Cerf, La Digue, Mahé – three holidays in one!
We flew with Air Berlin from Stuttgart to Abu Dhabi on 6 February 2016 and, after spending a few hours at the airport, continued on to the Seychelles. At Mahé Airport, Creole Travel Services gave us the documents for our planned transfers and drove us to Eden Island, where the boat to Cerf was already waiting to take us to our hotel, L'Habitation.
Cerf
After a short crossing, we arrived on Cerf at around 10 am and received a friendly welcome at the jetty from Dominic, who led us through the small hotel grounds to reception. After a welcome drink, we were able to settle into our room, where our suitcases were already waiting.
We had a lovely room with a large balcony overlooking the garden and pool, with the sea beyond. There was a kettle and coffee in the room, Wi-Fi, a television and a great bathroom, as well as the most important things in those high temperatures: air conditioning and a ceiling fan.
We explored the beach in front of the hotel in both directions and spent plenty of time enjoying the 27°C ocean with the snorkelling equipment we had brought with us. The hotel offered us a complimentary snorkelling excursion. The pristine coral reef was just off the hotel beach, and kayaks were also available for us to use free of charge. Comfortable sun loungers were provided for guests throughout the well-maintained hotel grounds, and we were always happy to make use of them. Over the next few days, we followed the adventurous footpath across the island and along the beaches, paddled around the island in the kayaks and, above all, went snorkelling again and again, spotting huge starfish, sea urchins, whale sharks and colourful fish of all sizes.
We could start the day with a varied breakfast from the extensive buffet, while in the evening there was a choice of two different three-course menus. One evening, there was a Creole buffet. The food was absolutely delicious, and the hotel staff were very friendly and attentive. The atmosphere in the hotel restaurant was wonderful. We sat on a covered terrace in the small garden overlooking the sea and had the same table throughout our stay. The hotel, with half board, on the small island of Cerf was ideal for arriving and acclimatising to the tropical weather. The luxury of half board in this lovely little hotel was pure relaxation. Thanks to a special offer (pay for 3 nights – stay for 4), we booked an extra night, and spending 4 days here was definitely the right decision.
La Digue
On 11 February, after breakfast, we took the boat back to Eden Island. The Creole team collected us there and drove us to the ferry terminal. We then crossed to Praslin before changing to a catamaran for La Digue.
The Creole team was waiting at the harbour, and we were driven to our villa, Fleur de Lys. After a welcome drink with David at reception, we settled into a delightful little villa with a fully equipped open-plan kitchen, dining area, lounge with wicker furniture, air-conditioned bedroom and an enormous bathroom with a wonderful shower cubicle. The rooms also had ceiling fans. Each of the eight small villas had a large, furnished veranda overlooking the gardens. Everything was very well maintained, and it was surprisingly peaceful. The property is situated on a small side street, around 50 m from the sea and the edge of La Passe. We explored the small village, with its few little supermarkets, restaurants and a bank, where we exchanged money for the first time – they only accept undamaged euro banknotes. It was quite an adventure trying to find everyday essentials in the small shops, as we planned to cater for ourselves, and working out what we could get to cook each evening remained a daily adventure.
That day, we walked halfway around the island along the coast and beaches, gaining our first impressions of the country and its people. Even as pedestrians, keeping to the left was a challenge, despite there being very few cars. After a leisurely breakfast on the veranda the following day, we hired good bicycles from David for the next three days and cycled to the other side of the island. There, in a bay, we found another gorgeous beach, Grand Anse, and saw our first beach bar serving Creole food. The water was not particularly appealing for snorkelling, as Cerf had rather spoilt us and there were no coral reefs close to the island. However, we still enjoyed going in for a paddle or swim from time to time. Watching the sunset from the water in the bay at Anse Union became an evening ritual.
The next day, we cycled in the opposite direction, as we wanted to see how far we could get around the island by bicycle. That day, we came across many giant tortoises beside the road that we had not noticed before.
On the fourth day, we cycled to the nearby park, which provides access to Anse Pierrot and charges an entrance fee of 100 rupees per person. Work on a coconut and vanilla plantation is demonstrated there, rather like an open-air museum. There was also an enclosure for giant tortoises. As it was Sunday, the park was very quiet, so we cycled all around it before continuing on foot to Anse Pierrot, the most photographed beach. It really is stunningly beautiful and was also the loveliest beach of our entire trip. When we tried snorkelling again, we spotted two large fish and a large sea turtle. At least it was something! We tried to cross the granite rocks to reach the neighbouring beach, then trudged through the jungle along a rough footpath that led to a dead end and soon had no choice but to turn back.
Mahé
On Monday, 15 February, we vacated the villa by 10 am and left our luggage at reception to be collected. David said it would rain soon. As we still had a little time before our transfer, we went back into the village, and that was when the rain started. It absolutely poured down – it was incredible! There was no avoiding getting wet, as it simply did not stop. It continued throughout our crossing to Mahé, which was quite an adventure due to the heavy swell, and for the next two days on Mahé as well. Whenever it briefly stopped, we took the opportunity to go outside and walk along the long sandy beach, go for a swim or do some shopping, or explore the village. We always just managed to get back to the apartment before the next tremendous downpour. It was impressive.
We stayed at the very pleasant Romance Bungalows, just a short distance from Beau Vallon beach. The accommodation matched the photographs we had seen when booking, with granite rock walls in the room, hallway and bathroom. The kitchen was well equipped, we once again had Wi-Fi and a television, and everything … apart from the torrential rain … was absolutely fine.
The temperature dropped by a few degrees, which we found very pleasant. We used the rainy weather on Mahé to check bus timetables and activities, and booked a zip-line adventure through an agency at a resort on the other side of the island (8 long steel cables spanning jungle ravines, which you hurtle down in climbing gear). On Tuesday, we also celebrated my birthday with a visit to the beachside pizzeria opposite, where we enjoyed delicious wood-fired pizza and, contrary to all the online reviews, very friendly and prompt service with no long waits. On Thursday, we took the bus into Mahé, visited the market halls to do our shopping and enjoyed taking in the bustle of the small town, on the streets, in the shops, at the bus station and in the market.
We were also looking forward to the bus journeys on Friday, as travelling by bus on Mahé is a fantastic experience. The old buses hurtle up and down the mountains along narrow, winding roads, driving on the left. With engines roaring and brakes squealing, you have to hold on to the seat in front during these high-speed journeys – better than any rollercoaster! You also get a real glimpse of local life, as pupils in their various uniforms use the bus too. The bus stops in the middle of nowhere, yet people still get on or off. With just 1 change, we reached the resort without any problems.
As we were too early, we asked at reception whether we could spend the waiting time on the beach at Port Launay. Oops.…it was a luxury hotel…and they let us. The beach was beautiful, but it was in a small bay and there were no large waves. By comparison, the surf at Beau Vallon, our hotel beach, was enormous: metre-high waves that we threw ourselves into every day with the greatest delight. We used the waiting time and the lovely setting to make a video for SeyVillas. We laughed ourselves silly while filming it and are curious to see whether SeyVillas will use any of it and whether they have a sense of humour too.
The zip-line tour was impressive, and we filmed the whole experience.
Saturday, 20 February, was our departure day. However, our flight was not until the evening. Our transfer with Creole was scheduled for 5 pm. To our delight, we were allowed to keep our room free of charge throughout the day so that we could cook, shower and pack. When we were collected, we simply dropped the key into the letterbox. All in all, we had 6 wonderful days on Mahé.
This holiday fulfilled a dream we had had since our youth, and we were extremely pleased with our planning and booking through SeyVillas, as well as the transfer booked with Creole. No carrying or loading suitcases, no waiting around, and everything was extremely reliable and well organised.
Our return flight, with a brief stopover in Abu Dhabi and an additional unscheduled stop in Vienna to refuel, was pleasant despite the strong headwinds, and the overall flight time was considerably shorter …and that was not only because of the 3-hour time difference.We are left with wonderful memories of 14 beautiful and relaxing days, fantastic landscape photographs, and impressive and amusing video footage.
Elke & Bernd
