Family Travel Journal
Day one
My wife, our two children, aged 6 and 8, and I land in the Seychelles at 8.00 am, tired after the long journey but eager to dive into the wonderful waters of the Indian Ocean.
We travelled with Etihad without any problems, departing from Venice and stopping over in Abu Dhabi (unfortunately for 6 hours).
The efficient car hire service at Victoria airport quickly hands over our compact car (a practically new Hyundai i10), which we use to reach our accommodation, La Fontaine Holiday Apartments and Villas, near Beau Vallon.
The apartment is spacious, attractive and clean, and is run by very friendly and efficient staff. We leave our luggage there, decide to take it easy on our first day and, after a 2-minute drive, arrive at Beau Vallon beach. Although it is the busiest beach in the Seychelles and it is Sunday, the setting is still enchanting, while the presence of the islanders makes it feel lively and authentic.
Day two
We take the car and head to the west coast, towards Baie Ternay. The inland area between Victoria and Port Glaud is an explosion of dense tropical vegetation, while the coastal road from Port Glaud to Baie Ternay offers one enchanting view after another of broad, almost deserted beaches, helped by the morning’s low tide.
Baie Ternay is reached on foot along a paved path lined with colonies of crabs… ‘fun’ for adults and children alike. The bay is also suitable for snorkelling with children: seeing the rays, fish leaping out of the water and shoals of tiny fish ‘dancing’ is particularly exciting.
Fish for lunch from a perfectly decent takeaway along the road (SR 360 = about €22.50 for four), followed by an afternoon of snorkelling and playing in the waves at Anse Louis.
Day three
We explore the coast north of Beau Vallon by car, all the way to Northeast Point. The road runs alongside the sea and, as always, there is little traffic, so we decide to take our time, with the windows down, enjoying nature’s spectacle.
We then choose the almost deserted Glacis Beach for a morning swim and are delighted to discover that we have found an excellent snorkelling spot: the rocks and coral provide an ideal habitat for the typical colourful reef fish, which are plentiful and some of them impressively large.
Meat for lunch from the takeaway in Glacis (Rs 290 = about €18 for four), followed by an afternoon playing in the waves at Beau Vallon.
Day four
We drive along the entire east coast, enjoying the daily morning spectacle of low tide, when the beaches are wider and the sea is calmer. We head to Anse Takamaka, which can be described in just one word: perfect.
Naturally, we go snorkelling with the children, with a long walk in between to the granite rocks bordering the northern end of the beach. Swimming with eagle rays just a few steps from the shore is an amazing experience.
Lunch from the Takamaka takeaway is good but more expensive than usual (especially as we notice that Seychellois customers are charged 40% less). We eat it at nearby Anse Soleil, a very beautiful beach, though not on the same level as the previous one.
Day five
We decide to visit Victoria while waiting for our 4.35 pm flight to Praslin. The capital is a small but vibrant town. We visit the covered market on Market Street, where, as in any proper market, we are struck by the vendors’ cries, the colours of the fruit and clothing on sale and, above all, the smells, particularly of fish and spices.
We then continue our walk along the town’s main streets, but before long, overcome by hunger and the heat, we take refuge, almost unintentionally, in a small Italian restaurant on Market Street called ‘Taste of Italy’. Although we always prefer local cuisine, I must admit that the tuna spaghetti and margherita pizza are excellent (about €30 for four).
In the afternoon, we return the car at the airport without any problems. We then wait for our flight, which departs about 30 minutes late. Flying on the small propeller plane, with just 21 seats, is an experience worth trying… the children will love it, and the adults will not regret choosing it over the ferry either, as the ocean does not look likely to offer an idyllic crossing.
Our compact car (a Kia Picanto) is waiting for us on time in Praslin, and we use it to reach Sea View Lodge on the other side of the island, at Anse Possession, in about 30 minutes.
The apartment is delightful and exactly as we expected. Ordering dinner from Sea View Lodge in advance, while we were still in Italy, proves to be an excellent decision on this transfer day. A traditional Creole fish dinner for the adults and chicken for the children is delivered directly to the terrace of our villa, about 15 metres from the beach. The portions are so generous that we also have enough left for lunch the next day! To top it all off, they bring us four large ice cream sundaes.
Only on our final day do we discover that it cost us €100: not an outrageous amount, but more than we expected, as our guidebook said it would cost €15 per person.
Day six
We take the car and head to Anse Lazio. It is a magnificent beach, with wonderful snorkelling near the rocks bordering the bay. The beach is even more enjoyable in the early morning, before the number of visitors increases.
Lunch in our apartment, just a few kilometres from Anse Lazio, then a quick trip to the harbour at Baie Sainte Anne to check the times and prices of boats to La Digue. We spend the rest of the afternoon at Anse Possession, walking along the beach and swimming in its warm, still waters.
Day seven
As the weather is very cloudy, we decide to explore the Vallée de Mai instead of going to La Digue. We opt for the guided tour in Italian (€10 per person, free for children, lasting almost 2 hours), which is very useful for understanding the park’s flora, fauna and history. Our guide, Vincenzo, proves very knowledgeable, and the children learn a great deal about the islands’ natural environment while having fun at the same time. After the guided tour, it is also possible to wander around the park independently, now ‘well informed’ thanks to the tour. We decide to leave the park and have our ‘packed lunch’ at Anse Consolation.
We then continue exploring the south coast by car as far as Anse Citron, where we decide to take a walk along the beach. The passages between the granite rocks bordering the beach are fun… although coming across a large crab frightens our little ones slightly.
We end the day at Anse Volbert (Cote d'Or), always enchanting with its turquoise waters, even in cloudy weather. Here we negotiate with some local lads (as most tourists do) for the following day’s boat trip to Curieuse Island and St. Pierre Islet, including lunch (€110 in total for 2 adults and 2 children). A rainy evening and night.
Day eight
The early morning rain delays our departure by 30 minutes, so at around 10.00 we set sail from Anse Volbert for Curieuse Island.
The first stop on our trip is the tortoise breeding centre, where, as there are no guided tours, we are free to explore the site on our own. Meeting these enormous reptiles is genuinely thrilling for adults and children alike: it feels like a privilege to stand before such majestic, gentle, ancient and unique prehistoric creatures.
After witnessing a mating pair and ‘rescuing’ a giant tortoise that had overturned, the sun comes out again and we spend just over an hour walking along the trail to Anse José, where a barbecue lunch awaits us. The walk proves very enjoyable: it crosses a wild coastal area, thick with mangroves and home to countless crabs and hermit crabs of every size; it offers the rare opportunity to be completely alone amid (almost) unspoilt nature.
The barbecue lunch is excellent and plentiful, followed by a rest on the beach (finally in the sunshine) and then some fairly unremarkable snorkelling at St. Pierre Islet, with moderately choppy seas. In addition to the usual reef fish, we encounter 2 large batfish lingering beneath the boat.
Overall, the trip is genuinely enjoyable, helped by the decidedly kind weather… especially considering how the morning began. The whole family particularly enjoys the walk along the coast. A rainy evening and night.
Day nine
Following the previous day’s positive experience, we use the same local lads from Anse Volbert for the boat transfer and bicycle hire on La Digue (€100 in total for 2 adults and 2 children; lunch is not included, so we decide to bring sandwiches from home).
Before setting off, on Anse Volbert beach, we witness several arguments among the locals organising the trips: there is clearly some issue with the arrangements and the allocation of boats. Sure enough, within minutes we find ourselves as ‘too many tourists on a boat that is far too small’ in the middle of the (choppy) ocean, heading towards La Digue.
Halfway through the journey, 1 of the 2 engines (100 kW each) stops working. Our ‘captain’ temporarily hands the controls to one of the tourists on board (!?!) and heads to the stern to try to restart the faulty engine manually. At one point, he also switches off the only remaining engine and we find ourselves as ‘too many tourists on a boat that is far too small’, motionless in the middle of the (choppy) ocean. After several endless minutes of suspense and repeated attempts to restart it, the stalled engine finally starts again, followed by the engine that had been temporarily switched off. We then resume our journey to La Digue, arriving around 25 minutes after leaving Praslin.
On La Digue, the ‘captain’ of our boat hands our share of the money to the bicycle hire operator, who immediately offers us a wide selection of very old, half-broken bicycles, although they are adequate for exploring the island. The tourists on our boat who had paid the full amount (boat passage and bicycle hire) to the organiser on Praslin instead have to pay again for their bicycle hire (SR 100 per bicycle) on La Digue, much to their annoyance.
On the island, we decide to take things slowly, enjoying our bicycle ride along the quiet streets of La Passe and through the Union Estate to the legendary Anse Source d'Argent. We feel so at ease here that we decide to spend the entire day on the beach, aware that we have not seen the rest of the island but happy and relaxed before the magnificent scenery of rocks, vegetation and sea stretching out in front of us.
At the port of La Passe at 17.30, around 30 minutes late, we find our boat again with a new crew, this time made up of 2 more experienced people who assure us that they have repaired the engine. Apart from an improvised petrol top-up in the middle of the sea, the return journey proves less complicated than the outward one… almost pleasant. In hindsight, travelling with the official boat operators departing from Baie Sainte Anne might have been more expensive and certainly less adventurous, but it would also have been more comfortable.
Days ten and eleven
After 2 days of boat trips, we treat ourselves to 2 days by the sea on Praslin, before the dreaded day of our departure for Italy arrives.
In the morning, we try heading to Anse Lazio, which shares our very personal ‘podium’ of the loveliest beaches seen on this trip with Anse Takamaka (the one on Mahé) and Anse Source d’Argent (on La Digue). Unfortunately, the fairly high waves at Anse Lazio make entering the water difficult even for adults and leave very little dry sand.
We therefore head to the nearby Anse Takamaka. The beach is sheltered by several rock formations that create small islands just off the shore, which can be reached by wading through the water and are perfect for children to explore. While snorkelling here, we also spot a scorpionfish.In the afternoon, with the sea slightly calmer, we decide to return to Anse Lazio and spend a couple of hours playing in the powerful waves. Pizza (not bad) for dinner at Gelateria De Luca in Anse Volbert.
We spend the final day of our holiday at Anse Lazio again, where the waves are smaller than the previous day and therefore even more fun. It is a shame that the water is murky because of the waves, as snorkelling among the rocks at Anse Lazio is truly unmissable. A good lunch at the ‘Le Chevalier’ beach restaurant (the one furthest west and furthest from the car park), followed by dinner at our apartment.
Day twelve
We drive up to the Zimbabwe viewpoint for one last look at the island from above, then make our final car journey towards the airport.
When we return the car, Bliss Car Hire tarnishes its reputation by asking us for Rp 500 (around €30), claiming that extra interior cleaning is required because of the sand. There is actually very little sand inside (we take photographs as evidence), so we ‘pretend’ to argue for about 10 minutes and eventually give them Rp 300, promising that we will give them a hard time in online reviews… which is exactly what we are doing.
Finally, 3 flights follow on the same day: Praslin–Mahé, Mahé–Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi–Venice. It is a long journey, with the only real problem being the knowledge that a holiday we will not easily forget has come to an end.