I Love Seychelles

Mahe map

Exploring Mahé island

Wednesday September 24th we decided to explore the island. We rented a small car with a car rental agency called Camec for €35 for a full day. We were told this was one of the cheapest options on the island. Renting a car can be expensive in the Seychelles.

The idea was to drive to around the island clockwise, starting at Victoria, making our way down along the east coast and then cross the island at Quatre Bornes in the south to the west coast. I had heard Anse Takamaka should be beautiful, so after a stop there the route would go along Baie Lazare, Anse Soleil (the lunch cafe there was recommended by Stephane from Clef des Iles) all the way up to Port Launay. Check out the map of Mahé for a more detailed view.

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Creole buffet at the Boathouse restaurant

After the whole backpack incident we did some more snorkeling. Because of the low tide we had to swim a little further and really be careful for all Sea Urchins around. Don’t want to step into one of those…

Later that day, on our 2nd evening in Beau Vallon, Mahé we decided to eat at the Boathouse restaurant, just a few metres from our beach house Clef des Iles in Beau Vallon. I had read some great reviews online so time to see for ourselves.

The Boathouse is all about Creole buffet. You pay a fixed fee (I believe it was €30 pp) and you can eat all you want. There’s a huge salad buffet and various curries. There’s also a cook grilling fresh fish and chicken. Afterwards you can choose from several Creole desserts.

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Beau Vallon police station, Mahé island

Snorkeling at Beau Vallon

Tuesday September 23rd, our 2nd day on Mahé. Good start of our honeymoon. In the morning we decided to go snorkeling just around the corner of the beach. Surrounded by huge granite rocks we found the perfect place. Quickly we changed into our swimming suits and plunged into the warm water. Soon we found the first yellow, tropical fishes, and as we swam further we saw more and more beautiful fishes in all sorts of colours and the recovering coral (tsunami).

Backpack gone!

When we got back we discovered that one of our backpacks (with mobile phone) was gone. The other one with some money in it was still there. Also missing were some shorts and flip-flops. How annoying that was! Here we were in paradise, and the first snorkeling occassion leads to a stolen backpack

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Beach at Beau Vallon

Beau Vallon: Most popular Mahé beach

Beau Vallon is the name of the best known, most popular and largest beach of Mahé island. It’s located in the north west coast of Mahé, 3km from Victoria, in a huge bay: Baie Beau Vallon. Across the bay you can see Silhouette island and North Island.  The beach stretches for miles from the Hilton Northolme hotel in the north to the Meridien Fisherman’s Cove resort in the south.

The water is deep enough for swimming, although you have to be careful not to swim in the areas where the fishermen land in their small boats. In the northern part of the beach there are some excellent places for snorkeling, especially around the big granite rocks. Be careful of the Sea Urchins during low tide though even when wearing foot protection.

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Restaurant La Perle Noire

Our first dinner on Mahé

On our first day in Beau Vallon we asked Stephane and Marquise, the owners of Clef des Iles, for advice on where to eat. They suggested La Perle Noire, a restaurant which was just a few minutes walking, and served excellent food. So, we asked them to make reservations.

Around 8PM we walked to La Perle Noire, which is indeed just a few minutes walking from Clef des Iles and next to the Coral Strand hotel.

We were welcomed by the friendly owner and guided to our table outside under the palm trees looking out over a tropical garden. Very romantic, a perfect first honeymoon evening. The menu contained many fresh fish and seafood. Maybe even the fish caught in the morning right in front of our doorstep! Starters, entrees, dessert, all had delicious taste. Prices are at an European level.

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Seychelles rupees

Seychelles rupees

The local currency of the Seychelles is the rupee. 100 Seychelles rupees (SCR) is approximately € 4.22 or US$ 5.93 (official exchange rates of 28th December 2008). The strange thing about the Seychelles however is that as a tourist you’ll be obligated to pay in a major currency like euros, dollar or pounds on most occasions. In restaurants, hotels, national parks and for your rental car you’ll be asked to pay in euros. Rupees are not accepted from foreigners. Local supermarkets and taxis (sometimes) however can be paid in rupees.

Somewhere during the first months of 2008 a new law was passed that obligates foreigners to pay in euros, dollar or pounds.

What does this mean for you as a tourist?
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Evening sun @ Clef des Iles in Beau Vallon, Mahé, Seychelles

Clef des Iles: perfectly located on the beach

Clef des Iles was our first accommodation on Mahe. After a long night fligt we were picked up by a Mason’s Travel agent at the airport. He guided us to our driver who drove us from the airport to Clef des Iles in Beau Vallon.

When we arrived it turned out the self catering duplex accommodation was located right on the Beau Vallon beach! We knew it would be very close to the beach, but not this close. A great surprise. We received a very warm and friendly welcome by the owners Marquise and Stephane, a Seychellois/Swiss couple. They were truly interested in us and made us feel at home immediately.

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Anse Takamaka, Mahe

During our 12-day holiday on the Seychelles we wanted to see as much as possible, without racing all over the islands. So we made a holiday plan with the places we would stay at and all the things we wanted to do and see.

Planning your stay is already half the fun. Looking at all those photos, reading reviews, deciding what we wanted to see, and what was better to skip. Learning from other travelers experiences. The Internet is such a useful tool to prepare ones holiday or honeymoon!

Feel free to use our plan while making your own I included flight times to give you an idea of how much time these take.

Our Seychelles plan

21st September: flight BA439 Amsterdam to London 16.25 – 16.40
21st / 22nd September: flight HM001 Londen – Mahe 21.05 – 10.15
22nd – 25th September: stay at Clef des Iles, self catering accommodation at the Beau Vallon beach on Mahé
25th September – 1st October: stay at Acajou, hotel BB at Côte d’Or on Praslin
1st – 2nd October: stay at Jardin des Palmes, hotel HB at Anse la Mouche on Mahé.
2nd October: flight HM008 Mahe – Paris 09.15 – 17.30 and flight AF2240 Paris – Amsterdam 18.30 – 19.45
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Here it is: the first post on this brand new travel blog about the Seychelles! Very exiting!

On the 21st of September 2008 my wife and I travelled to the Seychelles for our honeymoon. We married on the 10th of September in Haarlem, the Netherlands. It was a perfect and sunny wedding day. So, this set some high expectations of our honeymoon as well.

For our honeymoon destination we were looking for a tropical, unspoiled paradise island. Due to the hurricane season in the Caribbean and wet season in the Maldives we narrowed our options down to:

• Mauritius
• Seychelles
• Zanzibar

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