted to visit the local market and it was just a few blocks away.

It was super hot when we get to the market but it was very beautiful. It was in a large opened building with lots of colors, smells and noise coming out of it. You could buy fresh fish or any seafood, fruits, vegetables, fresh herbs, spices, flowers and all of this in a joyful pandemonium. We bought citruses, tomatoes, small bananas, vegetables crisps and we took plenty from the local pastry shop for our small lunch.

We went back to the car and drove our way to the north of the island in a cute beautiful place called Port Launay. For that, we crossed the Seychellois National Park, a lush and dense jungle and the highest peak of the island. The overall view was breathtaking. Arrived at destination, we put on sunscreen, swim suits and diving masks and went for a snorkeling session that unfortunately ended up a little bit too soon for me. The tide was at its lowest and I actually suffer from... fykiaphobia ! It is actually the fear of seaweeds... Okay, I know it sounds stupid but a seaweed CANNOT touch me ! It is one of my biggest fear and is the reason I don't swim in open water when the tide is too low or the level of the water is too small to let me swim freely without having to deal with seaweed. And it turned out that the Seychellois reef is covered in a brown and disgusting seaweed. Anyway, I went back on the beach, impossible for me to go on and started to sunbath, waiting for the others.

The spot was very beautiful, with beautiful trees shading the white beach and crystal water. There was a swing right on the beach..

..and cute doggos, to keep me company !!!

The others went back and we ate the lunch we bought this morning. Tangerines, small bananas, tomatoes, banana and sweet potatoes crisps, chicken stuffed pastries, spicy beignets, papaya jam brioche and a yellow fluffy cake! A feast!

Then we wanted to go somewhere I could be able to join my parents to go snorkel so we went to bay next to the one where we lunched and it was actually better. Water was a little bit more deeper but you could still walk on the sea floor and have your butt out of the water. But no seaweed. And a crazy amount of fish, some very small and others very big (!!!), and a lot of sea cucumbers. It was very beautiful and we spent the entire afternoon in the water. We the sun was about to set, we sat on the beach and enjoyed a very beautiful moment. I mean, the lightning was amazing.

When it get darker, we wanted to drink something and there was a restaurant right on the beach. But when we entered...it was so FANCY!!! When were completely uncomfortable and feeling out of place. I mean, we were wet, in our swimsuits, with towels as skirts next to fancy people drinking champagne in shirts and high heels! We ordered drinks but we left as soon as possible. Oh, if only we knew...

We struggled like never to find a place to eat. It was dark, late, everything was closed and we did not know that but we actually were on the wrong side of the island if we wanted to find a restaurant. Gosh! We just want to eat! But it's late and everything is closed early in the Seychelles. Except... a terrible place where we ate a disgusting pizza and a disgusting burger (that's all they had) on the side of the road. We promised ourselves to NOT do that again. We drove back to BeauVallon and get into our beds.

SEYCHELLES, Mahé, BeauVallon, 27 of March 2018

We kind off switched off the alarms this morning and woke up around 10 am. We ate a delicious breakfast in a hotel buffet full of fruits. Then we wanted to go to Anse Major, one of the most beautiful and private bays of the island because.. you need to get there by foot! But we love challenges so we started the trail. Only, they told us that we had to walk for just fifteen minutes but instead, we walked for more than half an hour.. in flip-flops! Under the zenith. Ouch. But the trail was magnificent. Sometimes, you would cross the jungle and its lush vegetation. But most of the time, you had a breathtaking view of the blue waters under you.

We arrived at the peak and we could see the very private beach. Only few accept to walk or exercise to get somewhere but we think the opposite : a beautiful landscape or a refreshing bath on a special beach is more rewarding if you make the effort to get it. Anse Major is a very beautiful little bay that you can access only by foot or if you own a boat. Most of the places in the Seychelles are accessible to everyone but some are hidden and you have to search a little bit for them. But everyone can have access to the littoral. This law caused many problems with bigger hotels or resorts who have established themselves on the beach. Normally, you can ask to cross the hotel itself to go to the beach and they cannot tell you know no : it's your right. But we tried it once and unfortunately, they refused. Anyway. We then started our descent to the beach to find it...empty! Lucky us! And as usual, we put on sunscreen, swimsuits and snorkeling masks and went in the water. This was by far one of the best snorkel session of our trip.

Everything is related. More humans, more pollution, less sea life and more damaged sea floor. It was then natural that we had the chance to experience a very beautiful session. Water was not that clear (there was waves!) but a lot of fish swimming around. I even saw a ray.

When we came back, a boat was here and they were doing a fish barbecue. Omgg, people, the smeeell! I would have killed to get a bite of this grilled fish. But we ate cakes instead.

It was soon time to go back : it was 2 o clock, and at 3, we needed to be back at the hotel for the check out because at 4, we were taking a boat in Victoria to go to another island of the archipelago : La Digue. We stayed in our wet swimsuits to stay freshened and started to go back. The sun was boiling the blood in our bodies and the flip flops made the "hike" even harder. We got to our hotel on time, even tho we took way more time to get back because of the heat. We didn't bother to take a shower and got to Victoria's harbor. There, we took a ferry that allows to connect the different islands between them. We were going to La Digue, another famous island of the Seychelles, around an hour away from Mahé.

We arrived on this cute little island when the sun started to set. Colors were amazing and the owner of our hotel was here to pick us. His golf cart was very funny. La Digue is so small than there are no cars, just bikes that you can rent or golf carts for the hotels. Our hotel was Kaz Ladouceur and I really recommend this place : established on top of a hill, you get a stunning view of the ocean and you are on the middle of the jungle, far away from everything, so you can relax. The rooms were entirely made by the owner himself and were very stylish and cozy. You have a small terrace and an outdoor kitchen for yourself. Everything is made so you can feel at home and we loved that.

We dropped the luggage and we went to the "village" of the island, where we ordered some fish with passion fruit sauce in a restaurant called MiMum's Takeaway that I totally recommend, as it is both appreciated by the tourists AND the locals. After that, we went to bed after a quick wash in the outdoor shower. A dream!

SEYCHELLES, La Digue, Kaz Ladouceur, 28 of March 2018

We took a breakfast on the terrace with things we bought to the local 24/7 yesterday : bread, jam, coffee and milk and fruit juice. Freddo, the owner, gave us bikes, the only way to travel the island, and told us to go to a very nice spot if you want to see a beautiful beach and play in the waves. We drove through the island's jungle (very very very beautiful!) and arrived in Grand'Anse. There, a pearly white sand beach and huge waves to play in. So dope! We put a lot of sunscreen (you can't imagine how tough the sun was!) and dived in the waves. I lost my swimsuit several times (oops!) but it was real fun.

As usual, our lunch consisted of delicious homemade food that we have found in small local shops or bakeries : here, fish samusas and spicy beignets. We tried to find another spot by taking bikes and we took the time to discover parts of the island we never went.

Living on this island seems so easy, so delicious. People are nice, landscapes are stunning and you just want to stay here forever! We went to the south of the island to Anse Severe, a thin strip of white sand covered by coconut trees and takamakas eaten slowly by the reef. We immediately dropped our bikes and stuff, took our diving masks and went in the water. It was very beautiful, the reef was exceptional and seemed pretty healthy. Lots of fish of different colors, but too much seaweed for me. Plus, the tide kept getting lower... It became uncomfortable for me to stay in the water. So I went back to the beach and just sunbathed while the others stayed for further explorations!

We took benefit of the sun getting lower to get back on track and continue riding the bikes. We (almost) went around the whole island but decided to drink a beer and have a snack on a beautiful beach with no one watching us. We even saw a turtle in the waves.

[I think that I actually did not mentioned in this post how good the beer of the Seychelles is!!! SeyBrew is a light beer that you can buy anywhere and was really the highlight of all the sunsets of this trip. I actually think that I never drank so much beers in such a small amount of time!]

Anyway.

We were actually on the wrong side of the island to watch the sunset so we took our bikes again and proceeded to watch the sunset (with another beer!). Then, we ate in a small 'takeaway', called Gala Takeaway. We were lucky because we got the last bits of their very famous chicken cari. Food very fresh and very tasty. Plus an avocado salad. It was a nice way to end the day.

SEYCHELLES, La Digue, Kaz Ladouceur, 29 of March 2018

And we are already leaving this little paradise that was La Digue. We took the boat after a (too?) early breakfast and ride to the harbor. We arrived in Mahé, and went back to the same hotel we were before leaving. We rent a car again and we were ready to spend the last few days on the main island.

We bought food and took the car to places we've already been to but wanted to see again. We ended up on a small desert beach, that we have found by pure chance. The air was a bit cold but did not stopped us from going in the water. Even when the storm and the rain came, we were still playing in the waves.

With a urge to snorkel a little bit, we went back to Anse Lazare, definitely my favorite spot of Mahé. Still cloudy but enjoyable. We had a blast. I even took the time to take a few pics, the light was just amazing!!!

And as the sun was going away, we found a restaurant for tonight's dinner called Cafe Creole and if you ever have the chance to go there, just GO!!! The owner is super friendly, the food is fresh and delicious, the place is stunning and just on the beach (you eat with your feet in the sand) and the ambiance very nice. I totally recommend.

SEYCHELLES, Mahé, BeauVallon, 30 of March 2018

It's our last day here in the Seychelles and we started it with a copious breakfast at the Dolce Vita Cafe in Victoria. Banana french toast is a must have! We drove to Anse Soleil, one of our favorite spot during this whole trip to snorkel for the last time and have fun! It was I think the best way to end this perfect week here in paradise, as we saw so many different things in the water today!!!

We spent our last minutes on this beautiful beach, the air was perfect, the sun was shining, just the sound of the waves and the 4 of us altogether, it was a perfect moment.