 |
 |
Fall 2011 |
Saturday 26 November 2011
A taxi
comes to collect us at 11.30pm and brings us to Rotterdam Central Railway
Station. We take the Fyra high speed train Amsterdam Airport. We get there
at 12.45 and check in for our
Air France flight to naar
Paris. We cannot check in for our lfight to the Seychellen until we get to Paris.
The flight to Paris is very quiet. No more than 30 passengers board the
aircraft that can carry 170. We change to seats on the exit row. In Paris we
check in at a transfer desk for our flight with
Air Seychelles
to Mahé. Next thins is something to eat at Bert’s fast food, followed by a
long wait before boarding. After a an hour or so boarding starts at 6.40pm.
The flight takes of promptly at 7.30. The aircraft, a Boeing 767-300 has
seen better days and looks a bit tired. This flight is far from fully booked
and move a couple seats to the exit row. In flight entertainment is nothing
to write home about, which the overnight flight a long drawn affair. After a
little over 9.5 hours we arrive on the Seychelles' main island Mahé.
Sunday 27 November 2011
When get off the plane at 9am the humid heat hits us
like a damp blanket. We walk down the stairs onto the tarmac towards the
arrivals hall. The border police is not moving very fast. We have to
show our return ticket in order to get the necessary stamps in our
passports. A stub of the immigration form we filled in on board the plane,
is returned to with a stamp. We have to keep it safely for our return. I go
straight for the car rental desk of
Sixt, while Erik waits for
the suit cases. At Sixt we get a KIA Soul. The car is parked right outside,
with an empty tank. The petrol station is across the road. With 20 euros
worth of petrol we head for Glacis
on the North Coast, where our hotel will be. After a while we notice a
strange sound from the engine when we slow down. After 40 minutes or so we
arrive at hotel
Bliss.
Our room is not ready yet and we have wait for about 30 minutes. We are
served a cool drink. Some minutes later breakfast arrives on the balcony
with sea view. We are upgraded to a very spacious room with its own balcony
with direct access to the hotel beach. The bath room is gigantic too. We
have lunch at one at the hotel's board walk. Around 3pm we feel good enough
to go out a bit. We drive to Beau Vallon and have coke on the beach front.
The strange sound in the car persists and we call the rental firm. They
promise to swap the car next morning.
At night we start with cocktails in the rooftop Loungebar over at the restaurant Lounge 8 next door to our hotel. The restaurant offers a great ambiance and the food from the surprise menu (we do not have much choice) has three courses.
We are off to bed early.
Weather: sunny 28°C/82°F
Monday 28 November 2011
We sleep in until 8am and call for our breakfast. In no
more than 8 minutes there is a knock on the door and our waiter comes in to
serve breakfast on our private balcony. Paradise: delicious breakfast with a
view on the blue sea underneath us. During breakfast the car rental firm
calls round to exchange the car for a different one. This time it is a
Zotye Nomad.
It
is a somewhat old fashioned model of Chinese make, but at least it does not
make any strange sounds. It looks suspiciously similar to a Daihatsu Terios. We
drive to Victoria, the capital city of the Seychelles. We park
somewhere on a shop parking lot. We first visit the
hindu tempel,
where we can simply walk in provided we take our shoes off. Victoria has a
small Hindu community consisting of Indian immigrants and their descendants.
After that we continue to the covered market, where locally
produced fruits, vegetables and fish are sold. There is a lively trade going
on. We are also looking for an ATM to get some Seychelle Rupees. It turns
out not to be so easy. The ubiquitous Barclay bank does not accept our
Maestro/Cirrus card and the next bank we find placed its machine directly in
the blazing sun so it very difficult to read what is on the screen. In the
end we manage to press the right buttons and get our money. 
With
money in our pocket we walk to the post office to buy stamps and post cards.
We also buy a prepaid SIM-card. For some strange reason we do not get any
service on our Dutch Vodafone SIM. There is a choice of two companies, but
they do offer about the same for the same price. We take
Airtel.
Now that we are all settled we walk to the Pirates Arms.
This large café and restaurant
seems to be the focal point of Victoria's social and business life. Locals
and tourists alike come and go here to chat, do business or put their feet
up. After a coffee we go on to take a look at the clock,
that marks the intersection of Independence Street and Albert Street. It is
a copy of a similar thing donning Vauxhal Bridge in London. The clock was
put up here to mark the elevation of the Seychelles to the status of Crown
Colony in 1903. From there we stroll to the
Anglican cathedral.
A simple affair, but kept in mint condition. Most Seychellois are Roman
Catholic, however. They Seychelles were uninhabited when the first French
arrived here in 1742. They came here on orders of the French governor of
Mauritius, Mahé de 
Labourdonais,
after whom the main island was named. In 1770 naar wie het
hoofdeiland is vernoemd. In 1770 the first settlers came here with African
slaves in their tow. Masters and slaves were or became Catholic. In 1814 the
British took over the colony, which gained independence in 1976.
We return to the car and drive to the
Jardin du Roi south of Victoria. It is a longish drive of about
half an hour. In the first instance we miss the right turn off and we have
to ask a couple of times for directions. Everyone is more than helpful to
tell us where to go both in English and French. These are the islands
official languages. Locals speak
Créole
among themselves, which sounds like simplified French. After been given the
right directions we notice the sign we missed earlier. It directs us towards
a narrow uphill road that narrows even further to a single track getting
steeper all the time. By the time we wonder whether we missed it again we
arriv
e
at the Jardin, a botancal garden with cafeteria. It was set up by the French
botanist Pierre Poivre
(1719-1786). Our efforts are rewarded with magnificent view over tropical
rain forest with the ocean in the distance. The botanical and spice garden
is layed out around a colonial house and is fitted with an irrigation
system. We have a delicious lunch at the café and have a look round the
various trees and plants like the bread fruit tree, Soursop, Papay, Cacao,
Guave and so on. After this botanical delight we drive back to our hotel.
We enjoy the quiet on our sun deck. At 5pm we drive to 
Beau Vallon
to enjoy the sunset at the restaurant Al Mare. That has been renamed to
La
Plage, which means that we are kept busy searching for a place with
the wrong name. A tourist police officer sets us on the right track. The
views at La Plage are breath taking. The restaurant is right on the beach
and the sunset is great. The coctails they serve a delicious, yet a bit on
the strong side. We have a great dinner. I take tuna carpaccio, Erik Dim
Sum. For a main course I have a Thai Sea Food Casserole, while Erik eats
steak. The service is most friendly. We drive back to the hotel.
Weather: sunny, 29C/84F degrees.
Tuesday 29 November 2011
We
have breakfast on our own sun deck on the sea front. After breakfast we
drive to Victoria to get some more local currency. The ATM at MCB-bank does
seem to give anyone any money, but it does for me, funny enough. 
We
then have to buy a parking permit, as we have already been warned by a
parking warden. We do so in a one of the tiny shops. The cost 100 rupees and
you can cross of the right date and time which validates them for 2 hours. We
have coffee at News Café over one of the banks. We drive on towards
Morne Seychellois National Park taking Bel Air road out the town
which continues as Sans Soucis Road. The road winds and climbs into the
national park. We drive through dense forest and every now and then we get a
nice view over a valley or the sea. We suddenly arrive at the Tea Factory
and Plantation. We had hoped to see the ruins of a mission school and a
waterfall, but we missed those. We visit the tea factory, where tea is still
being produced. But not today, as they do not have tea in yet. They start
producing when the received 500kg from the pickers, but right now they
managed to get only 280kg. 
We
are shown the entire proces from leaves to tea bag. After the tour we drink
a cuppa of the local brew and buy some too. The tea factory gets its leaves
from its own plantations and imports some from Sri Lanka. The factory
produces only for the local market. We drive down the mountain to Port Glaud
and on to
La Plaine on the Anse (bay) Souillac. Here we have lunch on
the Ephelia resort. There is a buffet with fish, chicken or
beef on a skewer for 380 Rp. Veggies and salads are in unlimited supply.
After lunch we continue around the beautiful bay via a narrow road that
rises high above the water. We men walking in the water with sticks prodding
for some sort of shell fish. We never reach the Anse du Riz because the road
up there is closed off with a fence. 
We turn around to drive to Grand'Anse. The beach is
picture perfect here: white sands and clear blue waters. There is no one in
sight, because is shining merciless at the beach and there is no shade. We
retrace our tracks into the National park in the hope to find the ruins this
time. We pick up a Belgo-Russian couple on the way. They too are looking for
the ruins, but even four pairs of eyes cannot find a sign. We take our hitch
hikers back to Victoria, where they get out. We drive to the hotel. 
At night we eat again at La Plage in Beau Vallon. This time Erik takes the Thai Sea Food Casserole and I take Patyolle. That is veggies and fish cooked in a bag. For desert we take flambé bananas and blackberry sorbet respectively.
Weather: partly cloudy with sunny spells. 29C/84F degrees.
Wednesday 30 November 2011
It rained heavily during the night and it still does by
the time we get out of bed. We have a leakage in our room. After breakfast
we report it. The rain pipe that has to keep the rainwater away from the
sundeck has come loose and looks like coming down any minute. The manager
steps in and promptly offers us a new, much larger room. We get room 7, a
large 6-person suite
with
sea view, two bath rooms, three bed rooms and a tiny balcony. After the move
we drive to Anse Soleil. We stop several times along the way to take
in the views and some coffee at café Opera before we arrive at St Lazare.
Here we find a Franciscan church and a hospital. We look inside the church
that dates back to 1953. We carry on to Anse Soleil, a
paradise like beach with a cute cafe. It has not gone entirely unnoticed to
the tourist trade, as private guides home in on this spot simultaneously to
offer there guests some lunch. Fortunately we just ahead of the main
throng and we are able to pick our favourite table. We have a simple yet
tasty lunch. It starts to rain again. 
I
still go for a swim and snorkeling. You cannot get any wetter when you are
in the water. Underwater life is fairly unremarkable. Some striped fish
nibbling off the rocks. After the swim we drive towards the east coast to
Tamake, Anse Royal on to Victoria. We have a coffee at the Boat House in
Beau Vallon before we return to the hotel.
At night we eat again at Lounge 8 next to the hotel. It is a busy night. A group celebrating a birthday takes a lot of the staff's attention and the music is a bit too loud. The food is delicious. We go for the 5 course dinner.
Thursday 1 December 2011
We get up extra early today and eat the preprared sandwiches we find in
our fridge. We drive through the morning rush hour to the airport, where we
arrive in good time for our flight to 
Praslin,
the second largest island in the Seychelles. We drink a coffee at the
airport before we board the small aircraft, a Shorts 360-300. It take around
20 passengers. The Air Seychelles flight takes only 15 minutes. After
landing on Praslin we are met by a young man of Grand Bleu
car rental, who shows us our blue KIA Picanto. After filling out the forms
we are on our way. We drive to Grand Anse, but that is not too interesting. We
carry on to Valee de
Mai, the nature reserve that is listed as World Heritage by UNESCO.
It is maintained by Seychelles Islands Foundation
We drinken something in the cafetaria, pay the 720 rupee entry fee for the
two of us and wait for the guide. At 10.30 heavy weight Albert comes to
collect us for the 400 meter tour into the park. He tells us a bit about the
curious Coco de
Mer palm tree that grows only here. The nuts have the shape of a
woman's back side and that inspired people to all kinds of mythical
imaginations.
De male
trees, that do not carry fruit, have collosal seed stamps, that can rise to
an erection. After guide has left us we walk on through the forest by our
own and rise to the viewing point. It is a steep climb, but it is rewarded
with a great view of the rain forest's canopy. We take a break before we
start the trek down again. We drink a fruit juice at the café and then drive
on to 
Baie St Anne. Hier we have a creole lunch at
CoCo Rouge, a hidden eatery, very popular with locals. Most
of take the food out, but we sit down at one of the simple tables. The food
is simple and authentic and very tasty. There is a CD playing local music.
We drive on the north coastal road to the Côte d’Or where
we sit on the beach and jump in the water for a bit. The water is luke warm,
some 25C degrees. From there it goes on to Anse Lazio,
suposed to be the nicest beach on the island. The roads winds its way to the
end of the earth it seems, passing several luxury resorts. At the road's end
is the beach. It is certainly very beautiful. White sands, blue water and
lush palm tree forests surround it.
Swimming
is only permitted with two safety nets to avoid possible shark attacks. We
settle down on the beach and dip into the water a couple of times. After
being lazy for a while we drive back to Côte d’Or, where we have a cocktail. We
drive on, but at Baie st Anne we take the coastal road, instead of the
short cut via Vallee de Mai. It is a great route, climbing and descending at
places at 20 or even 30%. It is very quiet, we meet virtually no traffic. In
the end we get to Grande Anse, which we pass this time, heading for the
airport. We are in good time and have a coffee at the airport café. The
flight back is set agains the sunset. The aircraft is even smaller, this
time a Twin Otter and goes smoothly. On Mahé we eat in Victoria at the Pirate Arms.
Simple and not to expensive. We drive back through the pitch dark to our
hotel.
Weather: sunny 30C/86F degrees.
Friday 2 December 2011
We are served breakfast in the room. Scrambled eggs for
Erik, pancakes for me. After breakfast we drive to Beau
Vallon and settle on the beach. At first our peace and
quiet
is disturbed by a couple of elder Russian men, having a loud discussion. We
move a bit, but a car parks behind us with some young men playing loud
music. We pick up our stuff and drive a bit further away to a spot
that should offer bettter options for snorkling. We finally find peace and
quiet. The snorkling is not very rewarding. Only a few fish. We have lunch
at the hotel Coco d’or in Beau Vallon. It takes them up to 40 minutes
to whip up a spaghetti and chicken wings. It does not taste half bad. After
lunch we drive back to our hotel and take it easy for the rest of the day.
In the evening we drive to Beau Vallon and turn right there towards Olmo
trying to find restaurant Le Corsaire. Supposedly a superb restaurant. After
a few kilometres we ask a passer by. He surprises replying: "it is here"!
And points at a old timber framed house. We look again and see that it is
totally burnt out. We ask the man again and he says: burnt out? Of course".
Oh? It happened a few months back. That is our luck. He suggests to carry on
to La Scala at the end of the road. That is what we do. La Scala does not
open before 19.15 (sharp) and we have to kill another 50 minutes. We
go and sit at the beach front with a soft drink in hand and wait for the sun
to set. Fruit bats fly overhead from tree to tree. At 7.15 we go in. The
service starts a bit difficult but things get better and the food is
excellent, the best we had so far on Mahé. It is Italian It take snails as a
starter, followed by fish fillet with capers and anshovi. Lovely. Coffee
before we drive back and take an early night.
Weather: sunny 30C/92F degrees
Saturday 3 December 2011
Nine and a half hours is a long time flying, especially if the inflight entertainment is not up to much against today's standards. No choice in movies, a tiny monitor every 5 rows or so and half way functioning sound system. In Paris we have only 15 minutes to make it to our connecting flight. We run for what we are worth. Fortunately the crew was waiting. When we are inside the KLM aircraft the door shuts behind us and we are off. In Amsterdam we find out what we already feared: our suitcases did not make the connection. We report the missing luggage at the KLM-desk, where we get good service. I immediately get text messages telling me about the suit cases position. They were delivered at our home the next day. We get home by 10pm.
 |
Other Travel | |
| back |