Beach, Sea and Tortoises

On Mahé, we stayed at the delightful Fleur de Sel at the far end of Anse Royale. The bungalow was spacious and very tastefully furnished. After a shower under the spa rain shower and breakfast on the beautiful terrace, we were ready to start the day. The view from the bungalow was magnificent, and from the bed we could look through the beautiful garden towards the sea. At breakfast on the terrace, we were always joined by Ed and Fred, two cheeky lizards who were very fond of bananas.

From there, you can walk to the ‘Jardin du Roi’ spice plantation. It is a short hike of around 3 kilometres, passing vegetable plantations along the way. The final stretch is very steep and quite strenuous, but it is well worth the effort, and the plantation is both beautiful and interesting. As well as the Coco de Mer, the wonderfully maintained garden is home to many spice plants, including vanilla, lemongrass and pepper. A particular highlight is the magnificent view over the whole of Anse Royale.

We also had a lovely apartment on La Digue (La Digue Self Catering), which was very tastefully furnished and had a large balcony. Hiring a bicycle is an absolute must on La Digue, as it is simply so much fun. You can use it to explore the whole island, from Grand Anse to Anse Source d'Argent, which really may be the most beautiful beach in the Seychelles. The sand is like icing sugar and the sea comes in incredible shades of blue – it is simply paradise. Be sure not to forget your snorkelling gear here, as there are plenty of large fish swimming very close by.

Anse Lazio on Praslin is another beautiful beach. There are truly wonderful beaches on all the islands, and we even had some of them entirely to ourselves.

From Praslin, we took a trip to the national park on Curieuse Island, and it was the absolute highlight of our holiday. We were taken by boat to one side of the island and then walked through the national park to the other side, which was wonderful in itself. But the giant tortoises were absolutely amazing! They roam freely, and we were able to touch them and stroke their necks, which they particularly enjoyed – their necks just kept getting longer. After a barbecue with grilled fish and delicious Creole salads, we spent our lunch break on the beach. One of the tortoises found us and our bananas very interesting and even walked across our towel on the beach. It was an experience we will certainly never forget, just like the entire holiday.

Incidentally, the transfers we had booked from island to island and from hotel to hotel with Creole Travel Services worked perfectly. The local representatives always looked after us very well; any minor issues were resolved straight away, and there were no major ones. Everything was perfect and stress-free. We would happily do it all again!