Seychelles
This year we continued our quest to see the “must see” islands of the Indian Ocean and so it was off to the Seychelles. As with last years trip to Mauritius (see archived report) this trip began with a late night flight from Kuwait to Dubai where we hooked up with an early morning flight on Air Seychelles. We left Dubai at 03:20 AM and arrived 4 ½ hours later at Mahe, largest of the 115 islands which comprise the Seychelles. After clearing customs we were met by a representative of Maisons Travel who escorted us 75 meters down a covered walkway from the International terminal to the Domestic Terminal. There we climbed on to propeller plane for the 15 minute flight to Praslin Island, second largest island. We were booked into L’Archipel Hotel for 7 days, 6 nights stay, after which we were to transfer back to Mahe and stay at the Plantation Club for 5 days 4 nights and then return on the night flight to Dubai (and ultimately back to Kuwait). Flights down and back were great, with no delays.
Hotels
We opted for the bed and breakfast plan at both hotels, figuring that we would be up and about during the day and might not avail ourselves of hotel meals all the time, and as we usually do not eat an evening meal, why spend the money on the more expensive all inclusive option. Breakfast was buffet, with cook to order eggs. We did eat some lunch meals at the hotel, others were eaten as part of the tours we took.
– L’Archipel – (
http://www.larchipel.com ) 5 star quality, recommended to us by our British friends, Anne and Dave Havercroft, who simply will NOT tolerate substandard performance in their accommodations. Thank you ! Words cannot adequately describe this hotel, but I shall try. 23 rooms and 7 executive suites. Actually the rooms are in 2 level masonry cabins, with one guest’s room ‘down’, and one guest’s room ‘up’. Large bedroom, desk, chair side chairs, wardrobe with in room safe, mini bar, Mosquito netting over the bed, large ensuite bathroom with walk in shower, tub, double sink lavatory. Outside the front door of the room was a 15 meter by 2 meter verandah with two chairs and a low table. Perfect for sitting and watching the sun set over the water. Check their website for full details. Mostly adults, and some families with teen age kids. The staff greeted us by name every day, in both French and English.
Plantation Club – (
http://www.plantationclub.com ) 4 star quality recommended to us by our local travel agency. This hotel has 300 rooms on a 180 acre estate and had many families with sub teen kids. We booked a deluxe sea-view room and when we entered the room we immediately noticed “that smell” which means mold / mildew. We also noted black spots on the walls behind the bed. We quickly returned to the front desk and informed of the problem and asked to be moved. Our conversation was overheard by M/s Mary French, of the hotels guest relations department, who quickly intervened and asked us to show her the room and the mold. In the room she quickly rang up the front desk and (in French) told them to move us ASAP and to get someone in to make this room healthy again. She informed us that as the hotel was “full” she might have to put us in a lagoon-view room, but would see what she could do. We opted to go to the poolside café and have lunch while she made arrangements. Upon returning to the front desk 1 ½ hours later we were informed that no other rooms in our pricing category were available, so they were going to move us to an executive suite, on the upper level, if that was OK with us. We asked to see the suite. This suite had a living room, dining room, marble covered bar, 2 marble clad bathrooms, a bedroom with king size bed, a sitting area as well as 2 separate private balconies. WOW ! Trying to conceal our joy at the free upgrade, we looked over the new room and sniffed, well….. as long as it has no mold and mildew, OK, I guess we can accept the change. We thanked them for their help and quietly closed the door and then did a 2 minute “jump for joy and high-five” victory dance Woo Hoo.
Islands – Praslin island is beautiful, we booked two tours whilst there. On the first tour, we visited Le Vallie de Mai in which we discovered (via our knowledgeable tour guide) that there are 5 types of palms on the island, the coco de mer being the most famous. Lovely walking tour thru the park. Our second tour was to the island of La Dique, via ferry (45 minute trip). We were given 10 speed bicycles for the day to ride about the island. Lovely day, but we both wound up with a case of bicycle seat butt syndrome. This island has only a few powered vehicles so riding on the narrow roads was not a problem. Mahe island is the main commercial island and was busy. We booked the all day full island tour which included lunch in the mountains. Great tour, very knowledgeable guides on the tours. We saw the tree that “allspice” comes from, our guide also gave us strips of bark peeled off a cinnamon tree and suggested we crush it in our hands. Yes, smelled like cinnamon. He stopped the tour bus and ran out into a field of long grass and ripped up a clump. Entering the bus he passed it around and told us to crush it in our hands. He called it lemon grass. Why, yes, it smelled like a fresh cut lemon. Same thing with some tea leaves. Amazing. At one point we stopped for a break and he put the grass and leaves into a pot of boiling water. Voilla, “regular” tea, or lemon tea (brilliant). No cinnamon bark tea though, (bugger).
Food – Good, with seafood being the main fare. Shredded cabbage and carrot salads were available (quite good actually). Lunch for the two of us consisting of salad, chick salad, 4 non-alcoholic fruit juices, and cappuccino after was $USD 62.00. But we did get a sea view seat. Other lunches similarly priced. Glass of white wine at the hotel in the afternoon, $USD 9.00 each. We had been advised by aforementioned Anne and Dave that drinks were expensive on the island, so we had purchased a bottle of rum whilst passing thru Dubai airport. On the island we purchased some 300 ml bottles of coke to use for our evening sips of rum and coke on the verandah or balcony at the room. (Price check - Minibar price for airline bottle size rum 9 Euro, cokes 3 euro.).
Money – Seychelles Rupee (SCR) - The Island passed a law in 2001 that requires all visitors to pay for their hotel bills in foreign currency. They especially like USD and Euros, so avoid the money changers at the airport. Also, bring smaller denomination currency. We had USD and Euros in 50’s and 100’s,denominations which resulted in us getting change back in the local currency. As no place on the island really wants the tourist to pay in the local currency, we wondered how to “use it up”. We actually did manage to find a way to spend the mounting stack of local currency (change) during the trip though. “Oh, sorry we forgot to bring USD, will you take local currency?” We also had some Mauritius currency left over from last year, which they reluctantly exchanged for us, into local currency.
Language - Both French and English languages are widely spoken. The locals speak Creole French amongst themselves, and will greet you in either French or English, depending on their perception of your nationality. We were perceived as being Englishman and wife, although we were frequently greeted in French. The hotel commented that not many USA citizens visit the islands.
Weather – Being close to the Equator, temperatures were balmy and warm, 23 to 28 deg C. We currently live in the desert country of Kuwait where summer temps reach 50 deg C, so everything is relative. We noticed that a group of European tourists arrived at the hotel with winter jackets stacked on top of their luggage. During the tours we noticed that they were sweating thru their shirts and drinking large amounts of bottled water. So, it all depends on what you are used to.
Observations - Definitely a repeat visit country. We had plenty of time for leasurly strolls down the beach and watching the sunset from the hotel balcony whilst sipping our rum and cokes. I was even able to enjoy my Partagas Cuban cigars (avaliable at Dubai airport). We were glad that we opted to stay at two different hotels on two different islands, because in our opinion, spending more than 7 days in any one hotel (even in paradise) can be a bit much.
We heartily recommend the island. Cheers!
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