Words will never do this trip justice..
Every place, every individual and every single island captured a piece of my heart.
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We arrived in perfect weather. Humid and sunny, topped off with blue clear skies and turquoise waters
Our house for the next two weeks was SINGA, a gorgeous yacht. Within her beauty lies absolute elegance.
Especially when she powers onward on the big wide Indian Ocean.
On our second day at Mahe (the main island of the seychelles) we went to
the local market to get some supplies.
O my goodness, so many things to buy under one single roof!
In this colorful building ,painted in so many different blues and reds
you will find the smell of raw fish tickling your senses ,while
the sound of locals chanting the tourist captures your attention.
Christoff. A local boy came for dinner one night and greeted us with kisses on the cheeks.
BRILLIANT tradition.
Oh the french!
He told us many stories about his island. It is here that I learnt the seychellios is a very
outspoken nation.
After our third day at Mahe we wanted to go into the open waters.
Unfortunately there was a bit of a delay.
1. The boat was broken.
2. There were stories about pirates sailing near the far islands.
( not a lie, I promise you. Till this day there are still pirates sailing around these islands.)
Here are a few photos taken around the Mahe Island:
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On our way to a pizzeria. It is a restaurant right on the beach with the best
pizza in town. We waited an hour and a half before
the waitress took our order and another hour and
a half for our food to arrive!!! |
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| THE PIZZERIA!! Baobab |
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| Just a little example of the housing in Seychelles. |
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Oh how wonderful times like these were. Hot summer days. Cooling off
in the clear warm waters of the bay. |
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Probably the most extraordinary , gorgeous waters I've ever seen.
It is sad how white we were. |
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| Exploring a bit, out on the dingy. |
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| This will be my house one day. Drifting nowhere, some where gorgeous. |
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| Supper!!! |
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After the terrible news about the boat being broken, we decided to go explore Mahe by bus.
We decided to take a bus to Beu Vallon, a famous tourist beach. On our way
we truly experienced what their culture is like. We had no idea what we were doing, or
where exactly we where heading to, but they where more than eager toe help us . |
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| Our first bus ride. Best way getting to know a town is getting lost in it!! |
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| BEU VALLON!! stunning... no words will ever capture this sight |
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| Catching a bit of sun... |
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Some streets on the Island look exactly like this one
Picture perfect! |
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| Drinking coconut milk on a hot summer day after walking in search of food is very close to amazing. |
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We hired a little blue car, and decided to drive around Mahe.
With steep narrow roads going up the mountain, one feels quite invincible
when you speed around corners without tumbling down the mountain |
Luckily the boat got fixed and we decided to anker at Beu Vallon for a night.
It is quite spectacular to see what the beach looks like from the sea's point of view.
At beau Vallon the sea is calm. Tiny bumps make the boat wiggle in slow motion.
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Just look at this weather.White puff that lies on top of the rocky mountains
and the once clear blue waters return to their normal aqua blue. |
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| On our way to Beau Vallon. This is the best seat on the yacht. |
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| Those eyes.... |
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| Reading in the early hours of the morning |
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We stopped at this tiny deserted beach off the coast of Mahe.
This was my first time snorkeling EVER!
Awestruck, is not even putting it right.
Not a single human being. Only crystal clear waters. Tiny blue Dory-fish swimming and shivering
as my flippers brake the ocean's surface.
I am such a lucky girl!!
oh yes... apparently dolphins swam close to the rocks where we were snorkeling!=) |
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We caught our first fish by our selves!!
Unfortunately it was my first time witnessing the brutal killing of a fish.
NUM NUM .... still supper! |
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Best damn sunset I've ever seen.
Nope, nothing will ever beat this one. |
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Nothing like a sun downer with a few delicious snacks.
Oh, this lifestyle is amazing! |
The next morning we left for Praslin, an island about 4 hours away from Mahe.
On our way to Praslin the open waters got extremely rough. It was my first experience on a boat ,
so it was a recipe for disaster...
I got extremely sea sick... but eventualy got so tired and fell asleep in the sun.
I won a very sore tan at least! =)
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| The local beer. Sorry to dissapoint but it is not very good. |
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This squid jumped onto the boat in the middle of the night.
Brave little guy went into the freezer as bait. |
A Few photos of PRASLIN:
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| Praslin |
God is strongly present here. It is like his love exploded into this gorgeous scenery.
The raw nature makes one truly experience how he sees the world. Every different colour of green and blue
compliments the different types of locals lurking around. He created details we have yet to see.
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| After 4 hours at sea one is desperate to jump into the gorgeous waters. |
I wish I had the ability to explain to you what I experienced here. It is as if
I witnessed some kind of extraordinary secret world.
When one snorkels here, it is as if you are taken to another world.
Between the coral 50 or 60 fishes swam around. A few familiar
characters like nemo as well as a few gorgeous strangers.
If one stood still enough the little zebra striped fishies would come
and investigate the strange blue flippers.
My favorite was the Bat fish.
A curios little fellow. He swam all the way out of the reef ,close to the boat to
inspect these strange beings.
Eventually he trusted me enough and swam with me as I snorkeled.
Pictures taken of a beautiful little river:
So we decided to go and explore Praslin, our new home.
It has a town deep inside the forrest, and we decided to see if such an amazing piece of land
actually has some life on it.
We stopped at this beach bar called Honesty bar. (the name is quite significant:
one can take any drink and leave the money on the counter. Talk about having faith the
honesty of strangers)
This is where we met the nice owner. He explained to us where to head off to.
He showed us the map of the island and handed us the bus schedule.
He then enjoyed our company so much that he started telling us many many stories!
WOW these people are friendly.
Anyhoo we found the pathway he told us about and headed off inside the lush wilderness.
You must experience this amazing green paradise!!
For a tree-lover like me this place was heaven.
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| The map the bar owner showed us. |
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| 150 year old turtles |
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| On our way to the bus stop. |
We walked up steep hills and finally found the bus stop.
Luckily a fine guest house was right next to the bus stop.
Fanta costing R20 was our salvation!!
The bus was driving around for about an hour before we started questioning
our brilliant decision to clime on a bus without knowing
exactly where to get off.
The worst part of all was that we didn't even know the correct
name of the beach where SINGA was ankerd.
WE WERE LOST!!
Soon most people on the bus started climbing off.
By the time we reached a dead end we were the only people on the bus except for this old lady.
When she climbed off, we knew its time to get the hell out of there.
There was nothing in front of us. Not a single road except a very dodgy looking
pathway heading into the forrest.
The bus driver pointed towards the pathway and said: "beach".
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| The very dodgy looking pathway |
We figured it was our best option (actually our only one)
It is wiser to walk along the beach until we finally saw SINGA, even if it meant walking right around
Praslin.
So we headed into the wildernis once again. To make you fully understand
our situation you need to capture our circumstances.
There were only lushes of green forrest all around us.
NO trail directions. NO map to guide us.
Not a single human being to ask for directions.
All we had was the vague scetch of what the owner of Honesty bar
told us.
We walked up a hill fit for hiking, while wearing dresses and sandals.
When we reached the top of this HUMANGUS hill.. we could see the beach all the way
down the mountain. And to our left was the glorious bay where SINGA was ankerd. OH YES!
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| The view from the top of the hill. |
In Praslin there really is very little civilization. It seems as if the tropical plant life
will suddenly take back what was taken from it. Here and there small houses try to proclaim
there little piece of nature.
