Accommodation: Constance Lemuria/ L’Escale

Our exploration of the Seychelles continued as we made our way back to the Mahé airport to the domestic terminal to board our very small plane to the island of Praslin.

The weather this day was dreary and rainy which actually made for a good travel day as it took most of the morning and the bulk of the afternoon to travel to Praslin. Even though we were at the world’s smallest terminal traveling on a tiny plane with 10 other people, we ended up with a 3 hour delay due to fog (for a 20 minute flight) proving that airline disturbances transcend all countries and airlines. Since the sun sets around six in the afternoon, we ordered room service for our first night and went straight to bed.

Our first full day on the island of Praslin started with a day to get our bearings. Usually when we arrive in a new country or area we like to explore our accommodation and the surrounding area. Unfortunately the rain and fog from our travel day prior continued but while the weather wasn’t ideal, the natural beauty of the island persisted.

Our hotel on Praslin is much smaller than that of Mahè and is built around an 18 hole championship golf course with a fully functional club house, more golf carts than staff and beautifully crafted fairways that rival some of the worlds best courses. All of which would have been extremely impressive if either of us actually golfed.

The bright side of the golf course is that there was always a paved surface on which to walk. Many of the pathways lead to actual trials to explore different parts of the island, including the most picturesque beach I’ve ever seen: Anse Georgette.

Anse Georgette is one of those beaches that make it in any serious beach type calendar, which is highlighted by the outstretched palm originating from further up the beach. Of course due to the weather, the pictures really don’t do it’s justice but luckily we were able to get a few decent shots.

Just past Anse Georgette, we stumbled upon a trail that would take us further along the coastline and as the adventurous type, we decided to attempt to tackle it the following day. The trailhead was situated right along the golf course path, just a stone throw away from Anse Georgette and began with a steep climb upwards and continued until we reached the first plateau, about a quarter of a mile in. Because the trail was more of the interior portion of the island, the terrain was rough and very tropical with indigenous flora and fauna swooping at us from all directions.

As luck would have it, once we reach the peak of the mountain our patience and hard work was immediately rewarded.

The true intent of this particular hike was that it would extend all the way to Anse Lazio, but after a brief discussion and figuring out that the first section of the hike was 6 miles and took us 3 hours to do, we decided against continuing and headed back to our hotel. Early the next morning we decided to forgo the hike we had completed the day prior and take a shortcut to Anse Lazio.

If you google the world’s best beaches or have ever owned.a calendar that features famous beaches around the world, odds are you’ve seen Anse Lazio. Tucked away on the western side of Praslin, it’s nearly half a mile long and is bookended by towering slabs of granite and features the clearest water I’ve ever seen in my entire life. For these reasons, this is one of more frequently visited beaches by tourists and natives alike and many boat and cruise operators anchor in its bay to welcome new adventurers.

I classify Anse Lazio as the best functional or all around beach we discovered. Outside of its striking beauty, the granite on each side was the perfect snorkeling spot where we were able to go out on our own and see a full range of oceanic life. Lauren and I followed a striking sea turtle as he careened in and out of the underwater rocks. We came upon a few manta rays gliding alongside of schools of Moorish Idol and Surgeonfish and even stumbled upon a few Trumpetfish most of which were hovering along the bottom of the ocean, at least 15 feet below (the water was THAT clear). Coming out from the water Lauren was positively agog when a baby shark (doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo) bushed along her foot as it swam out to the open sea. Unfortunately no pictures as we left our GoPro back in the room.

Outside of the snorkeling, I managed to also get in some body surfing while Lauren took some time out of the sun. The waves coming into the bay were just large enough where I could swim ahead of them and let them carry me into the beach. Many other folks in the area were kayaking, sailing and simply enjoying the water, which confirms that you can really do anything your heart desires along this stretch of sand.

The following day was our only formal excursion in Praslin, where we joined four others from our hotel on a trip to explore the outer island of Curieuse and La Digue. Curieuse is an uninhabited island just north of Praslin whose only residents are the indigenous Giant Tortoises. We first encountered these frisky creatures back on Mahé and we were delighted to visit their home turf where Seychellois assist in their breeding and development. Similar to the Galapagos tortoises, the Seychelles variety were very much on the verge of extinction due to pirates and fishermen stealing them from the archipelago to be used for meat many moons ago. After visiting, I’m happy to report that that is no longer the case.

We moved off Curieuse island and made our way to La Digue, the third and final inhabited island in the Archipelago. La Digue is an interesting place as it only contains about a fifth of the total population of the Seychelles and only contains ten vehicles. The inhabitants (and the tourists) primarily travel around the island on bicycles and at times, rival the motorbike traffic of Southeast Asia’s largest cities. Lauren and I decided against renting bikes and opted to trek across the island by foot.

After an hour lunch by the ocean, we headed inwards to see what we could stumble upon. Shockingly once we got off the main road, it was very quiet and only ran into a handful of folks. We managed to explore most of the western side of the island however, no we weren’t able to explore any beaches.

After a full week on Praslin (and another back in Mahé) it was finally time to head home. We took our tiny plane back to Mahé where we spent our time before our flight on a car tour of the capital city, Victoria. Upon our arrival back at the airport for our international flight out, we discovered that Emirates didn’t have our tickets and wound up spending an extra night in Mahé while our travel agency booked us on the same flight the next night.

We weren’t terribly upset with having to stay on the island on extra night and luckily Emirates paid for all of our expenses for that extra day. This allowed us to relax, have a few drinks and reflect on the two lovely weeks we had spent in what could arguably be called of of the most beautiful countries in the world. We were able to hit a lot of the highlights that Seychelles has to offer but there was so much more to explore that we decided this wouldn’t be our only visit (and I would happily move there if I could!) Our trip fulfilled its main purpose of providing us with a sense of peace and mental rejuvenation and most importantly, a priceless life lesson – always book your own International flights.

Featured Image: The sun setting just outside our hotel room on the beach in Praslin.