Traveling to the Seychelles has been on my travel list for a while. It was added to my list after I visited the Maldives in 2018. However, the Seychelles doesn’t offer a tour like I typically take. I had to take a different route to visit the Seychelles, one that I was quite looking forward to, a cruise. I had never been on a cruise before However, this wasn’t your typical Carnival Cruise. It was a small boat with room for up to 44 guests. The size of the boat appealed to me. The massive size of a standard cruise ship seems impersonal and overwhelming.
I arrived in the Seychelles a day before the cruise started to give myself some time to make sure I didn’t miss the boat’s departure. Given the 26 hours of travel to get to the Seychelles, I try to leave some wiggle room for missed connections or other travel problems. Luckily, I arrived without incident. I spent my day catching up on sleep and walking around the small town of Victoria, the main city on the main island of Mahe. I was in awe of how green the island was. When I was walking back to my hotel, it started to rain…a lot. I suppose this is why California isn’t so green!
It was departure day! I got a taxi, and I arrived at the boat at 2 pm excited to start the journey and meet the 42 other passengers I would be sharing the boat with. To my surprise there were only 6 other passengers. Yes, that made me the 7th wheel to three couples. Three couples in their 60s and 70s. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. However, it’s like traveling with my parents! It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but there was no turning back!
After a safety briefing and introduction of everyone who works on the boat, it was time to head to our first destination. It was full speed ahead! Fortunately I didn’t get sea sick, and I found the rocking motion of the boat rather soothing. After enjoying the view and breeze on the deck for a couple hours, I went down to my room to nap until dinner.
This first dinner was a bit awkward. The dining room had six tables set for… 7 people. So naturally, everyone sat at a separate table. Luckily for me, one of the couples sat with me, or it would have been even more awkward.
Breakfast the next morning was the same, but then with our first excursion came a little bit of bonding and socializing so we soon started to eat together, which was nice. One of the couples was from France, another from Germany, and the last was an American and Italian who live in Texas. Everyone spoke English quite well, but we would occasionally break out the translator app. Thank goodness for technology!
Our first excursion was the next day. We visited the island of Curieuse. We loaded onto the zodiac (the boat that takes us to and from the shore) and soon realized that the short journey would be rather eventful. It was a windy morning which made for a bumpy ride, big splashes, and very wet passengers. You could tell that some people were holding on for dear life. Fortunately we made it. We pulled up to the shore, got out of the zodiac and were immediately greeted by tortoises that live on the island. We fed them, took photos with them, and learned a little about them.
After enjoying the tortoises, we took a short (but very hot) hike to the other side of the island where a nice beach and BBQ lunch were waiting for us. There were other tour groups there, but fortunately they all left before us. There were seven of us alone on a beautiful beach. It truly felt like paradise! The night ended with wine tasting on the boat followed by dinner, where we all sat together!
The next day we explored the island of Praslin. We first went to a place where they grow plants, fruits, etc. and have fruit bats and tortoises. As soon as we arrived, I was nearly pushed into the cage with the fruit bats. It was a cool experience, but the thought of rabies kept running through my mind! I’m not a risk taker when it comes to deadly diseases! However, it was cool to be so close to the bats. (Double click the video below to see it all in one screen)
After getting a short tour of the farm and enjoying some fruit and music, we were led to the beach where we would stay for the afternoon. It was a large beach with hardly any tourists on it. After spending time in the water, I walked down the beach to see the famous Instagram tree. I didn’t know this tree was famous, but our guide told us. Upon arriving at said tree, an influencer couple was having their photo shoot. I waited my turn, but they didn’t want to share. So I just interrupted their photo shoot so I could get a photo! The evening ended with a briefing about the next day, a three course dinner and some music and dancing!
The next island we visited was Cousin. The whole island is a nature reserve, so the zodiac wasn’t allowed to drop us off. We did start in the zodiac, went half way to shore, met a different boat, switched boats, and then full throttle went up the shore of the beach. There we met other tourists and slathered bug repellent all over ourselves. Luckily we haven’t really had to deal with mosquitos.
We were then given a tour through the forest on the island to see the different birds that live there. It was very interesting, beautiful, and hot! In addition to the birds, we saw a lot of tortoises and skinks. The skinks seem to enjoy crawling on the tortoises. When the tour was over, we did the whole boat swapping to get back to the ship. We enjoyed snorkeling in the afternoon.
The next day we went back to Praslin Island to visit the Vallee de Mai, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to the coco de mer palm. I had not heard of coco de mer before visiting the Seychelles, but I won’t forget it. If you aren’t familiar with the coco de mer palm, it’s a palm tree that has the largest seeds in the world. There is also a male tree and female tree and the seeds of each resemble, well, a male and female.
In the afternoon, we went to Anse Georgette, a beautiful beach at a resort. It was a bit of a drive, and then a short walk through a beautiful golf course, up a hill and down a hill, but it was worth it. We spent the late afternoon enjoying the small, quiet, beautiful beach. That evening the crew had a cocktail making tutorial for us before dinner as some evening entertainment.
The next day we visited La Digue Island. La Digue is the third most populated island in the Seychelles and is known for its stunning beaches. Our day started with a little tour of the island. We saw some of the local areas and then went to L’Union Estate Park, a former coconut and vanilla plantation. We got a tour of the plantation, saw more tortoises, and then were off to the gem of the island, Anse Source d’Argent. Yes, it’s another beach. What makes this beach so stunning is not just the white sand and turquoise water but the granite rocks all along the beach. I enjoyed walking along the shore and watching the cute beach cat.
When we got back to the boat, we had towel folding for our evening entertainment! I have to give the crew credit. They used the resources that had to keep us entertained!
It was my last day in the Seychelles. It was hard to believe that this trip that I had wanted to take for so long was coming to an end. I wanted to make the most of this last day. We spent the morning at the island Moyenne. Moyenne is a small island with an interesting history. It was owned by a few different people in its history. The last owner, Brendon Grimshaw, made sure the island would become a national park after his death to preserve the thousands of native trees he planted and to allow the tortoises to remain there.
You can easily walk around the whole island on a path and see different plants, trees, tortoises, a church, and a few graves. There are beautiful views and informative placards to share about the history and the previous owners of the island.
After walking around the island, we did what we do best in the Seychelles, we enjoyed the beach. We then had a short snorkeling excursion before heading back to the boat. It was time for us to return to the port in Mahe and just about time for my journey to end. Luckily I was able to stay and enjoy the final dinner on the boat.
My taxi driver arrived before the dessert course, and as I was preparing to get up and leave, the captain said I must finish my dinner. The driver could wait. Feeling slightly guilty for making him wait, I ate my final dessert as quickly as I could, said goodbye to my six new friends, and thanked the captain and told him I’d be back. Knowing me, maybe I will! However, it was time to head to the next adventure. Uganda here I come!
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The Seychelles look picturesque. We’ve never been before but it’s now moved up on our travel list. We’ve also never been on a cruise. Good to know there are smaller options. The fruit bats are very cute. Sounds like you had some fun excursions.
I had never been on a cruise either. The thought of thousands of people on a boat didn’t sound too inviting to me. This cruise however, was amazing! I would definitely take a small cruise again. And I highly recommend the Seychelles (and the Maldives)!