Mahe - Seychelles – March 19

Mahe - Seychelles – March 19

Seychelles, officially the Republic of Seychelles is an archipelago country in the Indian Ocean. The capital of the 115-island country, Victoria, lies 1,500 kilometres (932 mi) east of mainland East Africa. 

It was our first visit here and I booked a tour with Discover Agri Tours  http://discoveryagritour.com

 arrival into port

 

Today we were joined by Efraim & Silvia, Mark & Marie, Paula & Don and Kris & Andrea. 

Our guide Alrick and driver Jude were fantastic!  They were early to pick us up and Alrick shared so much information on the Seychelles. 

We first stopped to exchange money to rupees. Then, we took photos of the clock tower and walked to the market. I always love those stops. Besides having lots of souvenirs and spices, the fruits, vegetables and fish make for great photos. The spices here smelled yummy. 

 Gray Heron

We then walked to the Hindu temple and we went in. 2 guys chatting allowed me to take their photo. 

  

We then, headed north to Beau Vallon. We stopped many times for photo ops of the wonderful views. It was an overcast day, but the rain held off. We went to the highest point on the island for beautiful views. We also went for a walk in Morne Seychelles National Park near Venn’s Town and Alrick found all kinds of spices and crushed up the leaves so we could smell them. He showed us the cinnamon tree and scraped off some for us to smell and taste. We also smelled Lemongrass, nutmeg, coffee, tea, cloves and other fragrant leaves. One leaf he had us chew on just the stem and it was quite tasty, a bit like cinnamon. 

 Beau Vallon Beach

We went to a spot in Venn’s Town where in 1972, Queen Elizabeth ll where she inaugurated the Seychelles International Airport. There were quite a few fruit bats flying overhead and we saw many Tropicbirds there as well. We could have walked around the gardens for another hour, but it seemed most people were ready to go.

 

start of the nature walk

 Alrick showing us how Cinnamon is harvested

 

 

 Mark & Marie

 bat

 

We stopped to use the restroom at a tea factory. Some people bought some of the tea. We didn’t do the tea tour, but it was a nice stop. 

 views from the tea factory

 

Lunch was at Island Cafeteria for a taste of their creole food. They had “take away” and sit-down service. 4 of us did sit down and everyone else did the takeout menu. Wow, the food was so yummy. Greg and I split the garlic prawns and chicken curry. Each came with garlic toast, rice, and a green papaya thing on top of the rice. It was mildly spicy and just very flavorful. Yum! We also saw a beautiful spider thanks to Alrick pointing it out to us.

 Andrea & Kris

We visited Le Jardin du Roi, a spice garden where we saw the giant tortoises. They had a lot of beautiful flowers and spices growing there as well. We also saw quite a few new birds throughout the day. Around 9 new ones.

Our last stop was to snorkel on the southeast side of the island. It had rained all day yesterday so I’m sure that did not help visibility. Once we got out to the large rocks in the water, we saw a few more fish and a few soft corals along with the sea grasses. Still, it was not great snorkeling. Perhaps if you went to the other islands or had a boat, it is better snorkeling. We’ll talk to others that did the all-day snorkel and see what they experienced. It felt nice to be in the water none-the-less. We also could have spent more time here just relaxing on the beach, but again everyone else seemed ready to go. 

 drive to the beach

 snorkel beach (the fish were out by that island)

**Those that did the all-day snorkel from a boat said they saw lots of beautiful fish. They went nearer to the other islands and had better visibility as well. Even if the visibility had been great at the beach where we snorkeled, there wouldn’t have been that much to see. 

We had a wonderful day here despite the disappointing snorkeling. 

There was a craft mart set up by the ship, but we were wet and sandy and just wanted a shower. We thought about going back out, but once we were dressed, we just wanted to grab some dinner and then caught the evening entertainment. Jeremy Hardy performed hits from some of the greatest soul singers such as Sam Cooke, Al Green, Stevie Wonder & Michael Jackson. His Stevie Wonder was weak, but he sang everything else well. He seemed awkward and uncomfortable doing his story telling between songs. 

Mahe, Seychelles –  https://photos.app.goo.gl/vVxhRDLFeRdQTBmn7

We now have 2 sea days to relax until Madagascar. 

****also, if I gave the impression that Princess was selling the Pacific Princess, they are not. Just switching to the Island for the 2021 WC. Time will tell if they do keep her or go back to using her for the world cruises.