Secret Villa & Hidden Paradises

After having spent New Year‘s Eve on Mahé, followed by some adventurous days of self-driving and exploring the main island and later on Praslin, we were looking forward to start into the next chapter of our holiday: La Digue. Over SeyVillas we had gotten a very good offer on the Secret Villa and had planned our holiday around it, to get the most out of this special accommodation. Although we expected a bicycle island, upon arrival we were picked up by car, which brought us up the hill to the Secret Villa. A fact we were very thankful for considering our heavy backpacks and the steep way up the hill. We were greeted by cute dogs, a very friendly owner and a breath taking view from our room. We had never stayed in a location like this before – a fresh wind going through the open room, no doors or windows but still extremely comfortable and we immediately felt we were in the right spot . Luckily the palm spiders had no interest into coming inside, so our only visitors were some Geckos and judging from the paw prints on our spare bed, we also had a cat staying over for the night. Just after arrival our host arranged some bikes for us, so we could start exploring the island. And what a beautiful island it is. It is perfectly relaxed to go around on bikes, just mind the tortoise crossing the road occasionally. Our first trip led us to the L'Union Estate to visit the highly recommend Anse Source d'Argent. The bike ride through the vanilla plantation was beautiful, the beach itself though not as amazing as we had expected. It was still a nice beach, like all others on the Seychelles we had seen so far, but not as special at is was said to be. What really blew our mind was the Petite Anse which we visited the next day. Our bike ride took us along the Veuve Nature Reserve to the Grand Anse. The Grand Anse was already very beautiful, though quite crowded. Following the recommendation of the local bar owner we decided to go on a small hike over the hill on the eastern end of the Grand Anse and were rewarded with the most beautiful beach we saw on our entire trip to the Seychelles. Big waves, but crystal clear water, white sand and nearly no visitors. We built ourselves a small shadowy shelter between the big rocks at the end of the beach and enjoyed the breath taking views and jumped in the waves. On our way back we stopped at the Natural Bar, which had already spoken to us from the special decorations before. We got some fresh juices in coconuts and enjoyed the ocean view. For dinner we were expected back at the Secret Villa, which was delicious on both evenings and the team went the extra mile to prepare a special vegan meal and dessert for us! On the next day it was already time for us to leave again – but before we took a stroll through the Secret Garden and went up to the viewing platform, the team had built. All in all our stay on La Digue was everything we had wished for – a special and unique accommodation, a perfect secluded beach and the relaxed island vibe we had missed on the bigger islands.