Seychelles Day 1 - Mahé

Seychelles has long been a bucket list destination for Elizabeth and me. The stunning beaches, clear, warm water, and good snorkeling opportunities were always a big draw. The obstacle, of course, is the remoteness (which is also a feature). A quick flight search shows that the *shortest* duration flight is over 26 hours, with two stops. Going on Insignia took us two months, but in great comfort and with many wonderful stops along the way.

We arrived at Mahé, the largest of the Seychelles islands, a little before 7:00 AM. We had packed up for a beach day the night before, so we were raring to go. We let the boys sleep until a bit past 7:30, then roused them and got some breakfast. Then it was off the ship to make our way to Anse Royale beach.

We were met by a handful of drivers at the exit from the cruise terminal and arranged a price for a round-trip drive to the beach. Terry, the driver, was friendly and told us about growing up in Seychelles during the 20-minute drive. He also gifted us a soursop fruit from his yard that he had intended to give to a friend who turned out to not be around that day. I asked if there was a place to rent snorkel equipment and he said yes and took us to a small shop near the beach. Turns out they had some stuff for sale rather than rent, but that was OK. I bought a couple of masks and snorkels that we’ll use for the rest of the trip. We could have (should have?) packed our own masks and snorkels from the beginning, but they didn’t make the cut on the what to pack list.

Terry dropped us at the beach and told us to contact him when we were ready to go back. He didn’t even ask for payment at this point. We took our gear and found a nice shady spot with a good view of the water. It was pretty close to perfection. The weather was warm but with enough breeze to keep it from being oppressive, and the views were breathtaking. We took turns snorkeling and swimming in the wonderfully warm water. The snorkeling was not fantastic, but there were enough fish to keep it interesting.

We walked, swam, snorkeled, and got a pizza from the nearby café. After several hours we hit Terry up (on WhatsApp, which seems to be the communication method of choice outside of North America) and he came to get us. Our weather karma held as it started to rain just as we were getting into the car. Nothing torrential, just the normal afternoon tropical shower, but it was nice that it didn’t rain on all of our gear at the beach.

Back to the ship we cleaned up and then Liz and I went back out for a bit of exploring. We hit up the local market for a few supplies, including some red bananas that looked pretty appealing. We’d thought about going further into town, but away from the beach the heat was pretty oppressive, so we headed back to Insignia with our market bag.

Tomorrow’s another beach day, but there are thunderstorms in the forecast. We’ll see how that plays out.En savoir plus