Last year, we went for a vacation to South Africa. (yes, that blog is yet to come up)! We had our flight to Johannesburg via Mahé Islands in Seychelles. The touchdown at Mahé Airport was the prettiest sight ever. It was beyond gorgeous! That was the time I decided I have to visit this country sooner or later as it is so beautiful.
So, June 2018 it was! We decided to go on a short vacation to Seychelles. After a lot of thinking, we decided to go only to Mahé for 4 nights and 5 days. We had heard Praslin and La Digue are equally or may be more beautiful but, we wanted to take it easy so didn't do the hopping. If you have the time and inclination, you may like to go there too!
Since we went only to Mahé, I will only write about that. As mentioned above, the prettiest sight is at the airport while landing.. Be ready with your cameras to capture the beauty.. Despite knowing in advance that I have to click it, I missed clicking as we were all rushing to move out of the plane!
Seychelles is not just another beach destination. It offers a lot more in terms of things to do which includes a whole lot of water based activities and adventure sports. The beaches are beautiful - white sands, blue water and gorgeous waves!!
It also has a lot of forest area. So, a word of caution here: there are tons of insects and mosquitoes (sometimes invisible ones too ;)) Sun protection and mosquito repellent are a must in your bag at all times. The currency is Seychellois Rupees. It is advisable to carry Euros and get it exchanged there. You will get good exchange rates. Also, euros are widely accepted at most places at the island. The visa is free and is on arrival!
Shopping: I must tell you that this place has hardly anything to really buy. Our holidays are usually never complete without shopping. This time, I must confess, we tried hard to find things to buy, but couldn't.
Food: We are vegetarians, so less experimental and have more limited choices. But, we didn't face any issue with food there. Two Indian restaurants that we discovered were Mehek in beau vallon and maharaja in Eden Island.
Places of interest (must dos/avoidable) : 1) Zip line by Smac adventures at Constance ephilia resort - Though I didn't end up doing this (strange fear!), my husband and my 5 year old son did this and they totally loved it. This one is not to be missed.
2) Horse riding on the beach. Check out Turquoise trails. I think this should be a fun experience. We couldn't get to do this too though we were very keen. It is closed on Mondays.
3) Beach at four seasons - must visit. You can easily take a dip there. Go with your change of clothes. Towels will be provided. They give you free WiFi too (which btw is not easily available at public places there) , if that's an additional incentive ???? Also, there are a couple of more beaches at Mahé which could be good and you could check them out. We particularly loved this one the most.
4) Anse Major trek - easy to moderate level. It is a 3-hour back and forth trek to the beach. The beach is sort of secluded so you get to spend quiet time with your loved ones. You can't really bathe here though. We went with our 5 year old. He was tired but he loved the trek. Also, its advisable to go a little early as it gets slightly dark after 5 pm on returning.
5) Botanical garden - go there only if you want to see the giant tortoises, touch and feed them. It has a huge variety of plants but again, it's full on mosquitoes and insects, which compelled us to leave early. The cafe lady there was helpful. We borrowed insect repellent from her. She also gave us ice as our child had many insect bites.
6) Eden island: we had heard so much about it that we were quite looking forward to it. We went here on the last day and literally kept 4 hours to see the place. It was a disappointment. There are very few shops and nothing really to see. But, there are a few decent cafes and a good Indian restaurant, as mentioned above.
7) Victoria - it has a miniature model of the Big Ben!! It seems to be a popular spot in Mahé, though it really is tiny! Victoria has a good number of shops, which can totally be avoided! It has a temple and a church too. For food, there are a couple of pizza cafes which are not bad.
8) Miscellaneous: Another place of interest that we came across is Moyenne Island. It is situated a little further from Mahé and has to be gone to by ferry. It is supposed to be really pretty. It has turtles and tortoises apparently roaming around. But, we couldn't go here as well. Lastly, of course, there's the usual - scuba diving, glass bottom boat tours, national park, marine park, etc. These could be done depending upon your interest level and the time that you have.
Check out the pics below. Do leave your feedback and any questions that you may have ????
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