A Holiday in Paradise

On Praslin, we once again booked our accommodation at Villas d’Or . We highly recommend this accommodation! The 8 villas are generously spaced throughout a beautifully landscaped and well-maintained garden, right on Cote d’Or beach. The villas are very spacious, spotlessly clean and very well furnished. The manager, Pierre, and his team are unbeatable! Our days on Praslin were wonderfully relaxing: between our excursions, there was always time to unwind, go for a swim and simply enjoy the sunshine and warmth…

Praslin, Villas d’Or Our first excursion was a boat trip to the islands of Cousin and Curieuse. The day got off to a great start: we were picked up by boat directly from our beach before transferring to a larger boat. Cousin was our first destination. The island is inhabited only by a conservation team consisting of a biologist and several reserve staff. You can only go ashore aboard the team’s official boat. That is quite an experience in itself: the boat charges straight up onto the beach at full speed! This is followed by a guided walk around the island, where you receive plenty of fascinating information, discover the local birdlife and, with a little luck, may even encounter sea turtles. The only problem during the nearly two-hour walk: ENDLESS MOSQUITOES!!!! It was still a fantastic experience!

Sea turtle on its way back into the water Tortoise trail We then continued by boat to Curieuse: a brief swim at this white beach, which was free of seagrass, followed by a picnic of Creole dishes (very good!). Afterwards, we walked through the forest, passing mangroves and huge boulders, with frequent lovely views and encounters with the giant tortoises, until we reached the place where the boat picked us up again. This island was also very well worth visiting. The excursion ended with a brief snorkelling stop near the small rocky island of St Pierre before we returned to shore at Cote d’Or in the afternoon.

Tortoises on Curieuse On the recommendation of our manager, Pierre, we visited Fond Ferdinand this time instead of Vallée de Mai, and Pierre booked us onto the morning tour. That was an excellent decision!! Fond Ferdinand is a protected forest area similar to Vallée de Mai, ‘only’ it is not a UNESCO World Heritage Site but a kind of national park. A small team of experts looks after visitors. Everything is still quite unspoilt and occasionally a little makeshift, but the tour was more than worthwhile! For less than half the admission price of Vallée de Mai, you see the same things and also get a guided tour included! Our guide explained everything in detail, pointed out special features and answered every question. Naturally, the coco de mer was present here too. The circular trail has not yet been completed, so you have to return along the same route, but that is no inconvenience at all! After climbing almost 600 steps in total, you are more than rewarded at the top with incredible views across Praslin. A fantastic morning!

Coco de Mer at Fond Ferdinand One thing we would not do again is visit the north-west coast, but we would return to Anse Lazio every time!! This bay will take every visitor’s breath away – especially in the afternoon light! The colours are incredibly intense and the water is crystal clear… No wonder this beach can sometimes be a little busier – although ‘busier’ is relative, as Anse Volbert is usually deserted!

All in all, Praslin was worth every minute of our stay; this island is simply breathtakingly beautiful. We were now very excited about Mahé, as we had never explored the south of the island before.

On Mahé, we stayed at Blue Lagoon, highly recommended accommodation set in a beautifully landscaped garden very close to Anse à la Mouche. We could walk through the garden to go swimming and admire the sunset in the evening. The owners are also absolutely wonderful: helpful, always available, kind and friendly… We felt just as comfortable here as we had with Pierre on Praslin.

First, we explored Sir Michael Adams’s studio and admired his paintings as well as the works of art by his daughter and son. It is very well worth visiting and easily reached on foot from Blue Lagoon. Another excursion by car took us along the west coast to the south of the island, ending with a swimming stop at Anse Intendance. This beach is certainly one of the most beautiful on Mahé, although we liked the bay at Anse Royale even more! We often came here to bathe and swim (just over five minutes by car from Blue Lagoon), especially when it was low tide at Anse à la Mouche, where you had to walk quite a long way out before reaching deeper water. Here too, the water was crystal clear and the scenery looked like something from a picture book, with a small island just offshore and palm trees and rocks along the beach… On Sundays, a local woman sells homemade cakes and fruit juices by the road near the beach. The selection of cakes is enormous, and they are delicious!!!

Anse Royale Jardin du Roi is definitely worth a visit! From up here, you also have a lovely view of Anse Royale and can learn a great deal about the flora of the Seychelles. The drive up is a little adventurous – you just hope that no vehicles come towards you…

As its name suggests, Anse Soleil is a beautiful place to watch the sunset! Unfortunately, getting there and finding a parking space can be a problem because, firstly, plenty of other people also want to experience the sunset here and, secondly, there are virtually no parking spaces. The few spaces that do exist are sometimes blocked by Julien, the irascible and completely unhinged owner of the neighbouring property, who watches down to the very last millimetre to make sure that no car so much as touches the boundary of his property (which results in extremely loud verbal abuse…)!!! But even that does not spoil the sunset spectacle.

Anse Soleil Our days on Mahé flew by. We liked the south of the island very much, even more than Port Glaud further north.

Our conclusion: for a future ‘best of’ tour, we would definitely return to Praslin, certainly consider Mahé again, and include La Digue once more next time too!