Our first bus ride in the Seychelles

We slept for a full 12 hours last night and woke up fully refreshed! That's us sorted - we're on Seychelles time now! 😀

We had some stale baguette with cheese for breakfast. You would have thought I would have learned after years living in France 🇫🇷 - French bread 🥖 is NEVER any good the next day! It'll be brown toast tomorrow 😂.

At 10.30am, we left the apartment to catch the bus 🚌 into Victoria, the world's smallest capital city. Anto told us the buses run every 20 minutes or so, but he didn't know at what times. We must have just missed one because we waited just over 20 minutes, sweating in the 32° heat, for it to come. I'm not complaining - I won't mention the sweating again!! (Every time I write the word, all I can hear is my Mum's voice saying, 'Andrea, don't use that word - ladies don't sweat, they perspire'. 😂🤣 And, no, she wasn't a product of Victorian upbringing!! 😂

Yesterday, we were chatting to a Belgian couple who are staying in the same place as us. They have hired a car for the duration of their stay. When I told them we were planning to use the local buses, they were horrified!! They reminded us that they would take ages, be really crowded, and, most importantly, have no air-con. Correct on all points! BUT, they charge 12 rupees (about 70p) per trip - AND you get to meet the locals. For us, it's a no-brainer. For long-term travel, it's a case of, 'eat like a local, travel like a local'. 😀

When the bus came, it was full. Mark had to stand, but not for the whole journey. It took us about 55 minutes to cover the 10 miles to town, but the windows were open, and we enjoyed people watching and listening to the chatter - not that we could understand any of it - everyone was speaking Creole. (The three official languages of the Seychelles are French, English, and Creole.)

On the way, we made a note of a couple of places for future visits.

We stayed on the bus until we reached the terminus, which was a bustling hive of activity. We tried in vain to find a map of bus routes and/or a timetable. Never mind. Without the Internet, when we're away from the apartment, we'll have to rely on the old-fashioned method of getting around - asking people!! 😀

NB - the street art photos were taken in the bus station. There was a lot more that I didn't photograph - I'll have to add others later.Read more