Our Highlight: La Digue

Once we had collected our luggage, we checked in with our travel partner, ‘Creole’, who took us to our driver. The blue sky clouded over and it soon began to rain. ‘A shower is normal in the tropics,’ we thought, and did not let it dampen our spirits. After all, we were heading straight to Praslin by ferry, where the weather could be completely different. As we had landed early in the morning and the ferry was not due to depart until around midday, we sat at the harbour in Mahé, still tired, waiting to board. We then slept for most of the 1-hour ferry crossing. It was still raining. When we arrived on Praslin, it was the same picture – grey and wet.

Sunset at Hotel Le Domain de la Reserve, Praslin The transfer to the hotel Le Domaine de La Reserve, also known simply as ‘La Reserve’ by the locals, took just 15 minutes. The weather spoiled our first impression here too: it had been raining so heavily for hours that the ground could no longer absorb the water and everything was flooded. But when we entered our room, we were amazed – we had rarely seen such a beautiful, spacious and clean room, and then there was the view. Incredible. We had booked a Beach Front room, and directly in front of it were the huge granite rocks and the sea. Beautiful, even in the rain. The weather continued to thwart our plans for the next 5 days – and we were only on Praslin for 5 days. Sometimes it rained throughout the morning until around 3 pm, sometimes it did not start until midday and, yes, there were still days when it poured continuously.

So what can you do during persistent rain on an island where you had planned to explore the most beautiful beaches? Fortunately, we were staying in a proper hotel, so we could spend several hours in the pool, at the pool bar and beneath the parasols. As we had only booked breakfast, we needed somewhere for dinner. The hotel works with 2 restaurants that offer a shuttle service, meaning you can be collected from the hotel, dine at the restaurant and then be taken back. We used this service 3 times, as €40 per person for dinner at the hotel, excluding drinks, was too expensive for us. The restaurants really are worth recommending too. The hotel also offers an excursion to Curieuse Island, combined with a snorkelling stop near St Pierre Island.

St. Pierre The boat departs directly from the hotel. Unfortunately, it rained again that day, but nowhere else in the Seychelles was the underwater world as beautiful as it was at St Pierre. On Curieuse, we finally enjoyed a few rays of sunshine and were so happy. But it was mainly the enchanting tortoises that lifted our spirits. It is fascinating to be so close to these creatures and, yes, they really do love having their necks scratched. We spent around 1.5 hours pampering one tortoise after another with a massage and capturing it all in snapshots. It was absolutely incredible.

The next day, we had our own hire car. The sun was shining in the morning, so we drove to Anse Lazio, a beach said to be the most beautiful on Praslin, and we were not disappointed. It truly was a Seychellois dream. There was another shower here too, but it did not bother us, as the sun came out again after 1 hour.

Anse Lazio, Praslin In the afternoon, we wanted to drive to Fond Ferdinand, a national park that was said to still be something of an insider tip compared with Vallée de Mai. However, when we arrived, it was closed, so we drove back to Vallée de Mai instead, 2 hours before closing time. The admission fee of €25 per person was quite expensive, but we did enjoy walking through it, even though without a guide we wandered around rather aimlessly and simply admired the variety of plants. Incidentally, every day we asked many locals whether the weather would improve, and they tried to put a positive spin on the rain for us. March is normally a very wet month, yet there had not been a single day of rain that year. Now it was April, which should have been extremely dry due to the change in monsoon, but so far it had rained every single day... We must simply have been very unlucky, as April had genuinely been very dry in previous years.

Valleé de Mai, Praslin

After 5 rather unsettled days, our departure day greeted us with persistent rain once again, and we continued on to La Digue. The ferry crossing takes just 15 minutes, and we arrived on La Digue in pouring rain too. The usually cycle-friendly island was under water. However, the Maison Charme de l'Ile was once again incredibly pretty and had a wonderfully welcoming feel. We had our own little apartment with a kitchenette, courtyard, washing lines, bicycles (€10 per person per day), and a very clean bedroom and bathroom.

Small pool at Maison Charme de l’Ile, La Digue The rain eased in the afternoon, and we set off on our bicycles to the supermarket and picked up lunch from a takeaway. They say that on La Digue you are guaranteed to keep bumping into the same people, and yes, that was exactly how it was. We immediately felt at home. The locals were even friendlier than on Praslin. Generally speaking, the Seychellois are very friendly people; everyone speaks English and is always happy to help. They have a laid-back way of life, and reggae culture was particularly widespread on La Digue – a very likeable people.

From then on, the long-awaited holiday finally began for us too, as we enjoyed 4 full days of sunshine on La Digue… Only then did we realise just how much difference the weather makes. The sea shimmered pale blue everywhere, the granite rocks created a work of art along every stretch of coast, and the animals – dogs, cats and chickens – all clambered and frolicked around together. There was no hostility; everyone here lives in harmony with nature, and that was what captivated us so much about La Digue. Life is peaceful and uncomplicated, people, animals and nature coexist without any problems, and everyone looks out for one another. You really could reach every corner of the island by bicycle – apart from the very steep higher ground, where you can only continue on foot.

L’Union Estate, Praslin On the first day, we explored the west coast as far as the ‘End of the Road’, where you can enjoy delicious drinks and excellent food at ‘Chez Jules’. Giant tortoises were lying beside the road all along the way again – wonderful! The next day, we explored the east coast: Grand Anse, Petite Anse and Anse Cocos. Three beautiful beaches that we returned to every day from then on. At Petite Anse, a lovely little fruit bar also awaits visitors, with music and fresh coconuts. The walk to Anse Cocos begins directly beside the bar and takes another 30 minutes from there. Although all the beaches feel even emptier than some others because of their size, they have not been hidden gems for a long time. Quite a few people, both young and old, had found their way there.

Beach bar We also visited Anse Source d'Argent twice, a truly beautiful spot. On both occasions, we did not arrive until sunset, as the beach is almost deserted then and the granite rocks really glow just before the sun goes down. We did not find it quite as good for swimming, as the water remains very shallow for a long way, there is a great deal of seagrass, and the beaches themselves are not particularly large. We preferred the east coast for sunbathing and swimming. But take care: as there is no offshore reef here, the waves can sometimes be very high and the currents strong. There are signs warning visitors about this too. Nor are there really any shady spots. However, as we had been starved of sunshine, we were specifically looking for sunny places.

Sunset at Anse Source D’Argent, La Digue

After 4 days, we sadly had to leave this dream island behind, taking the ferry back via Praslin to Mahé. Here, we had booked the Villa Dorado in the south-east. The housekeeper, Martha, was the friendliest host we had ever encountered. She always had a smile on her face, was always available and took such excellent care of the guests. When we were there, all the other guests were German, so it was easy to get chatting. As this guesthouse is also a very large converted house with 5 guest rooms, Martha lives there too, and guests can use the large kitchen to prepare salads and pasta, it really felt like visiting family. Villa Dorado belongs to the neighbouring Crown Beach Hotel, whose pool guests are allowed to use.

View from Villa Dorado On the first day, we set off for Anse Royale, which was supposed to be just one bay away. After Praslin and La Digue, we were used to braving the traffic on foot and walking along the roads. On Mahé, however, this was a dangerous undertaking. The distance was greater than expected and there were lots of tight bends; cars raced past us, and we often had to jump into the ditch. We took the bus back, which was also a very interesting experience. We decided to hire a car, and Martha rang a car-hire company she knew, which promised us a vehicle for the following day. Unfortunately, no hire car was available after all, and we spent another day at Villa Dorado, where there is sadly not that much to explore. There is a bus stop directly beside the accommodation, but to be honest, I did not want to travel longer distances by bus, as I was worried I might start to feel claustrophobic.

On 13 April, our stay in the Seychelles was already coming to an end. We had to vacate our room by 10.00 am, but Creole was not due to collect us until 6.45 pm – and we had no idea what we were going to do until then. Then came the surprise: Martha had found us another hire car, so on our departure day we were still able to explore Anse Intendance and the capital, Victoria. The beach was similar to Grand Anse on La Digue – very expansive, with pale blue water and high waves that can become very dangerous, but we still liked it there. At around 1.00 pm, we set off again and drove to Victoria and, hard as it was to believe, the persistent rain had returned. The holiday ended just as it had begun: grey and wet. But it was still very warm, and even in the rain we had no desire to wear long clothing. There was no wind either, which at least was typical of the change in monsoon.

Anse Intendance, Mahe Clock Tower in Victoria, Mahé We then booked access to the lounge at Mahé airport for US$40 so that we could have another shower before our flight – the best decision. We sat back in the comfortable, relaxed atmosphere of the lounge, directly overlooking the runway, enjoyed snacks and drinks, and brought the holiday to a close with the rain pattering outside. Perhaps this also helped us look forward to going home again. Had we still been on La Digue at that point, in glorious sunshine, saying goodbye would have been considerably harder.