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A Sojourn in the Seychelles
  • Happy Days Travel
  • Mark Wade
  • Happy Days Travel
  • Mark Wade

A Sojourn in the Seychelles

Three weeks of relaxation in the sun before our African overlanding adventure. Читать далее
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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    Eden Island

    26 апреля 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    From Venn's Town, we continued our drive over the mountains and descended into Victoria. The sun 🌞 was out again by now. We decided to go to Eden Island - the place we kept missing on the bus 🚌!

    Talk about 'how the other half live'!! There is some serious money there in terms of super yachts, luxury apartments, and a 5-star hotel resort where the guests ride around in private golf buggies.!!

    We had a wander round, stopped for a ham and cheese toastie for lunch, and checked out the famous South African Spar supermarket! We didn't buy anything as it was all very expensive, but if the range of goods on offer is anything to go by, we won't starve when we get to SA!! 😂

    From Eden Island, we decided to visit Le Jardin du Roi, a spice garden in the hills. Unfortunately, despite following the signs, we couldn't find it! We gave up and went back to the apartment. There, we had a swim 🏊‍♂️ before dinner - 66 lengths for me today! 😂    Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    A drive up north

    27 апреля 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    I woke up at 5.10am to the sound of rain 🌧. It continued to pour down, but by the time we'd had our coffee ☕️ and breakfast, it had dried up, and there were glimpses of the sun 🌞.

    We left the apartment at about 9.45am to drive to the northern tip of Mahe. We stopped to photograph the beaches on the North Coast road just beyond Anse Etoile.Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    Beau Vallon

    27 апреля 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    From Glacis, we continued our drive around the North Coast Road to Beau Vallon, the main tourist resort on Mahe. Here, you will find the highest concentration of hotels, bars, and restaurants on the island 🏝. We saw more white people than anywhere else!

    The beach was lovely and it was great to have a choice of restaurants, but it was all very expensive!! We didn't particularly like the crowds, either! We prefer where we are staying!!    Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    Boathouse Restaurant

    27 апреля 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    We had lunch at the Boathouse Restaurant in Beau Vallon. How could we not? 😀 There were quite a few similarities with Sharon's place. I will send her some photos 📸!

    I had battered job fish 🐟 and chips 🍟, and Mark had garlic prawns. Both were delicious, but so expensive! Mark wasn't impressed with his non-alcoholic beer, either. The bill was almost £70. We won't be doing that again in a hurry! 😀Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    Anse Intendance

    27 апреля 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    After lunch, we went to the only hypermarket on the island to stock up on drinks while we've got the car 🚗. I wasn't that impressed - we've seen better product ranges in other places.

    We dropped the shopping back at the apartment and then went out again in search of Anse Intendance. This time, we found it!! Third time lucky! It was down an unmarked road. We really felt it couldn't possibly be the right way!

    When we finally made it, parking was an issue. There were too many cars for the few available spaces. However, we squeezed in on the grass verge and went to have a look. It's certainly a beautiful beach ⛱️! Whether it is 'the most beautiful beach ⛱️ in the world', as it is billed, is debatable! 😀

    Back at the apartment, we went for a swim 🏊‍♂️. 70 lengths today!

    Later, Anto called to say they are picking the car up at 8am tomorrow, rather than 9.30 as agreed. An earlier start than anticipated, then! 😀    Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    A day at the beach

    28 апреля 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    We had more rain overnight and woke up to dark clouds with a few glimpses of blue sky in between. The forecast was for sunshine and showers, so we decided to stick to our original plan and go to the beach ⛱️.

    While we were waiting for the bus 🚌, we saw some Red Claw crabs 🦀. These are found in the Indo-Pacific region from Zanzibar to Japan and Fiji 🇫🇯. They are nocturnal, so it is unusual to see them out in bright sunshine 🌞. I took a quick video - it's not very good, but you get the idea!

    We spent the morning on the beach ⛱️. There were a couple of light showers, but we managed to have a swim 🏊‍♀️. I started a new book set in Kenya 🇰🇪 and Mark listened to podcasts.

    At about lunchtime, the guy who had been raking the beach all morning came running 🏃‍♂️ past saying that heavy rain was coming! We quickly packed up and made our way to the nearest bar/restaurant before the heavens opened!

    We had a drink but decided against ordering food. A draft beer 🍺 and a fruit juice cost us £18!!

    We decided not to go back to the beach when the rain stopped. Instead, we bought some emperor fish 🐟 for dinner (it was delicious 😋) and caught the bus 🚌 back to the apartment.

    A swim in the pool was in order - 72 lengths today. Perhaps I'll get to 100 before we leave!    Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    A weekend at the apartment

    30 апреля 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We've spent the last couple of days in and around the apartment. It's really important with the big trip we've got coming up that we take some time out now! We read books 📚 (me), listened to podcasts (Mark), and watched films set in Africa - Cry Freedom, Invictus, The Last King of Scotland, Out of Africa, Hotel Rwanda 🇷🇼, Africa United, and I'm sure we'll find more on the hard drive for the next few evenings! 😂

    Oh, and of course we swam! 80 lengths yesterday and 82 today!

    The photo 📸 attached to this footprint 👣 is the view I've spent a lot of time staring at!! 😀    Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    Anse Aux Pins

    1 мая 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We were planning on going to Victoria today, but we realised it is Labour Day, and not everything would be open. So, we switched our plans around and went to the beach ⛱️ instead. Because the buses 🚌 were operating only a limited service, we walked down to Anse aux Pins. The beach was almost deserted, and we had an enjoyable time in and out of the water, reading 📚 and listening to podcasts. I think it might be my favourite beach on Mahe. The boulders form natural pools where lots of fish 🐟 congregate. I can spend hours just watching them! 😀

    It was very, very hot 🔥 today, and I think I got a bit of sunstroke! When we came to walk back to the apartment, I felt really sick and had to have a sit down in the shade of the infamous bus shelter!! 😂

    Back at Cap Confort, after drinking several glasses of water 💧, I felt fine! Later, we went for the obligatory pool swim 🏊‍♀️ and I managed 84 laps!    Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    Seychelles National Museum

    2 мая 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Today, we ventured into Victoria for the final time. It was incredibly hot and humid this morning. The first bus 🚌 that came along was full and sailed straight past. By the time the next one came along, I was melting! It was pretty rammed, and we had to stand to start with. We did get seats, but it was a very uncomfortable ride - too hot, too crowded, and too smelly!! 😀

    In town, we went to buy some euros 💶. Unbelievably, our tour tomorrow has to be paid in cash in euros, and we used the only euros we had (which we have been carrying around for over a year!) to pay for the hire car! We tried a couple of places. Nowhere would take a card, so we had to buy euros with sterling. We lost on the transaction, but we had no choice!

    The expected rain came as we were on our way to visit the National Museum, so we were grateful to get under cover.

    The museum opened in 2018 and is housed in Victoria's restored Supreme Court building, which dates from 1885. It is well laid out with three exhibition rooms downstairs that take the visitor on an informative journey through 300 years of Seychellois history. Upstairs, there are interesting exhibits describing Creole culture, focusing on fashion, food, music, fishing, and architecture.

    We spent an enjoyable couple of hours learning about the history and culture of the Seychelles. Outside, we were ready for a drink, so ended up in the expensive café we went to before! As we left there, the heavens opened, and we had to shelter in the entrance of the post office. As usual here, though, it wasn't long before the rain stopped and the sun came out again!    Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    St. Paul's Cathedral

    2 мая 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Our next stop was at St. Paul's Anglican cathedral. The original church was consecrated in May 1859 by the first bishop of Mauritius, Vincent William Ryan. In the years since, the building has been extended with a new tower being added in 1910 and the sanctuary being relocated in 1978.

    We were particularly impressed with the striking stained glass.    Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

    2 мая 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    From St Paul's, we walked up to the Roman Catholic cathedral, calling en route to buy a rock cake for lunch (they had sold out of everything savoury! 😀).

    The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was built in 1874 and is the largest church ⛪️ in the Seychelles. Children born in wedlock are baptised in the cathedral on Sundays. Those born out of wedlock are christened on Fridays. As 75% of children in the Seychelles are born out of wedlock, Fridays are very busy! 😂

    The cathedral's bells featured in the novel 'Where the Clock Chimes Twice' by English writer Alec Waugh. He mentions the whimsical peculiarity of the bells chiming twice every hour - once at the right time, and then two minutes later for daydreamer and slowcoaches 😀.

    There is an imposing two-storey granite building next to the cathedral. It is known as La Domus and was built by Swiss missionaries in 1934. Today, it serves as a residence for Roman Catholic clerics and monks.

    After visiting the cathedral, we bought a few bits in the supermarket and then caught the bus 🚌 back to the apartment. We had time for a swim 🏊‍♀️ before dinner - 86 lengths for me today 😀.    Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    Boat trip to St Anne Marine Park

    3 мая 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Today was our pre-booked boat trip to Sainte Anne Marine Park and neighbouring islands 🏝. We were due to be picked up at 9.30am and were ready and waiting in reception. However, our driver didn't turn up until 9.50am, by which time we were very hot and a bit panicky as our boat was due to leave Victoria, a good 20-minute drive away! When he did arrive, he said he was late because he couldn't find us - apparently, he'd been up and down the hill several times before he spotted the sign for Cap Confort!

    Luckily, we got to the boat at the same time as the minibus 🚐 bringing the other 16 people who were on our trip. We met Maria from the tour company and paid the €150 balance for the trip. We then boarded the boat and were introduced to our skipper, Kristoffer, and his mate, Salvio. We were soon on our way to our first stop in Sainte Anne Marine Park. We observed the fish through the glass bottom of the boat. Kristoffer explained to us that 90% of the coral was destroyed in the 2004 tsunami. Thankfully, it is recovering well now. We threw some bread 🍞 over the side, which attracted lots of bigger fish 🐟. They were very difficult to photograph 📸, but you get the idea! 😀    Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    Long Island and Round Island

    3 мая 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    After feeding the fish 🐟, we had 40 minutes to snorkel. Despite the damage to the reef, we saw loads of different varieties of fish. Back in the boat (with some difficulty, I have to say!), we moved on to Round Island. There, we had an hour and a half to swim and relax. The water is shallow enough to walk across to Long Island - a rather surreal experience!Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    Cerf Island Land Turtles

    3 мая 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    The next stop on our boat trip was at Cerf Island, where we saw a group of land turtles 🐢. We fed them and took plenty of photos 📸, avoiding the giant spiders as we did so!

    After seeing the turtles, we moved along the coast a little to another beach ⛱️ for a barbecue lunch. We had grilled chicken and fish with rice and salad 🥗 followed by bananas 🍌. It was OK - not as good as Brian's barbecues in Tobago (and no rum punch either!) 😀.Читать далее

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  • A Sojourn in the Seychelles

    Onwards and upwards!

    7 мая 2023 г., Сейшельские острова ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We spent our last three days in the Seychelles in and around the apartment. We had intended to have another day at Anse Royale beach ⛱️, but Facebook blocked me from posting to my Happy Days Travel page, so I was trying to sort that out. I didn't get anywhere, unfortunately, so I'll have to post from my personal page for now!

    Yesterday was the King's coronation. We were able to watch the whole thing live through YouTube. What a spectacle!! Nobody does pomp and circumstance like the British. I found the service really moving!

    We took advantage of our last few days with a pool in 30° sunshine 🌞. I did 92, 98, and, finally, 100 lengths! I'm not sure how much swimming we'll be doing in Jo'burg - it's going to be at least 10° cooler there!

    We did most of our packing last night, so it didn't take long to sort out the last few bits this morning. Our taxi driver, Ashley, arrived promptly at 6.30am. He was very well-travelled, so we had a good conversation on the way to the airport 🛫.

    At the airport, we checked in and then had breakfast before going through security. It was all very relaxed! Now, we're sitting in the departure lounge ready for the next chapter of this epic journey to begin!    Читать далее

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    Окончание поездки
    7 мая 2023 г.