In the Land of the Giant Tortoises

After what was, for us, an unusually long journey, we arrived at the airport in Victoria – unfortunately without our three pieces of luggage. Our luggage was still in Istanbul, where our connection had been very tight due to the delay of our first flight, leaving too little time for the bags to be transferred. We flew with Turkish Airlines. We had initially been a little concerned about the stopover in Istanbul, but in hindsight we were pleasantly surprised by both the service and the flight.

Once it became clear that our luggage would not be arriving, our spirits were rather low at first – despite the wonderful musical welcome in Victoria. However, as we were driven to the harbour and caught sight of the blue sea, we immediately felt much better – what do you really need in those temperatures anyway? As we had some time before the ferry departed, we bought ourselves some shorts on Mahé – our long jeans were rather too warm.

The one-hour crossing from Mahé to Praslin was like a rollercoaster ride. I usually cope very well with that sort of thing, but even I found it quite intense – although the sea was extremely rough. Despite taking several travel-sickness tablets, after 25 minutes my husband could do nothing but stare into one of the sick bags provided in plentiful supply and, according to him, had ‘never felt so ill’ afterwards.

That evening, we finally arrived at the Berjaya Praslin Resort and were welcomed with a drink. We were exhausted and relieved to finally get to our room and have a shower. This was when we encountered our next ‘problem’: unfortunately, the Deluxe room we had booked was not yet available, so we spent one night in a Standard room. However, the hotel handled the situation in a very guest-focused way and offered us a complimentary buffet dinner in the hotel restaurant as compensation. After our shower, it was just what we needed to replenish our energy.

The Berjaya Praslin Resort was much better than we had expected, especially considering how inexpensive it was compared with other accommodation. The gardens are beautifully landscaped, the hotel is well located, the beach is close by and there are plenty of places to eat within walking distance. The buffet breakfast is nothing special, but perfectly adequate: there is toast, croissants, a selection of fruit, cornflakes, eggs, pancakes and a changing selection of hot dishes, sometimes including noodles and spring rolls – which surprised us a little. Still, everyone can find something they like, and you can certainly eat your fill and start the day well.

The adjoining beach is very beautiful, there are complimentary sun loungers and people constantly approach you to ask whether you need a taxi boat (we even considered making ourselves a sign). Right on the beach, we booked a trip to see the tortoises on Curieuse and go snorkelling at St. Pierre, including lunch on the beach, for €55 per person, and we really enjoyed it. The grounds with all the free-roaming giant tortoises on Curieuse were impressive, although it was equally wonderful later on La Digue when a wild giant tortoise simply came to visit us at Anse Severe.

Overall, we were happy with the Berjaya Praslin Resort on Praslin, although you should not set your expectations toooooo high – in our opinion, it is genuinely good for the price and offers excellent value for money. The Deluxe rooms have terraces overlooking the beautiful garden, although the air conditioning there was older and noisier than in the Standard room.
We would also particularly recommend a private day tour on Praslin, which we had booked from Germany through Edelweiss Tours. We learnt a great deal about the island and gained a good overview of it, and plenty of photographs were taken as keepsakes. As part of this excursion, we also visited Fond Ferdinand National Park – considerably less expensive than Vallée de Mai and, according to our guide, just as beautiful. We were genuinely impressed by it too.

After seven days, we continued on to La Digue. It is worth mentioning here just how smoothly all the transfers booked through SeyVillas went. There was the occasional delay when we were collected from the hotel, but we always arrived everywhere on time – clocks simply tick a little more slowly in the Seychelles.

On La Digue, we were captivated by the dreamlike beaches, the wonderful fish we saw while snorkelling and the tranquillity. Exploring the island independently by bicycle is fantastic. On one occasion, two free-roaming giant tortoises visited us on the beach – that was truly unique and special!
Our accommodation on La Digue was the La Diguoise guesthouse, located close to Anse La Reunion.

We booked breakfast here as well. The La Diguoise is completely different from the Berjaya – smaller and quieter. It has a beautifully landscaped garden, and the modest breakfast (two slices of white toast per person, homemade jam, an egg and fruit) is presented with great care. The rooms are lovely, although the air conditioning was unusually noisy here too – but you get used to it relatively quickly, just as you do to the many sounds of the night, including the geckos.

On La Digue, we explored the island and its beaches independently by bicycle, which is very easy to do. Once again, snorkelling was what we enjoyed most – we saw so many beautiful, colourful fish, more than we had seen off St. Pierre during our booked excursion. There are plenty of wonderful beaches here: Anse Severe, Anse Source d'Argent, Grand Anse, Petite Anse, …and all of them are easily reached by bicycle or even on foot, if you enjoy walking.

Near the La Diguoise, there is the Gala Takeaway, although we thought the vegetarian curry at Mi Mums Takeaway was even better (be sure to eat there – it is beautifully presented, almost as if you were in a restaurant, and the portion was actually larger than when ordering it to take away). We always left the takeaways feeling full.

The return crossing from Praslin to Mahé was much calmer, and neither of us – or rather, my husband – needed a sick bag (this time, on a slightly larger ferry, we did not see any laid out, and we sat on the upper deck). Once again, everything went smoothly with the transfers, we arrived at the airport in good time and, after the long journey home, we were also able to welcome our luggage back in Germany right on schedule.

We particularly enjoyed the tour on Praslin, as it allowed us to get to know the island well and see it from various perspectives. Anse Georgette is breathtakingly beautiful and was one of our favourites. Visiting Fond Ferdinand was also extremely interesting. Seeing the giant tortoises on Curieuse and La Digue was fascinating and a very special experience for us.
The wonderful thing about the Seychelles is being able to explore the natural surroundings, dreamlike beaches and small towns while also enjoying complete relaxation.

Overall, we were more than happy with our honeymoon in the Seychelles. We got to know several different islands, discovered new things, explored dreamlike beaches and also enjoyed plenty of relaxation.
We can recommend both the Berjaya Praslin Resort and La Diguoise, as well as a day tour of Praslin in particular. Otherwise, hiring a car would be advisable, although the roads there are very narrow and there are no crash barriers – you could end up straight in the ditch. Personally, I would rather not drive there! What we would do differently next time is spend more than just a few hours on Mahé. This much larger island also has a great deal to offer and is certainly worth seeing.
Something that was especially important for us was a mosquito net over the bed (one was provided at the La Diguoise) and several different mosquito-repellent sprays! We ended up with quite a few bites, and some of my husband’s became infected, so we had to get antibiotic and cortisone creams from the pharmacy. It is definitely better to protect yourselves well from the little pests!
Otherwise, the Seychelles are simply a dream destination. We will never forget this special holiday, and it was probably not our last visit.