Sep 14, 20233 min read

Island Hopping - Seychelles edition

Updated: Sep 16, 2023

Thursday was 1/2 way thru my African adventure

5 days in. 5 to go (including travel).

The brochure for days adventure said this:

Island Duo: Praslin & La Digue

Enjoy a full-day, island-hopping adventure and see the best of Praslin and La Digue, includuding Anse Source d’Argent and Vallee de Mai.

English & French (Mon, Thurs)

Inc. all land and boat transfers, lunch, entrance fees, guide.

First up was La Digue. After a 2 hour catamaran ride from Mahe across the open Indian Ocean, we disembarked, got on a shuttle to L’Union Estate where we learned about the coconut business (coconut water, coconut oil, coconut wood, and coconut vinegar)

We toured a house made entire of coconut materials, a common construction method in early island life and then wandered past some more tortoises, these ones were busy muddin’. Iykyk.

And then the highlight of the trip, the world famous Anse Source D’Argent.

If it looks familiar, it’s been the site of multiple SI Swinsuit photoshoots and is consistently ranked one of the top beaches in the world. I wonder why…

The water is SO clear here in the Seychelles. A beautiful turquoise shade, comfortable temperature, overall bliss. Add in those famous smooth granite rocks as a backdrop and y’all, we have ourselves a beach.

I’m a very special self-portrait, I am honored to share this photo. Tristan Dieterle and the Dieterle family is near and dear to my heart. Gone too soon but never forgotten, this one is for you buddy. Thanks for hanging out with me today. (Shirts available at the Tristan's Legacy of Hope & Healing Facebook page)

La Digue is only 3km x 5km and is home to about 3,000 people. There is one church on the island (Roman Catholic), one school (public) and the islands hospital (public) is small but expanding.

By noon, we were back on the catamaran sailing to Praslin. Lunch consisted of salad, baked pumpkin, rice, curry chicken, local fish and lentils

Now on Praslin, an island that's 4km x 11km, we shuttled up to Vallee De Mar to see the famous, extreme large and heavy Coco De Mer.

Coco De Mer are the largest seeds in the world. They take ~7 years to mature. They were first discovered on the nearby islands of the Maldives, but they were not found growing there, so they were thought to have come from an underwater forest, and thus given the name Coco De Mer, or coconut of the sea. Much later, the Seychelles and specifically Praslin was discovered where the seeds were found to be growing above ground, but the name stuck.

The entire Vallee De Mar experience was eye opening. All of my plant loving friends, you would be AMAZED. Palm fronds the size of cars, layers and layers of different varieties, it’s the tropical jungle of your dreams…in real life.

We shuttled to Anse Lazio, where I ran into the Indian Ocean to cool off before taking some photos and having an espresso at the beachside restaurant.

Both beaches today were S.T.U.N.N.I.N.G.

Anse Source D’Argent has to take the cake of all of the beaches I have visited. If I were to return to the Seychelles, I would skip Mahe (the larger island in the inner chain) and instead stay on Le Digue or Praslin, at least for several days each.

I was surprised to learn how large the Seychelles are. From the inner islands where I am to the outer islands is over 1000 km.

There were several familiar faces on todays excursion. Small chat and some friendly conversation but different than some of the strong bonds I’ve developed on other legs.

There’s still time…

Friday is a pool day. I’ll be pool hopping at the hotel. There are 3 to chose from and I am greedy. Why do one when you can do all three? I am going to relax and do absolutely nothing, all day. I can’t wait. And Vicki, I’ll get a better shot of the hut things by the pool for ya 😉

I was in bed by 9p local time and slept for 10 hours. Now Saturday morning, rested and relaxed, I am going to go out and do the rental car thing again. Wish me luck!

Here’s a few sunset shots from last night for the sign off. It's a tough life...