IS THE SEYCHELLES THE ISLANDS OF THE BLESSED?

Our Seychelles trip was probably one of the best (if not the best) vacations ever. With that, Seychelles is currently in the lead for “Heaven on earth-Island edition”.

Many people have asked us about our favourite destination, and our answer is always along the line of “We can’t choose” or “Every spot has its own magic”. This still hasn’t changed. Let me clarify.

There’s a difference between travel and vacation. Both involve going to another place or location, and we enjoy both equally. The difference is that travel is often hard work with experiencing new things, pushing our comfort zones, going on expeditions and moving around a lot. Vacation is to relax. In our minds (and in this case), this meant a lot of swimming, sleeping, reading, chilling and generally not doing much. In the words of my mother-in-law, “Eat till you’re tired, then sleep till you’re hungry.”

Thus, just like Moscow is our favourite city, the north of Sweden is our favourite winter wonderland, and Austria has some of the best countryside, Seychelles is our favourite vacation destination.

The problem with vacation is that it doesn’t make for such interesting blog posts, but I’ll try my best.

Arrival

The flight from Dubai is reasonably short, and one of the reasons we chose it for a quick break away during our Eid. We did start with a bit of a boo-boo from my side, as I didn’t know we had to do tourist registration beforehand and not visa on arrival, as I thought. Luckily, this was brought to our attention at Dubai Airport, and we could apply before boarding (at a cost).

With a stunning descent, our arrival on Mahe Island and our destination for the following week was filled with excitement. It felt like we landed on the beach, and the airport was efficient, beautiful and effortless.

Where we stayed

Aqua Boutique Hotel.

Our first stay was in the North, close to Victoria. During our interaction with our car-rental representative, we mentioned our accommodation. At that, his eyes grew like saucers as he explained the steep hill to get there. He did not exaggerate. But once up there, the view was out of this world. Stunningly decorated with amiable and helpful staff.

Pineapple Beach Villas

WOW, WOW, WOW and WOW!!! What a fantastic place. We loved our previous spot, especially its incredible view, and couldn’t fault it. But Pineapple Beach Villas was just (yep, you guessed it) WOW. Ok, I’ll stop with the wow now and try to explain in more words.

Only eight villas are on the property, eliminating the crowded feeling. I loved being on the beach. Some pools are more inviting and appealing. This pool was one of them. The feng shui was spot on, the water temperature and size something that would make Goldilocks happy, and the perfect shade-sun ratio.

The villa was spacious, and with the enormous sliding doors, the inside felt outside, and the outside felt inside. The patio and its furniture were where we’d spend most of our time chilling and reading. They had small touches like a welcome basket and the tropical scented soap in the shape of their famous seed “Coco-del-mar“. Best of all, we could braai (bbq).

I regret relaxing so much that we never used the available SUP and kayak. The reason might be that it was heavily dependent on the tides.

“Wildlife”

Flying Foxes/Fruit Bats

Since my sister lives in Mauritius, we’ve been there several times. On my last visit, I saw these flying “things” during dusk, and she told me they were fruit bats. I could seldom see them clearly due to a lack of light.

While staying at Aqua Boutique Hotel, we noticed a similar bat. These, however, weren’t phased by daylight. We could take a good look at them with them being active all day. We then understood why they are called “flying foxes”.

Crabs

What would a beach be without a crab? Although I didn’t go into full crab-stalking, I did manage to capture one confident bloke coming our way.

Birds

The highlight was the Grey Herons. They were breeding in a tree on our beach at Pineapple Beach Villas. The juveniles could put on a show and noise if the parents didn’t produce them with food. We would spend almost every morning at the tree admiring and photographing them.

It was the Tern’s turn to put on a show for us one afternoon late.

Scenery

By now, you must be thinking. What about the stereotypical island vibes and photos? You know, the white beach, palm tree, turquoise water, and in Seychelles’ case, big boulders.

Well, there are a lot of those. It’s also some of the most beautiful beaches we’ve seen. On top of that, it’s also some of the cleanest.

I love how changing weather conditions, especially clouds can transform that stereotypical scene in an instant.

Venturing out

We tried and succeeded in taking it slow. But even a slow turtle needs to come out of his shell occasionally. Food is and was usually the biggest motivation. We would then come across hidden gems, such as a stunning little church.

Food

Finding food was challenging at times. The grocery stores aren’t what we’re used to. Big grocery stores are limited, and we would have to stop at what looks like an informal settlement kiosk. We were surprised at the variety they offered in those tiny little tuck shops. The bread rolls were the best. We later discovered at Pineapple Beach Villas that an app with delivery is available if you plan accordingly.

We did dine out a few times. This also had its challenges. Apart from many only opening after midday, we had to do cost research. I think this is a good time to mention the downside to Seychelles. It’s expensive, really expensive. Living in Dubai, we believe our cost of living is expensive, but even for us, this was a little steep at times. Thus the extensive research was to try and keep the price down as much as possible.

Ultimately, our home braai was our favourite meal, with cider and beer bought at the tuck shop. A special mention must go to the Slow Turtle Cider (with its cute logo) and Seybrew beer. They are super tasty.

Victoria

We went into Victoria (the capital) for a day outing. We don’t have many islands to compare it with, but we’ve been to town in both Mauritius and Zanzibar. This was the cleanest and prettiest town and capital. It’s well maintained, and the buildings are beautiful with a stunning backdrop.

Our visit to Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke market burst with colour. It’s relatively small, and we might have been a bit too early as there wasn’t much happening yet. There are a few curios, some fresh fruit and veg and freshly caught fish of the morning.

Takamaka Rum Distillery

Takamaka will be in the first three things on the to-do list on Mahe Island Seychelles. The drive there is scenic, no matter what way you’re coming. The venue and location are gorgeous, with so much to offer. It’s a heritage site with a medicinal garden and historical ruins. They even offer tours about their rum, land and culture. We skipped the tour due to the crowds and rather just went for the tasting and shopping. They have a spectacular variety of merch apart from their rum.

While reading up a bit during the writing of the blog, I saw that they have two Giant Alabra tortoises named Taka and Maka. Now I’m a little bumped we didn’t get to meet them.

Conclusion

While waiting and moping to board the plane, I started looking if and when to return. That’s how good it was. We’ve never done that before. Seychelles felt like the island life we know from Mauritius and Zanzibar but elevated. It’s some of the cleanest streets and beaches we’ve seen, and everything feels well-kept. As mentioned, it’s REALLY expensive. I don’t know why we thought otherwise, but I’m also kinda ok with that now. It feels as though that money went into the country, and it aids in minimizing the masses to preserve their paradise.

When I wanted to book another trip, T said something along the line of, “We’re not the type to return to a place; we prefer the new”. I would love to go back, and if I get my way, we will. I might even be as dull as to suggest we go back to Pineapple Beach Villas cause we had such a good time.

This felt like a second honeymoon, and thank you, T, for making it feel that way.

We’re well-rested after a fantastic vacation and ready to travel. Next, we book an impulse trip to Turkey. There I’m reminded of how much the world has to offer and why we rarely return to the same location.