She sells SEYCHELLES on the sea shore!

If it weren't for my husband working in Sri Lankan Airlines I would have never heard or considered this rarely visited country SEYCHELLES. Although I had my hesitations (since I knew barely anyone who could give us info on the country and all the info we had was off the internet) I am glad we decided to visit this breathtaking archipelago in April this year. 

I personally found it difficult to plan the trip given we didn't know anyone who visited the place before. Having been lucky enough to see this beautiful place, I write this in hopes that it will be a useful guide to all the passionate travelers who are willing to try something new and give SEYCHELLES a visit :) 

This, almost undiscovered, beauty is located in the Indian Ocean northeast of Madagascar. The country has 115 islands. Many smaller islands have been turned into resorts like in Maldives but the ones with local habitats are worth visiting as well. The country is a bit expensive in terms of the value of Bangladeshi taka and hence we decided to skip the private resorts.  Since we had 4 nights and 5 days in hand we made our choices primarily based on the following link: 

http://en.seyvillas.com/html/beaches 

Therefore, we chose to visit the three most popular islands of the country Mahe (the capital of the country), Praslin and La Digue, all having local residents. 

Getting ready: 

The country has no visa requirement, so you may plan your trips very randomly, however, my recommended time of the year is between December to January (since the country is super hot and super humid, we had a taste of the heat in April and being a hijabi I literally faced more difficulty). Whenever you do decide to go, you'll need the following: 

1. Make your airlines ticket booking (might wanna check the full moon dates in case you are a romantic:p); 
2. Valid hotel bookings (we booked all four nights in advance through www.booking.com);
3. Carry enough cash for you to be able to bear your costs on the island during your stay (we carried the total amount for the hotel bookings and another USD 500 to be safe for 2 people since we barely had any idea how much we may actually need); and
4. A valid passport of course (which means you have at least six months till your passport expires). 

As only a few airways take you to Seychelles, it was a relieve that Sri Lankan Airways did flights to Mahe, Seychelles. 

Going around:

We started from Hazrat Shahjalal at around noon and we had a long 12 hour transit at Sri Lanka. Since we got a Free of Cost Flight (FOC since my husband is an airline staff we booked our own transit hotel) we booked a room in Airport City Hub Hotel for BDT 4,000 a night from www.booking.com for the two of us. Note that Sri Lankan Airways does not have any shorter transits for flights to Seychelles. The hotel offers complimentary Bandaranaike International Airport pick up and drop off with a wake up call hence it was a no stress-er for us.

We had a early morning 5 am flight from SriLanka to Seychelles and we reached around 11:30 am in the morning. We crossed immigration and the first thing we did was convert our around USD to Seychelles Rupee (SCR). We bought our local sim cards which the shopkeeper activated for us. Mahe is a small island, hence everyone knows where everything is so we easily got our directions for the jetty.

We took a bus which was only SCR 5/person and then right after we arrived we bought our ferry tickets off the counter. The next ferry was due at 4:30 pm hence we had a lot of time to spare. But we were so exhausted that we stayed by the jetty and ate at a restaurant there. We knew the ferry scheduled from before hand from this link:  https://www.seychellesbookings.com/cat-cocos 

However, for more info or queries you may also email at the following addresses:

silvia@seychelles-info.com  

ferries@seychelles-info.com  

They are super prompt and helpful and I got great response from them. 

Attention: Once we bought the tickets off the counter we realised that the tickets are cheaper if bought online and one may buy online only in advance. Hence we had to spend more for the tickets! My advise is buy the tickets online at least 48 hours before departure, since last minute online bookings are not accepted. Also go for the Island Hopper seat tickets because you get to enjoy the view and we loved our journey to Praslin which was approximately 1 hour. Then we had to shift to a smaller ferry at the Praslin jetty for La Digue which was approximately another 20 minutes. We reached at around 6pm Seychelles local time. 

Our First Island: LA DIGUE:

This was my favourite island amongst the three, it had mountains in the middle and habitation surrounding the mountains. The island has curved streets around the habitation perfect for walking and cycling. The only commute around the island are bicycles and very few golf carts. Just rent out a cycle (which is rented on hourly basis would cost roughly about SCR 150 to 200 for the entire day) and move around the island. This was the most pollution free and safe place that I have ever been to. No matter how late it was you could easily move around the island with no hesitation. 

The perfect streets of La Digue

 

The owner of the Hotel

We had our hotel booking at Cabanes Des Anges which is a beautiful villa themed hotel with a private pool. We had to walk for approximately 15 to 20 minutes (we had heavy luggage so we were a little slow) to reach the hotel. We checked in and immediately fell in love with the room. The owner was the same person who checked us in. She was lovely with us and she provided us with all the info. For booking follow the below link: 

https://www.booking.com/hotel/sc/cabanes-des-anges.en-gb.html

We strolled around the island in the evening and went to bed early so that we can wake up early to see the sunrise. We took a 40 minutes walk to Anse Source d'Argent, which was a must see beach of the country. The beach had dazzling white-sand with naturally sculpted granite boulders and emerald water. Although its not ideal for swimming due to shallow water and the occasional seaweed, its scenically beautifully pink.

The beach is located inside a park which requires you to buy a ticket for entry. Since we went in too early (around 5:30 am) there was no one to ask for a ticket so we just went inside. Also the pink colour of the beach did not appear as such. Best time to go is evening time when the lights bounch off the boulders to give the sand its pink colour for which the beach is most well known.

En route the beach there was a green sea turtle sanctuary which had some of the biggest turtles I have ever seen.

Every second there was worth the long walk and the effort of getting ourselves out of bed.

Anse Reunion

We came back to the hotel after spending 3 beautiful hours there, had our breakfast, checked out and then went to the other beach nearby Anse Reunion. It was a nice beach with beautiful blue water and a lot of seaweed. We had no idea the island was so peaceful, refreshing and quite. We had our ferry for Praslin at 12pm hence we headed out for that with 30 minutes in hand (20 minutes for our walk with the luggage and the remaining 10 minutes for checking in).

Ideal length of stay at least 2 nights to 3 nights.

Our Second Island: Praslin:

After about 15 to 20 minutes on the ferry we reached our second destination - the hilly island with Bandarban like roads and instead of mountains on one side we had ocean. A unique combination and our journey to our hotel was thrilling. The taxi driver drove us to our hotel like a pro.










We stayed the night in Coco de Mer Hotel and Black Parrot Suites ( http://cocodemer.com/ ) which we again booked from booking.com, follow the below link:

https://www.booking.com/hotel/sc/coco-de-mer-and-black-parrot-suites.en-gb.html

This was an expensive retreat for us on a private island. The hotel had its own beach and a private infinity like pool (I say infinity like because although it was facing the ocean the effect was not fully acquired). There was life size chess board on the resort. The rooms were huge with a jacuzzi and we had our ocean view. We took half board (which included breakfast and dinner). 

We checked in and right after we freshened up we went to see the Coco de Mer (the largest seed in the world) and the black parrots (the national bird of Seychelles) neither of which I had ever seen before. They were both preserved in Valley De Mai which is also known as the Garden of Eden and is also a UNESCO World Heritage. We took a taxi because the buses rarely passed by since it was a weekend and we were apparently in the expensive side of the Island and we could not walk all the way there. 

Follow the link for more details: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/261 

We needed to buy an entry ticket and enter the Valley De Mai. The garden was calm and soothing. It was a proper garden with huge trees kept as untouched as possible. But there was a curved route for the visitors to follow. They give a map before you enter the garden so that one does not get lost. One may stay in for between half hour to 2 hours, since there are three different routes. We mixed and matched and went in whichever direction we wanted to. Although we got to see the Coco de Mer, we never saw the black parrots. However, we saw other rare breed of birds.

The picture of a Coco de Mer

Some people say they are more visible early in the morning, since we went in evening time I cannot comment on the accuracy of that statement. But I wouldn't advise anyone to have there hopes up for the probabilities of spotting a black parrot seemed thin to me. 

We went to the hotel thereafter with a taxi through the unpredictable hilly and swirly roads in 20 minutes time. Then we explored the beautiful hotel and sat ourselves down for the perfect sunset, which is why the hotel was our choice for stay. After a soothing evening we returned to our rooms and got dressed for our candle light dinner. We had an amazing surf and turf buffet for dinner with complementary cocktails. 

The next morning we checked out early right after our breakfast and went to the jetty; converted some Dollars to Seychelles Rupee, booked our ferry tickets to the capital and requested the security officers to keep our luggage while we take the bus to the most photographed beach in the world. 

We got on the bus and in 1 hour we reached our bus stop, then we walked up and down the mountains for the next 30 minutes to find ourselves to the bluest and waviest beach in Seychelles.

Anse Lazio (the beauty)

My husband got super excited and wasted no further time to get into the weather. The sand was whiter than ever and it was photographically beautiful. We spent about 2 hrs and we scheduled our walk back according to the bus schedule. 

It was difficult for us to leave the place but it had to be done. We had our first coconut in Seychelles from the beach restaurant (although it didn't taste as good it definitely hydrated us). On our way back in the bus all we could do was regret not staying next to this beauty. 

We had our lunch from a takeaway place near the jetty and boarded on the ferry as soon as it arrived. 

Ideal length of stay at least 1 night to 2 nights.

Our Third and Last Island: Mahe the capital:

After we reached Mahe we took the taxi (although expensive but we were extremely tired) to our next hotel which was facing the very popular beach of Seychelles Beau Vallon. We stayed at Berjaya Beau Vallon Resort and Casino for a night with complimentary breakfast. Even the hotel was of mediocre quality and since it was one of the oldest hotels on the island the features were old fashioned. Please follow the link for your booking:

https://www.booking.com/hotel/sc/berjaya-beau-vallon-bay-resort-amp-casino.en-gb.html

Beau Vallon

We just wanted to enjoy the beach all day and then spend some time in the pool. Honestly, although the beach is raved about a lot we didn't think it was all that. Its a bit crowded and a bit dirty. Even then we dipped ourselves in the ocean.








We had a dinner invite from one of my husband's friend so we went there for the night. It was one of the best fine dinning experiences, it was Le Perle Noire ...but book ahead of time it is mostly fully booked. (Link: http://www.seychelles.travel/en/seychelles-products/la-perle-noire-restaurant )

Crab salad

Coconut root salad

The chicken

My red snapper

 Passion Fruit Parfrait (the best dessert ever)

The next morning we got up and had our breakfasts. Braced ourselves and got out with our luggage for our next hotel on Mahe. It was on the other side of the island and was near the Airport. Since we had an early morning 5 am flight we wanted to be near the airport. The last night we stayed at Jamelah Beach Guest House which is facing the beach Anse ax Pins. Please follow the link for booking:

 https://www.booking.com/hotel/sc/jamelah-beach-guest-house.en-gb.html

Jamelah Beach Guest House facing the ocean from our room

This was our cheapest room in Seychelles and the simplest one but we loved the location, the owner and every bit of the service. The breakfast was complimentary, since we were going to leave early morning she left the food for us in our room the evening before. She recommended the places that we could go to and she helped arrange our dinner.

We checked in and freshened up and hearing the owners reviews we decided to visit Anse Royale one of those picture perfect beaches right beside the beach. It was lunch time and the owner suggested that we eat in the beach because right across the beach there was a woman selling home baked savoury and sweet items on a table. We waited for lunch till we got to the beach and then bought ourselves our lunch from her and then headed ourselves to the beach.

The beach was everything she described. There was another boulder island near the beach which one could practically reach swimming. It was our last swim on the island before we left and we made the most of it. It was simply amazing!

Our pick up as arranged by the owner arrived just in time at around 3 am in the morning we went to the airport with a heavy heart because we simply fell in love with Seychelles. 

Ideal length of stay at least 3 night to 4 nights.

Important Tips: 

• Although Euro, Pound or Dollars are accepted everywhere in Seychelles, you lose value for money because they charge you more considering conversion rates. Hence, change your relevant foreign currencies to Seychelles Rupee  and spend in that currency. 
• The bus routes are predictable and on time in Praslin, just as for a bus schedule and a map of the island and you will your way around the island.
• Most people speak fluent French and English although they have native language. 
• The buses in Mahe are easily available and you can hop in and get anywhere for only SCR 5/person, but they don't allow heavy luggage on the bus. So if you are a backpacker or have a hand luggage take the bus. Sometimes if you request the bus drivers allow big luggage, which they did for us the two times we requested. But will be difficult for you to manage since both Mahe and Praslin are hilly and balancing will be difficult. In La Digue you only either walk or hire a bicycle. 
• Since the country is very expensive the food is expensive as well, but not to worry my husband and I had our lunch for a price between BDT 500 to BDT 750 only. We chose to eat at takeaways which are very much available in all three islands, if you cannot spot one just ask the locals and they will happily direct you to one. They sell set menus of 2 or 3 items with rice. Since the country is surrounded by ocean, fresh fish is easily available and all takeaways have fish, chicken, beef, vegetables or lentils to offer. I always ordered fish and lentil which was perfect for me since I love fish. The chicken there is brought from Brazil and the skins are always on, which I personally hated. I always got pungent smell from chicken curry but not so much from the fried ones.  
• The water was comparatively expensive when we converted from BDT to SCR but its upto you whether you want to spend on water. The tap water is completely fit for drinking in Seychelles hence we had tap water indoors and outdoors when we needed we bought mineral water. 
• The VAT is refundable upon show of proper receipt hence keep all proper receipts and before you check-in get them signed and sealed and then on the second floor of the airport you may claim a refund of the VAT. We did not know that and no one told us that hence we lost a good amount of money.  
• Carry with you an extra piece of cloth because there are so many beaches that you may wanna swim in but check your maps or with the locals before you dive in. All beaches are not for swimming. Take your snorkeling gears because you will be able to mingle with the sea life in these beaches. 
• Wear trainers because it will be easier for the long walks and drink lots of fluid as the heat will soak you up completely. 
• For general info may clink on this link: http://www.seyguide.com/en/praslin/getting-around/public-transports.html

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to ask ...if you do plan to visit let me know whether this helped. :)