Exotic Seychelles. Part 1
Seychelles 2017
We have been waiting for this trip for a long time. For five years, I looked at the shares of this direction. I even dreamed that Vizeir launched a flight to the Seychelles. The goal came closer to reality when Qatar Airlines announced that they were starting flights from Kyiv. I remember the days when I checked the Qatari Airways news every morning. And then one day a list of the first promotional fares was announced, and among them there are the long-awaited Seychelles with just one transfer! Joy knew no bounds. On that day, my friends also threw me a link to a promotion from Qatar Airlines, but then we were already with tickets. Then there was a pleasant four-month anticipation of the trip.
When there were a couple of days left before the trip, I decided to see what the weather was like there. I saw continuous thunderstorms. I thought that some kind of hurricane had hit and opened the news on the Seychelles. Literally the next minute, rains with thunderstorms were no longer considered a significant problem. Reading the headlines, I sat as if struck by thunder. The headlines were something like "Plague continues to rage in the Seychelles. " In the evening, an unknown incoming call was received on the mobile phone. The man quickly began to speak into the phone in English. It was my teacher from work who also stumbled upon the news. He tried to dissuade me from my undertaking and gave me a number of basic instructions. I re-read the reports of the local Ministry of Health. With joy for myself, I determined that the risk of infection is already behind. In fact, there was a single case of infection in a passenger from Madagascar. But after this incident, the maximum incubation period has already passed and, in fact, the danger has passed. Now, if the tickets were two weeks earlier, or even worse to Madagascar, then the trip would have to be canceled completely. Nevertheless, I am now well aware of the signs and prevention of the disease. Now you can safely go to the islands! Or rather, backpacks will fly in luggage to the islands, and we will go out for a walk in Qatar ????
Creole
I would like to start the story about this exotic paradise with the Creoles. These are the locals of the Seychelles. Conditionally divided into rastamans and ordinary residents. But what unites them all is kindness and sincerity. On the islands, apart from the capital of Victoria, there are mainly small settlements. When meeting with you, the Creole will definitely give you a smile and say hello. And it's very cool. Probably 40 percent of the dialogues per day were exchanges of smiles and greetings with the locals. By themselves, they are calm people and not in a hurry. They do not pester and do not beckon to restaurants. Their communication with tourists is sincere without any hidden benefit. Seychelles can be described as a life of wonderful people.
Food
The food turned out to be quite simple and very cheap. On the main three islands there is a Take away food chain. Meals cost 50 or 60 rupees. The dish includes rice, meat with gravy, salad and sauces. Sometimes there was delicious lasagna. The size of the dish is enough to fill up a healthy man at the dawn of his strength. For example, on Praslin they imposed such portions that even I could not master it to the end. Upon checking into the hotel, you need to find out from the locals where the nearest take away is. La Digue had more takeaways than other restaurants. Also for breakfast you need to bring bread and cheeses in your luggage. This certainly does not violate the rules of importation to the island. And you can make yourself sandwiches for breakfast with coffee or tea. The local markets are not as expensive as you might imagine. But nevertheless, cooking your own food from products is a little more expensive than taking away. Since these restaurants are not open on Sundays, this will be the day when in any case you will need to cook something for yourself. Our classic dinner option was:
• A can of tuna 26 rupees (1.6 euros),
• Macaroni 18 rupees (1.1 euros)
• Ketchup brought from home
• Large jar of canned fruit Rs 32 (€2.6)
• A liter of juice 32 rupees (2 euros)
• Drinking water 5 liters 35 rupees (2.15 euros)
Mae Island
The plane came in for a landing and stopped on the runway that stretched along the sea line. Warm water outside the portholes seemed to be waiting for us. But since it would not be possible to swim before check-in at the hotel, water poured on us directly from the sky. And the rain was warm. As soon as we reached the airport itself, the rain turned into something that can hardly even be called a downpour. It was a total cleansing of the island. We filled out a questionnaire testing us for symptoms of the plague. Then each passenger's temperature was measured. And only after that we went to visa procedures. The conditions for transporting products to the islands are very strict. We found out in advance through the concierge service that the safest thing is cheese and bread. With them we loaded part of the backpack.
At customs. It was necessary to present hotel reservations and an itinerary sheet from the airline. Now we have a visa in the form of a Seychelles coconut in our passport. Opposite the airport there is a bus stop. The main thing is not to drown in a puddle until you reach it. The bus was not there for a suspiciously long time. But everyone was waiting for him. He was gone for so long that I began to worry that nine days would simply not be enough for us now. We didn’t know yet that here and on other islands, buses run about once an hour if we’re lucky, but sometimes once a year. I think that the Seychelles cinema can make its own version of the film about the dog Hachiko, who has been waiting for the owner at the bus stop for 13 years. The owner was just waiting for the bus at another stop. Half the trouble when you need one bus. And if you go somewhere with a transfer, as in our case, then you need to stock up on double patience. In fact, you need to succumb to the main rule of the islands - do not rush anywhere.
The Seychellois are in no hurry and you shouldn't be. Local, of course easier, they know the schedule. If not a single local is sitting at the bus stop, then you don’t even have to try to wait for the bus) On the very first bus, we were told that there were no seats. Wait for the next one. But we tried to convey to the driver as much as possible that there would not be enough life here to get to the hotel at such a pace. The driver waved his hand for us to stay on the bus. By the time we were on the bus, the rain had stopped. At the hotel, a hospitable hostess was waiting for us, who immediately asked if we noticed that everything is slow here with the Creoles)))
Taxis also run around the island. But the bus costs only 5 rupees (0.4$)
But we have already completely switched to the local wave and were already in relaxation mode ourselves. Now you need to take the bus to the market where umbrellas are sold. And it's better to walk, it will be faster. A five-minute downpour swept through, which drove away the clear sky and the scorching sun. Everything immediately began to dry out. The temperature regime changed dramatically from warm to hot. By the way, the shower drops were at room temperature and did not bring much discomfort. Looking at the sky, I couldn't even believe that it had just rained. But common sense suggested that you need to stock up on an umbrella. We got to the big market. Dinner! The Seychellois do not have markets during lunch. Lunch will be over in an hour. Yes, what happens on this island in an hour) Well, we will be without umbrellas. We lived near one of the most beautiful beaches of Beauvallon. We walked across the bridge to the beach. A large crab was staring at us from the pond.
The beach is very spacious and long. But personally, it didn’t evoke any special emotions in me. We went to one of the hard-to-reach beaches of Anse Major. It was this beach that we chose, since we need to make our way along the track route. The distance of the track was about one and a half kilometers through the highlands.
In terms of beauty, this route was the most beautiful in our experience. Juicy green plants and exotic fruits constantly pleased the eye. We passed by the house, the guy living there was very happy with us and called to stroke his bat. True, the mouse was not delighted with our visit. By the way, there are a lot of bats here, they even fly when it is light. They fly across the sky calmly, like our swallows. They find a fruit tree for themselves, cling to their paws, hang upside down and start the meal. All our several-hour route was accompanied by rains and the scorching sun. Because of the rain, the trail was not only beautiful, but also a bit dangerous. Dasha gave me a good idea to save these most decent shorts for the last day in Qatar. But unfortunately, for the shorts, these were practically the last words they heard.
The result of the first tracking - torn shorts and deep cuts on the leg. But the beauty of the beach seen was worth it. Only it was a little scary that the sharks would not smell the blood. A beautiful color of water, with dark stripes of stone labyrinths. A fresh lake flows into the ocean. Palm trees and other greenery grow everywhere. Basically, tourists come to the beach immediately by taxi, and they sail away on it. But the beauty of the beach is only half of the total beauty including the mountain route. Torn shorts are not a problem, especially since this is not the last clothing that will tragically die on the next tracks.
The return trip was no less adventurous. There were a couple of falls, after which the thought “I wish I could collect all my bones” jumped in my head. After sunset, life on the island stops for an hour. The main thing during sunset is not to be on one of the hiking trails. Our schedule was shifted, we went to bed early and woke up at 7 o'clock. That night I woke up from strange sounds from the side of the closet, someone was walking there. Dasha also woke up and anxiously looked through the darkness at the sinister closet. I opened the door, but there was no one there. The footsteps didn't stop at all. Someone literally walked in the wall. Apparently a dog. Then the steps went up the wall and began to walk along the ceiling. Then we fell asleep.
Trekking in Mahe
We had breakfast. We went to the bus stop to wait for the bus. There were no local residents at the bus stop - a bad sign. But there were already two on the opposite. When our bus did arrive, the girls from the opposite side ran across and got on the bus with us. Apparently, the direction was not the main factor in their trip. We arrived at the central bus station in the city of Victoria. From the station, we had to get to the mountain road. From which many trekking trails diverge. The required bus ran a little less than the others - once every two hours. But luckily the nearest one will be in just 30 minutes. But with the opposite, you will have to calculate the time well. In about 6 hours we covered two large routes and part of the route itself. We have never seen such exotic and beautiful jungles in any other country. A couple of times there were animals similar to hedgehogs, but without thorns, very cute in appearance - they are called tenrec.
From time to time came across cobwebs with impressive spiders. But what I remember most of all are some palm trees, the trunks of which were covered with long needles.
I almost grabbed one of these palm trees. According to the length of the spike, we can conclude that it can easily pass through the hand. They are probably fragile though. We also saw flowers in the form of jars with ajar lids - apparently insect traps.
Each route ended with breathtaking views of the islands. True, the weather today was overcast and the views were clearly not at the peak of their beauty. On one of the mountains, we waited for about 30 minutes for the cloud to go away.
We still waited for the divergence of clouds and the sun, illuminating the neighboring islands.
Over time, they didn’t calculate the return bus a bit and went on foot towards the capital. At one of the stops, a local guy stood and gestured that there would be a bus soon. We waited 10 minutes, and then realized that the bus would not be in our direction, since the traffic in the Seychelles is not the same as ours.
But still, when we jumped into the right bus catching up with us. We found the same guy there waiting for the bus in the other direction. It is impossible to describe, but for some reason, the Seychellois can go in a completely different direction than the one they originally needed.
We had only two days on the island of Mahe. But here, even for 4 days, you can safely find active entertainment for yourself. I did not want to fly further. In the evening, when it was already completely dark, we decided to take a walk around the hotel. The darkness was thick, the sky strewn with millions of stars. And knee-deep wet, as we simultaneously stepped into a deep puddle while contemplating the stars.
Praslin Island
Against all forecasts, the sky was clear and sunny. We can say that since that day the weather has more or less stabilized. It was a record short flight. We flew 20 minutes on the plane to 21 seats. The highlight of this flight is that the pilots do not have a door and you can observe with curiosity the entire process of controlling the aircraft. It was possible to reach the island by ferry for about 100 euros, but the plane cost only 4 euros more. Since the flight was local, the exit from the airport was without delay.
As soon as we got out, the right bus pulled up. Lucky so lucky. In general, as far as we understand. During peak hours, buses can run generally every 10 minutes. In another 20 minutes we were in our private villa. We would have been there faster, but there was a mark on the booking in the wrong place. I had to walk back quite a bit. Check-in and check-out in Seychelles hotels is usually at 8 am. But in our villa it was generally royal. Check-in from eight, check-out from 12:00 to 18:00. There was also paid Wi-Fi, which turned out to be free. We had our own house. And he was just awesome! One minus - red curtains! Due to everything there was a red tint in the room. There is a golden rule on the island - the more beautiful the beach, the more difficult it is to access.
You need to pay either by physical force or by money. For example, in a hotel where a night costs 1000 euros, a beautiful beach will not be far away, and you will be driven by an electric car. If you have a cheaper hotel, then the desire to get to the beach must be physically proven by going through a long mountain route. In some cases, the owner can call an expensive hotel and they will let you through the hotel territory for free, but our hostess said that you need to call the hotel three days in advance. With our modest villa, for only 59 euros per night, we were among those who would physically prove their desire - hiking in the mountains. Praslin has two main beaches. One is beautiful and the other is even more beautiful. Which one is better, Dasha and I disagreed. There are many more easily accessible beaches, but they are simpler. We started our exploration from Anse Lazio beach.
Anse Lazio Beach
Getting to the beach is a kind of “SPA complex”. Now I will describe it in parts:
Part 1 -total relaxation. It takes 20-30 minutes in splendid isolation to relax and catch zen at a concrete stop by the road. The long absence of the bus was no surprise at all. On this island, there are still often buses that just go to the depot. Over time, locals began to pull up to the stop and the chances of catching the bus grew significantly.
Part 2 - 1-hour safari through the jungle and air baths from the windows of the bus. The bus ride took almost an hour, but when the bus passed through the Vallee de Mai National Park, the entire length of the route was smoothed out. This is a real safari through the jungle.
A beautiful park stretched along the highway on both sides. When we drove along this route once, then every time we were happy when we came across buses passing this park. I couldn't take my eyes off the windows.
Part 3 - warm-up of all the muscles of the body. Since the bus stops about a kilometer before the beach, then you need to stomp your legs uphill and go down. This procedure lasts up to 30 minutes, accompanied by a professional scorching sun. This is probably the smallest of the mountains of this island that you need to pass.
And now our two-hour spa treatments have come to an end. For all those who survived this program, and who were not afraid of the way back, Anse Lazio hospitably opens its unique beach. The main thing is not to go to the cafe, otherwise the heart may not withstand the prices.
Seeing all the beauty and immensity of the beach, you instantly forget the complexity of the road. Here you have stones, and turquoise water, and palm trees, a sea of hungry fish that greedily swims around tourists. The beach is very different, if you go through it all, it will constantly change. There are also quieter parts, and stones in the form of an arch and a zone separated by the jungle. One of the fun activities is going on a hike on the rocks.
The main thing is not to screw up anywhere. Stones of different shades, the closer to yellow, the hotter in the legs. When you swim, hundreds of delicious crabs and some jumping fish run along the stones.
As soon as we entered the water, the local fish showed some inflated interest in us. It was somehow uncomfortable. Especially when one of the fish bit me painfully on the thigh. At one point, the nerves passed and the fish began a real flight with elements of the chase.
Over time, the fourth pointt of our “SPA program” came - weight loss. We did not take food with us, not counting on such a long distance and prices. And when the drinking water ran out, it also began to dry out.
We spent a couple of hours in this beauty. We must move towards the hotel and eat normally.
Back two hours did not want to get. The maps on the tablet hinted that it was possible to directly get through the jungle and the mountain. In particular, maps. me assured us that he knew the route. Well, let's take a chance! I don't know how many days this route lasted, but we even saw the beach from a bird's eye view.
It was not even so much physically difficult as hot. The sun beat down mercilessly from a clear sky. Even yesterday it was raining, and we were waiting for sunny days. Now I would not refuse a good rain.
At the end of the route, a very beautiful tropical forest and a long-awaited bus stop awaited us. And again we relax at the bus stop. The local Creole asked if we would like to go to another beach. But now that would be an epic ending. Our hotel was ten minutes from this stop.
When it seemed that now you can just relax and eat under the conder, we ran into the following problem. Shops closed right before our eyes in the middle of the day, and there was no electricity in the whole area. And it looks like the shops closed not only for lunch, but also with the end due to the lack of light. The owner even offered to take us by car to an open market for free. Fortunately, an inconspicuous cafe was opened next to us. It turned out to be our first local take away. We've had a bite, now we can fight again.
Anse Georgette Beach
It took about 10 minutes to get to it by bus from our hotel. Or rather, go to the beginning of the path uphill. A Creole immediately approached us and offered to be our guide for money. The guy was very surprised at our courage and determination to go uphill ourselves. It was not just a track, but something remotely reminiscent of rock climbing. Everything was on the path, but with a very steep slope. After a while, we met guys who explained that this path just leads to the peak of the mountain. I showed them a map that you can walk to the beach. But they said that you might not have time to do it before dark. They also planned, but having reached the peak, they did not dare to go down to the beach. We just left mobile phones with flashlights at home. But it was actually a full moon period. And even at night, the moon will light the way for us as a last resort. The main thing is not to run into any coyote. The views were beautiful, but compared to the beauty of the beaches, these are trifles. The descent from the mountain was even longer than the ascent and no less difficult. Probably, in general, the road took about an hour, but it felt like we had plowed the middle bed with potatoes. But again, when you see the beach, you forgive everything.
We in Kyiv were worried that the Seychelles would be boring. Yes, there is a campaign in general, probably, there is no such word in the dictionary. The beach is much smaller than the previous one. But how cozy and affectionate he is - beyond words. Dasha marked this beach as the best in Praslin. My best beach of the trip was waiting for us on the next island. In the rays of the evening sun, I wanted to endlessly splash in the strong, but gentle waves of the azure ocean. The hotel staff was preparing a table for someone's romantic dinner. The way back was quite short and without mountains. It was possible to get out through the beautiful territory of an expensive hotel. Praslin has many other easily accessible beaches. But in any case, Anse Lazio and Anse Georgette are very, very beautiful and worth visiting. On this beach, I forgot one of my favorite T-shirts. It was a T-shirt from Tilcara, Argentina.
Curiose Island
In the morning, after waiting for the bus, we went to Gyor beach. There you can arrange a transfer to other islands. True, it is not clear where and with whom. But as soon as we went to the beach, a bunch of relaxing rastafarians turned their eyes on us and one of them immediately asked where we were going to swim. We bargained for 60 euros for a transfer on the route Praslin-Curiose-St. Pierre-Praslin. Or rather, how the auction went, he said 35 euros per person, I offered 30, and that was it. True, then he still could not catch the boat that would take us, but these are already technical trifles.
At this time, his friend came up and decided to tell us where else you can swim with him. The friend was completely relaxed and did not even strain to focus his eyes on us. While we were listening to a friend, I stood with my arm leaning on the wooden canopy. At that time, a lizard was descending from the canopy, which decided that my hand was a continuation of its difficult route. The feeling of being suddenly grabbed by the paws is inexpressible. The birds of the neighboring island scattered from the sound of a cry. Finally, our rastaman was lucky, and he caught his boatman. The ship was more like an ordinary boat, but with a powerful engine. And we, with a breeze, cutting through the waves, rushed across the ocean. Sailing on motorboats is always a joy. On the way there was a stop to stare at a swimming turtle. We were dropped off on an island near a reserve with giant tortoises.
For the entrance to the island it was necessary to pay separately for 200 rupees (12.5 euros). Turtles happily reached out to tourists, and in return they were fed leaves from trees. By the way, on the island of La Digue, such turtles will generally crawl like a savage. Here, in principle, no one kept them in this part of the island either. But the sweet spot is right here.
In addition to turtles, there were tourists from different companies. Judging by the comments on the Internet, some pay 150 euros per person for this tour, but with a barbecue. At rastafarians, I saw that with BBQ the price is about 60 euros. After walking with the giants, we went to the track route. It was practically without mountains on wooden bridges. It was necessary to walk about two kilometers. The tracks were one meter above the ground. Thousands of small spikes protruded from the ground. These are young mangroves sprouting.
Hundreds of crabs of all sizes ran through the spikes. And in the bushes there were thousands of snails. Although maybe there were also crabs in the shells. It is not difficult to determine that there are thousands of them, since there is not always a gap to the ground, through the shells. Very scenic route!
The trail ends at the beach. But this is not just a beach, this is the very beach that I consider the best in beauty for our trip. If you go deeper from the shore towards the endless stone blockages, you find yourself in very clear and bright water. On the one hand, the entire coast is covered with picturesque boulders, on the other hand, a dark blue strip of the deep ocean.
I was in the wildest delight, the beach was immediately noted in my heart. But Dasha's heart was occupied at that time by Georgette beach. This beach had one small minus, something microscopic sailed up and took pity on us so that then there were pimples on the body. And in general, everything is wonderful. Then, for about an hour, we relaxed in the shade under a large leaning tree. In total, we stayed on the beach for about four hours and sailed on.
Saint Pier Island
This is probably the smallest of the islands we have ever been to. We were given masks with tubes and promised to pick them up in an hour. An hour is just enough to slowly swim in a circle in the turbulent water. The water world of the Seychelles is inferior to the Maldives and Egypt. Let's just say that the varieties of fish are on top, but there is not such an abundance of corals. In fact, there are practically none at all. Perhaps there are reefs on some outlying islands, but this is clearly not in the vicinity of the main islands. But even without corals, it was very beautiful to swim among the boulders and heaps of giant fish. Yes, the size of the fish here was impressive. In about 45 minutes we made a full circle and climbed to the top of the island. On this island is the kingdom of lizards and spiders. One of them looked into our bag with curiosity. Webs with spiders clearly indicated where on the island it was not necessary to meddle.
In fact, it took us about half a minute to get around all the available routes of the island. And here is our friend sailed to pick us up.
Not far from the bus stop, locals were selling exotic fruits. At first we wanted to buy ourselves bananas. But in the end, for 25 rupees (1.5 euros), we had bananas, a couple of mangoes and carambola.
We spent this evening on the beach near our villa. I would not say that the beach is somehow especially beautiful during the day, but it’s the very thing to meet the sunsets on it. Large stone boulders with dried wood, like seats for spectators.
The shape of the clouds were like horses harnessed to carts. A beautiful red order completed another unforgettable day of our holiday. We wandered along the beach for a long time and talked. At this time, every tide of waves, like warm champagne, enveloped the legs.
I wanted to never leave, but the total darkness made it clear to us - return to the hotel. Today we had dinner with canned tuna pasta. And for dessert we bought a large jar of canned exotic fruits.
We had our own veranda for dining. During dinner, we watched as the geckos hunted midges. There were a lot of geckos here, they even lived with us in the room, entertaining us in the middle of the night with unobtrusive screams.
And again Praslin
New day, new adventure! To begin with, it was necessary to buy tickets for tomorrow's ferry. We got to the ferry, bought tickets and got stuck waiting for the bus for a very long time. It was an absolute record. We even started watching a movie on the tablet. The problem was that the bus we got on was not ours, and by the time we returned, the correct bus had passed. It's just that when I asked the driver if he was going to Anse Lazio, he nodded his head and said yes. When we realized that the bus was going the wrong way, it turned out that the driver just had a plan to nod his head, which must be carried out at all costs. By the way, the film turned out to be quite cool, it was called Future Earth. In fact, we have already looked at all the interesting things of the island. In addition to the national park, but I didn’t really want to pay 25 euros for the park. We took the bus to a stop deep in the jungle in the mountains. It's called Zimbabwe. In the hope that there will be something awesome. And from there we go down to the beach. In fact, there was nothing interesting there, but our attempts to reach the beach turned out to be an unforgettable adventure. At first, the bus driver warned us that the idea was a failure, there would be no descent. But the map showed what would happen. While we were walking in search of a route, we saw a man with a machete standing in the bushes. When we realized that there were solid dead ends around, we went to look for him. The men were gone, but a path had been cut through. We walked in the hope of finding him, and perhaps he, instead of chopping us, will show us the way. The path led us completely into the jungle, but from there a wide path went down to the foot of the mountain. At this time, a man came out from another path with two more guys and with a machete. The adjacent stone looked like an altar for sacrifice. I wonder who will be brought now? Curiosity bursting??? ? , but the guys were just cutting through a fire lane in the woods and convinced us that in seven years there had never been a route that we were looking for. And the road to the foot is a fire lane that will not lead us anywhere. But even the guy with cold steel did not convince us, we blindly believed the map and started looking for a route further. Every 20 minutes we were flooded with rain. We were already on the road for about 40 minutes, and we came to someone's house. There were no people.
Coconuts, tangerines, sauceps, jackfruits and other fruit trees grew around. Maps. me showed that the path we needed was very close, we only had to climb 100 meters uphill through the impenetrable jungle. I tried to break through the grove. But in a minute of struggle, I didn’t even move ten centimeters. The jungle here was very dense. We have failed. We had to go very far back to try to follow the next path. We even climbed over a small river. It took us about 3 hours to get to the beach. As soon as the sun came out. The layout was optimal. In the mountains it is much more pleasant to walk when the sun is not scorching, and on the beaches the sun is very good. We swam in the ocean. It felt like we didn't do enough today. We decided to move to the second beach through the jungle. But not on the standard path, where we have already been, but on a shorter one. Of course, it is not a fact that the cards are now telling the truth, but we will check. The beginning was along the path already known to us. But when it was necessary to branch off, instead of turning we found a strange house with an evil grandmother. Grandmother was angry, probably because every day the next tourists on the map come to her house. But fortunately, she was not as cruel as she looked at first glance and revealed to us the secret of the secret path behind the yellow flowers.
Find 6 pineapples here : )
True, the trail was so unconvincing, perhaps the grandmother decided to just get rid of us by sending us to the cliff. But oddly enough, our maps agreed with her and really predicted that we would reach the goal in an hour. The road was quite wild, narrow and dark. Dense foliage well covered its inhabitants from sunlight. At times bats flew over our heads. But we are winners again, the next and last trekking route on Praslin has been completed. At that time, we did not yet know that these routes were a warm-up before the next island. There passing through the jungle - only hardcore!
