Dream Island Hopping

The first island on our trip was Praslin, where we checked into the lovely Villa Kass for four nights. The island offers something for everyone, from beautiful beaches such as Anse Lazio to wonderful walks through the Vallée de Mai or the even more beautiful Fond Ferdinand, all ready to be explored and enjoyed.

This beautiful park is home to one of the largest concentrations of Coco de Mer palms, and the walk offers magnificent views of the neighbouring islands.

From here, we also took a day trip to the neighbouring island of Curieuse, where you can enjoy wonderful walks and snorkelling, as well as admire the giant tortoises that live there.

At the end of the day trip, we enjoyed a delicious barbecue, which the organisers had brought over to the island.

The second island on our tour was the quieter, dreamier island of La Digue, which completely enchanted us with its breathtaking beaches. On La Digue, we stayed at the relatively new apartment complex La Digue Holiday Villa, which makes a wonderful base for the beautiful walks to the beaches in the south, such as Anse Caiman. The main attraction, however, is Anse Source d'Argent. There is an entrance fee, but it really is indescribably beautiful.

This little island is the epitome of a tropical paradise: no cars, just bicycles and ox carts, so there is very little noise or pollution. Simply brilliant. We visited during the Feast of the Assumption, when the island goes into party mode for two days, meaning non-stop celebrations. It was lovely to watch the locals enjoying the festivities and to join in ourselves.

On La Digue, we were also able to watch the enormous bats feeding in the trees. They are such an adorable species, which until then we had only ever seen in pictures. Simply charming.

On the final and largest island of our tour, we stayed at Crown Beach Hotel, a wonderful small hotel complex with a lovely beach and good service. Mahé also has beautiful beaches and plenty of enjoyable excursions, such as strolling through the magnificent Jardin du Roi to learn about the islands’ flora and fauna, or wandering through the capital, Victoria, with its authentic fish market.

The many beautiful beaches are also fantastic, including Anse Intendance and Anse Soleil. The most beautiful but also the most strenuous walk is the one to Anse Major. You do need to be a confident walker and drink plenty of water, as the sun beats down relentlessly throughout the route, but you are rewarded with a swim at a dream beach.

On Mahé and Praslin, we mainly travelled by hire car. It is best to book a car with an automatic gearbox, as you do not have to worry about changing gear and can concentrate better on driving on the left. During our excursions, we usually ate at small roadside takeaway restaurants, such as Gala Take-Away on La Digue, where you can get delicious fish and rice for just a few euros. The hotel restaurants are also good, but service often takes a while – too long when you are really hungry – and they are quite expensive.

All in all, this was one of our loveliest holidays in recent years, and we will be back. Ingo & Heike