A Stamp in My Passport

The trip and some information about the Seychelles

St Exupéry airport, Lyon, France: our heads are still full of memories of that fantastic day and we spend the hours of waiting commenting on our wedding!... The fear of not departing due to the Air France strike that happened just today vanishes when they confirm our first flight Lyon-Paris. We can breathe a sigh of relief!... Obstacle overcome!

We arrive in Paris at 12:00 and since the flight to Mahé leaves at 7:30 pm we take advantage of it to take a tour of the French capital, even though we've already had the chance to visit it several times. To do something a little different from usual, we decide to go in search of the places filmed in the movie "Amélie" which we really liked... We go to Montmartre and ask some passersby for information: soon we find both the fruit vendor and the famous bar "Aux 2 Moulins" where we treat ourselves to a beer and a piece of cake to celebrate the birthday of my new husband!...

At 7:30 pm the intercontinental flight begins on board Air Seychelles - an excellent company. Beautiful and helpful hostesses and stewards, a dinner washed down with Champagne, a movie and a few hours of sleep make these 9 and a half hours that separate us from the Seychelles pass quickly.

On arrival at Mahé airport, at 7:30 am local time, we hear some tourists talking about a cyclone, a storm... oh my! What happened?... The sky is cloudy, in fact, and the ground is wet from recent rain... Fortunately, when our turn comes at the immigration counter, the clerk gives us his best smile stamping our passport with the drawing of the coco fesses (the symbol of the Seychelles) and states that everything is fine, and that it's all over, without ever mentioning that word "storm" as if it were taboo... Second sigh of relief... We can begin our journey!

The Seychelles, also called the Pearls of the Indian Ocean, are made up of 115 islands scattered in the Indian Ocean, 8,000 km from Europe, north of Madagascar... The Seychelles are divided into 4 main groups (but on maps I've also found other versions): Inner Islands, Amirantes Group, Aldabra Group, Farquhar Group. The most famous islands are in the Inner Islands group (Mahé, Praslin, La Digue, Silhouette, Frégate...) and are mostly granite islands, but the Seychelles are mainly formed of coral atolls (most famous islands: Bird, Denis, Aldabra, Alphonse, Desroches), and the farthest islands are 1000 km from Mahé! The Inner Islands group is located 4° south of the Equator, thus remaining outside the cyclone area...

but just to disprove this fact, in 2002, on September 7th - exactly the day of our wedding - there was a very violent tropical storm, similar to a small cyclone, that hit the islands of Praslin and La Digue, causing some damage to the structures: flooding of the main hotels, no power for a few days, broken trees!... Fortunately everything was resolved in a short time but whoever was present that Saturday on one of the two affected islands had a very bad time!... Apart from this exceptional event, the Seychelles have a tropical climate divided into two seasons: the southeast monsoon, from May to October, with a dry and windy climate that causes rough seas and swimming discouraged on some beaches, and the northwest monsoon, with a more humid climate and frequent rains but calmer seas.

The average temperature is 29° C all year round and during the southeast monsoon it's very pleasant both day and night, the temperature range being almost nil. The trade winds also offer a beautiful spectacle: the clouds move continuously creating strange foamy shapes that also allow you to shelter a bit from the very strong sun... There are 3 hours of time difference with Italy, you drive on the left, no vaccinations are required, and it seems that in the Seychelles there are no poisonous animals or insects! It's truly a paradise then!...

I'll now try to tell you about our trip, even though this one was much more relaxed compared to the ones we usually take... This time, we didn't have to worry about finding a room every evening! But that doesn't change the fact that in my opinion the Seychelles offer a lot in terms of landscapes, fauna and flora, and shouldn't be seen as a beach destination similar to any other tropical location... They have a soul...

Our choice fell on three granite islands: Mahé, Praslin and La Digue, ideal starting points for excursions to the nearby islands.

Mahé

We spend the first 5 days on the largest island, Mahé, where 90% of the population of the Seychelles is concentrated. Victoria, the capital, can be visited in no time at all. The strangest thing to see is the clock tower, an exact miniature reproduction of Big Ben in London, in the middle of the main intersection of the town, in memory of the past under British rule. The very colorful little market, even though less lively compared to Asian ones, allows us to observe the population up close... There are also two modern sculptures placed in the center of roundabouts, works by Lorenzo Appiani - you'll say: and who is this?... well, he's an Italian artist who immigrated to the Seychelles, who created the flag of the Seychelles, and is the father of a schoolmate of my husband! -.

One of the sculptures represents 3 dolphins as a symbol of the 3 continents that contributed to populating the Seychelles: Asia, Africa and Europe... In fact one of the things that struck me most about the Seychelles is the variety of ethnicities that populate it, I don't know why I imagined them all with black skin, instead there are also Indians, Asians, Europeans, and many racial mixes that produce true beauties! In Mahé we're staying at the Plantation Club, on Baie Lazare, in the southwest of the island, on a long and very beautiful beach. Since our goal isn't to lie on the beach for two weeks in front of our resort but to visit as many things as possible, on the second day we're already off on an excursion to the Sainte Anne Marine Park, in front of Victoria, 20 minutes by boat.

Excursion to Moyenne

Our choice falls on Moyenne island, tiny, famous for having been frequented by pirates who supposedly hid a treasure there! The island is owned by an Englishman, Brandon Grimshaw who bought it years ago for 30 million old lire! The landing: the boat stops on a sandbank at one end of the island, and jumping down, our feet sink into the wet sand... I look around: it feels like being in a dream, the landscape is stupendous!... The lagoon has colors ranging from turquoise to emerald depending on the depth of the water, around us are the other islands of the Park: île Ronde, île aux Cerfs, Sainte Anne, île Longue and in the distance, Mahé... I've never been to Polynesia but the sight of the lagoon with the island of Sainte Anne - mountainous and very green - in the background reminds me a lot of B

Tour of Mahé Island

The next day, we rent a jeep to do a tour of the island of Mahé... Contrary to what I had read from other travelers, Mahé is absolutely not to be dismissed! Those who skip it to go directly to Praslin are wrong in my opinion. The island offers varied landscapes, mountains covered with tropical forests up to an altitude of over 900 m from which we can enjoy several panoramas of the island, tea plantations, the Morne Seychellois National Park, which with its large trees full of magic, immerses us in a strange atmosphere, like in a fantasy film...

In Mahé, there are also about sixty-five beaches, each more beautiful than the other, and usually deserted... We realize that most tourists stay at Beau Vallon, the most famous beach, with a large number of hotels, but which frankly, doesn't say anything particular to me... It's a long, flat beach, with calm sea... too banal for my tastes!

I much prefer Anse Intendance, stunning in its "dangerousness", in fact swimming there is almost forbidden due to the strong currents that push you out to sea... but at the same time it is so attractive and wild, you feel like letting yourself be carried by its translucent turquoise waves!... Further on, Anse Petit Police also offers a breathtaking spectacle with its gigantic waves! And what can I say about Port Launay, a sheltered bay in the north of Mahé... I had never seen a sea of such an intense color: a unique mix of emerald and turquoise... And Baie Lazare, with its granite rocks at the ends, excellent "screens" that offer a bit of privacy... And Grande Anse... completely deserted... will it be the "no swimming" sign that discourages bathers?... Well, in any case, for me it's perfect, I manage to take beautiful photos.

At the end of the day, we are very tired, we have done the complete tour of the island, taken all the roads that cross it, stopped a hundred times to admire the landscape or to take photos... but we are definitely satisfied with this excursion of ours. That same evening, since we still have the car, we cancel our dinner at the hotel and go to a small restaurant that my parents had pointed out to me when they had been to the Seychelles 13 years ago: it's called "Chez Plume", for anyone who might find themselves in those parts, it's in Anse Boileau. We enjoy a spectacular dinner: seafood gratin, eggplant fritters, grilled shrimp with fragrant rice, Creole fish, with the Grand Finale: "Coconut Flan" cake with vanilla ice cream (why didn't I take the recipe???!!)...

The wallet suffers a little but by now we no longer pay attention to expenses! I take advantage of this culinary pause to say that Seychelles cuisine is excellent, we ate fish every day, cooked in every way, and it was always divine! I remember the tuna, which I usually don't eat here because of its slightly strong flavor, of an incredible finesse! You can also enjoy many varieties of curry with meat, crab, shrimp... I also noticed a good dose of creativity in the local cuisine, which enthusiastic me!

Praslin

After Mahé, we spend five days on Praslin... We cover the distance between Mahé and Praslin with a small propeller plane, a 20-seat Twin-Otter. We are all quite squashed like sardines but it's fun and then the flight is short, only 15 minutes, and the view from the porthole captivates me! We fly over several islands, many of which are uninhabited... We also pass over the Sainte Anne marine park which from above is stupendous!... I can even glimpse Treasure Peak on Moyenne island!... The Praslin airport is very nice and more recent than the one on Mahé. The first impression you get getting off the plane is of finding yourself in an enormous tropical garden, full of vivid colors.

Along the road that takes us to the resort, we cross the Vallée de Mai, an ancient tropical forest where the famous Coco de Mer grows, however we notice that numerous trees and coconut palms are broken, others have been cut down, it's a fairly impressive sight!... These damages are due to the tropical storm of September 7... We treat ourselves to the first day (which is actually just an afternoon) of relaxation in front of our resort (Paradise Sun) on the beautiful Anse Volbert beach, on the Côte d'Or.

Excursion on Aride Island

The second day we leave for the wild island of Aride, the northernmost granitic island of the Inner Islands group, inhabited only by thousands of seabirds, by three likable Seychellois Rastas, and for six months, by three other very blonde English biologists... hmm, must be a coincidence?!... The name of the island reflects the appearance it had when it was discovered, but today it is quite different, it is covered by thick vegetation. Landing on the island is very athletic, we didn't expect it!... When we arrive in front of the island with our offshore fishing boat, they stop the engines, and we start to "dance"... There are notable waves and I already get seasick!... Then we start to glimpse a red dot coming at full speed from the beach toward us...

This little red dot that appears and disappears among the waves is actually a dinghy, driven by one of the three rastas, standing, he has long dreadlocks and dark glasses, he seems very sure of himself!... The scene is quite funny and we all relax!... When it's our turn to get on the dinghy we already feel less sure and risk ending up in the sea jumping from the boat to the dinghy! Fortunately, the route to the beach is short, probably just two minutes, we hardly notice the waves, we are all seated on the bottom of the dinghy with our little backpacks and cameras protected under plastic bags...

The landing, however, makes itself felt when we hit the sand violently, in two seconds we have to jump down and reach the dry sand before being covered by a wave! Wow! What emotions! The excursion with our rasta guides is very interesting, we split into two groups: one French-speaking and one English. At the head of the French-speaking group is Jeff, a very likable guy with a Creole accent that makes me die laughing, he also makes a lot of jokes! With him we discover the fauna and flora of the island.

We can observe: the Bronze Gecko (a lizard that takes on the color of the trees), the green Gecko, hundreds of slimy and smelly lizards that walk between your legs, the white tern (a white bird with a very elegant appearance that always travels in pairs, it is another symbol of the Seychelles, featured in the Air Seychelles logo), the petit Phaeton (white bird with glossy feathers like silk, it makes its nest in holes dug at the foot of trees and palms!), the Frégate bird, the Brown Noddy, then an adorable little red bird whose name I don't remember, and many other species of seabirds.

Jeff then points out that all the plants and trees have medicinal properties! Then he swings on a liana like Tarzan! He also has us try an unknown green fruit, juicy but sour, which only my husband and I try, but the others don't trust it! The visit ends with a nice buffet on the sand and a barbecue of fish and chicken, followed by an hour or so free to take further tours of the island or relax on the beach, which is absolutely wonderful and very wild... I choose the second option and decide to challenge the waves, which alas, are enormous! Since there is coral a few meters from the shore I decide to be prudent and limit myself to playing in the waves which are better than a whirlpool!...

Finally, we have to return to the boat, and the dinghy experience awaits us again: this time we all get completely wet! The boat then makes a tour around the island, to allow us to admire the thousands of Frégates (very noisy black birds) that populate the other side of the island. It's impressive! The blue sky is dotted with black dots!... This excursion remains for me one of the most beautiful experiences of this trip!...

Around Praslin

The next day, we rent a jeep to tour Praslin. The jeep is decidedly beat-up and there's no way to attach the canvas roof above our heads, the fastenings are broken... So we put on our nice little hats and slather ourselves with SPF 20 sunscreen!

First stop: the Vallée de Mai, a natural park protected by Unesco, where the legendary coco de mer grows, unique in the world and unfortunately endangered... With a young guide, we venture into this dense jungle with immense trees that block out the sun and make an unsettling noise when they move in the wind, as if a storm were coming!...

The coco de mer, until the Portuguese discovered Asia, was known only to the inhabitants of India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. They believed that the enormous nut with feminine shapes, which arrived on their beaches with the currents, was the fruit of a great underwater tree, hence the name coco de mer. And legends began to circulate around this nut, which was also considered an aphrodisiac... In reality the coco de mer is a coconut palm with a trunk equipped with enormous rigid fan-shaped leaves, which produces somewhat particular fruits and nuts. In fact, this palm can be of the "female" or male "sex" and it takes 25 years to bear its first fruits!...

The female plant offers enormous fruits that contain double nuts that take on the very suggestive shape of the female pubis, which is why they are called coco fesses! It takes 7 years for the complete maturation of the nut, which can reach 60 cm and weigh 20 kg! Buying one costs a fortune, so it's better to leave them where they are, in the jungle... The female palm can reach 25 m while the male palm grows up to 30 m. As for the latter, the flower also has an unmistakable shape!... Nature was really naughty!... Our guide also tells us a legend according to which, during stormy nights, the male coco de mer mates with the female coco de mer!... But it seems that witnessing such events brings bad luck!

After the visit to the Vallée de Mai, we continue the tour of the island, which being smaller than Mahé allows us to make more stops at some splendid beaches, not before having risked heatstroke! Luckily it all resolves with plenty of water and shade for a quarter of an hour! That damned roof! There's a beach where we absolutely want to go: Anse Georgette. It had been described to me by some travelers as the wildest and most beautiful. To get there, however, we have to pass through the Lémuria Resort, the most luxurious resort in the Seychelles!... After some resistance from the guard, we manage to get past the entrance and park in front of the beautiful Golf course. They tell us that to reach the beach, we have to cross the golf course, walk for about 20 minutes, then turn at the 11th hole, go down the hill and finally we should get there... Hmm... Let's try!...

But I've got some nerve, and when I see a golf cart coming toward us, driven by a resort employee, I ask him: "Is this the way to Anse Georgette?" and he says: "Do you need to get to the beach?" Me: "Yes... but we don't know if this is the right road" (note: there was only one!), he looks at his watch and says: "Come on, get in, I'll take you!"... well, if you insist!... in two seconds we're on the cart and start driving along all the little golf paths, it's really fun!... On foot, we would definitely have gotten lost after the 7th hole! We finally arrive at the end of the route, and kindly the guy offers to come pick us up in an hour and a half!... Fantastic! The spectacle we're about to see is incredible! We walk a few yards on a little sandy path among the trees, probably Takamaka... and at the end, we see it!...

The beach is deserted and I immediately feel like the protagonist of Cast Away (except we have a ride back). The color of the sea is an intense but transparent turquoise and I'm hypnotized by the enormous waves crashing on the blindingly white sand... At the sides of the beach, which isn't very long, there are large granite blocks, some palms and Takamaka trees framing this jewel of nature... I pull out the Reflex and start shooting feverishly! It's so beautiful and unreal that I want to capture every inch of this beach!... When the roll is finished, I decide to throw myself into the water, I realize I was delaying that moment precisely to enjoy the sight of this place, it seems incredible to me that I'm here!... My husband, who usually lies in the shade to read some book and doesn't much like swimming, is already in the water!...

I join him! We stay for a long time among these scary but attractive waves, we dive, we let ourselves be carried to shore, multicolored fish surround us, we try not to get sucked in by the currents, which here too are quite strong, we have to be careful because the water is already up to under our arms, but we seem like two kids, super excited playing among the waves!... The water is warm but not too warm. It's a fantastic moment, we feel like we're alone in the world!... After the swim I decide to climb on the granite rocks that look like they've been placed on the sand to observe everything from above... I stay like that for a while, until we realize that maybe time has passed and our "driver" will be waiting for us...

Since we don't care to redo the reverse route on foot, also because theoretically walking on the golf paths would be forbidden, I run toward the meeting point, still in my swimsuit and barefoot... He's already waiting for us, in the shade... I tell him to wait one more minute while we gather our stuff. We say goodbye to the beach, I know I'll remember it forever and that my numerous photographs could never do it justice... And we reach the cart to head back. At this point, we elect Anse Georgette as the most beautiful beach in the World, yes, yes, in the World!;) We finish the day at Anse Lazio, the "officially" most beautiful beach of Praslin, but we know there's another one!...

Excursion to Curieuse interrupted by the rain...

The following day, our thirst for discovery leads us to choose an excursion to Curieuse, an island opposite Praslin, famous for hosting giant land tortoises. The first stop of the excursion lets us snorkel around the islet of St Pierre, opposite Anse Volbert. Unfortunately the sky clouds over, the waves get bigger and bigger, underwater I can't see anything and I risk banging my head against the rocks. So I decide to return to the boat, not before having seen a nice school of squid pass near me...

We then continue to Curieuse, the sky is getting darker and darker, but fascinating at the same time... It's the first time we've had bad weather since we arrived but we're not too worried. Our optimism stays with us until, having disembarked on the island and gathered around the barbecue, it starts pouring rain! It won't stop until around 3 pm! We only had time to visit the island's little museum. The escorts decide to take us back to the resort, since it's dangerous to travel by boat during a storm and rough sea... We're obviously all very disappointed and also ready to visit the island in the rain, but our escorts don't want to take risks and we all head back... how sad! We spend the afternoon at the resort, between reading, tea and Creole cooking lessons!...

That same evening, we ask for a refund of the excursion, if possible, but they propose we sign up again for the same excursion the next day. We obviously accept! We're tenacious, we absolutely have to see this island, and besides it's called Curieuse, and I'm becoming more and more so (curious)!...

Excursion to Curieuse, we try again!

The next day, we're already awake at 7:00. We look confidently at the horizon, which has clearly brightened up... Maybe we'll make it today! After breakfast, we set off in a jeep to a point further up the Côte d'Or. We meet the same three couples from the day before, who managed to sign up again for the excursion. We realize they organized it exclusively for us! Sweet, right?... We go directly to Curieuse. Upon our arrival, at Anse Possession, a Ranger-style guide waits for us: Mary Diana, a plump black girl with a mischievous smile. She immediately shows us some examples of coco fesses and male coco de mer fruits, making a few little jokes! She then shows us the giant land tortoises wandering freely on the lawn around us...

They're truly enormous! These are only 50 years old, I say only because they can reach 200 years! Giant land tortoises are an endemic species of the Seychelles, as they are also in the Galapagos (all those seen in other places, like Zanzibar, were imported). On the island of Curieuse they were brought from the Aldabra atoll, the largest coral atoll in the world, located about 1000 km southwest of Mahé. In the last century, the French and English colonists ate them (!) but now they're a protected species... On Aldabra I believe there are about 200,000 in total freedom and under observation by biologists... These strange creatures let you approach them and we can even give them some leaves to eat. Then when we stroke them on the neck they slowly get up and stick out their heads as far as possible, they look like E.T.! It's crazy!...

I would stay here for hours watching them, but Mary Diana calls us to start the tour of the island, which turns out to be very interesting, discovering the fauna and flora of this place: giant crabs, geckos, mangroves, swamps, pineapple plants, vanilla tree, "the fruit of patience" (it looks like a little ball with a thick green skin, which easily opens into 4 when you press it with your hands, and inside there's a kind of dried brown fruit divided into many little pieces of different shapes. The game consists of trying to reassemble the original shape of the fruit as if it were a puzzle... we tried, it's almost impossible! Hence the name "fruit of patience")... Once the tour is over we return to the beach to catch the boat that takes us to Praslin, in front of our resort. I forgot, the weather was wonderful and the excursion really interesting and pleasant!...

We finish the day returning to Anse Lazio beach with another couple. The waves are like the other time, gigantic, and we have a blast, with a few thrills too when I find myself underwater like a washing machine spin cycle!... We return to Paradise Sun with the local bus, a very fun and somewhat risky experience since the roads are very narrow, sometimes hanging over the sea with no protection!

It was the last day on Praslin. The next day we leave for La Digue, the last stop of our trip. La Digue is an enchanting island, which I had dreamed of for a long time, thanks to the advertisements and catalogs that always show the famous Anse Source d'Argent with its enormous pink granite boulders...

Arrival on La Digue

We're staying at the Patatran Village, located at Anse Patates on the northern tip, facing several islands: île Coco, Félicité, Grande Soeur, Petite Soeur and Marianne. It consists of small white bungalows perched on the hill, ours is at the far left with a stunning view of the islands. After a welcome fruit cocktail, we discover that our bungalow has been literally filled with red hibiscus! Eh eh eh, honeymoon couples!... Unfortunately we spend the first two days on the island at the Patatran because it's raining and there's even fog!... Incredible!... We can't even see the islands opposite! For two days, at breakfast, we all have our eyes turned east, to see what will happen, and every time there's a sliver of yellowish light on the horizon, we start hoping again for a sunny day... and then half an hour later it rains again until late afternoon!...

The waitresses don't understand why we're so stressed by the weather forecasts, which by the way are nonexistent in the Seychelles because the weather is unpredictable and can change within an hour without warning... They don't pay attention to the bad weather and tease us a bit... Luckily, around 4 in the afternoon it stops raining and we can go out for walks, the first day from Anse Patates to Anse Fourmi, along the eastern coast, the second day, to La Passe, the main village of the island, along the western coast, where the small port is...

Exploring La Digue by bike

We put our backpack in the basket and set off toward the Union Estate, a kind of open-air museum with a $3 entrance fee that includes: a beautiful Creole house surrounded by a very green lawn that was used in the 70s for the filming of the famous erotic film "Emmanuelle", a very old cemetery with stone tombs of the first settlers, very evocative, a tiny coprah factory, an enclosure with giant tortoises (they were much more beautiful on the island of Curieuse because they were free!), and finally... at the end, the very famous Anse Source d'Argent... Actually the beach is our first stop of the day, early in the morning, before the invasion of tourists, although invasion is a relative term: when we leave there are about 15 people, but I prefer to see it wild, without towels, without colorful swimsuits scattered in the very shallow water...

To get there, you have to leave the bikes and walk for 5 minutes among the dense vegetation, the palm spiders (they make enormous webs between the palms, but they're not dangerous to humans), the immense granite rocks, typical of La Digue... and then you see it, this long-dreamed-of beach, wonderful, deserted, peaceful, photographed a million times... and you can't believe you're here... the sun is so strong now that the colors of the sea are almost faded, unfortunately...

By the way, I discovered that in the Seychelles, strangely, the best time for photos, besides sunset, is around lunchtime: the colors are vivid and you can clearly make out many shades of blue in the sea, unlike what happens at our latitudes.

Anyway I take several photos all the same, who knows if I'll ever come back here... The tide is low and you can clearly see the corals and multicolored fish underwater... We go to the very end of the beach hoping to be able to go further toward Anse Pierrot and the south of the island... But large granite blocks prevent us from passing. Maybe we should walk for a stretch in the water to go around the rocks... Unfortunately time is short, we still have to do the tour of the island and here the sun sets very early...

With the bikes, we then take the little road that crosses the island to the east coast and arrive at Grande Anse, a beach battered by waves and wind, dangerous for swimming. The two days of rain have formed large puddles on the dirt road and the bikes soon turn brown with mud!... On the beach and in the water, the local "baywatch" are training!... The sea here has taken on a somewhat brownish color due to the earth carried by the storm so we don't stop to swim. We continue on foot after leaving the bikes near the only little restaurant on the beach, to reach Petite Anse.

After not even 10 minutes of easy walking among the rocks and vegetation, we glimpse it among the trees, it's beautiful!... The white sand is blinding, and the turquoise waves are incessant... I can't resist walking barefoot on this very fine sand with the wind in my face, and admiring the force of the Ocean... the name Petite Anse actually doesn't do justice to this long beach which I find much more beautiful than Grande Anse... But our curiosity drives us to go even further, toward Anse Cocos...

We come across a German couple who want to go to that beach, and we decide to walk together since because of the large puddles and dense vegetation we have some difficulty figuring out where to pass... After a few vain attempts, we manage to spot a small passage at the end of Petite Anse that leads us onto the path to Anse Cocos. The path then goes up a hill, we're immersed in the jungle, every now and then we can glimpse a bit of sea, it looks like a frame amid the vegetation, it's beautiful! After a while the path starts to go down and we find ourselves in the middle of a kind of meadow dotted with coconut palms. On the right, a natural barrier of trees prevents us from seeing the sea and accessing it but we hear the sound of the waves, who knows what we'll find there behind!?...

We go on, there are abandoned masonry cottages, they look like the ruins of a resort, started but never finished... it would be better to demolish these buildings entirely... Still no trace of the path that will take us to the beach... The Germans no longer remember where it is (they were here a few years ago)... There are puddles almost everywhere... But finally we see a path! We just have to jump a couple of times over small streams created by the rain and we're there!... There it is!

Anse Cocos! The whiteness of the sand forces me to put on my sunglasses immediately! It's a wonderful beach! The beach is framed by granite rocks, like the two previous ones, and slopes slightly down toward the sea, which is very rough since on this side of the island there's no coral reef. Two couples are playing in the waves and I immediately want to dive in too, I'm hot and this walk has tired me out! There are practically only 10 of us on this beach!... I'm happy that so few people felt like doing the mini trek so we can enjoy some tranquility and admire the breathtaking landscape. The water is warm and the waves are tremendous, I try not to get dragged offshore by the very strong current! The fact that there are 4 other people in the water reassures me a bit!

Unfortunately it's already late and we have to go back to the bikes and then to the other side of the island... On the way back, on the path among the trees, we have the enormous luck to see the "Veuve Noire", a bird endemic to the Seychelles, black with a double tail, very long, truly unusual!... They had told us it was almost impossible to see it! What luck...

With the bikes, we slowly return to the Patatran Village. The road is beautiful, tiny, among the trees, there are some little houses of Seychellois, with the inhabitants busy gardening, cutting trees, picking fruit, or simply chatting, the children play in the middle of the road, it's really pleasant...

I'd like to stop for a moment at Anse Source d'Argent to admire it at sunset but my hubby is tired, he got too much sun and wants to go back to the bungalow... Too bad... I'll just imagine it... the amber reflections on the granite rock while the sun dives into the lagoon... Who knows what a beautiful spectacle it must have been...

Tomorrow is the last day on La Digue... How quickly it went! We've already booked a half-day excursion, to île Coco, right opposite Anse Patates, to make up for those two days of rain; they promise wonderful weather... We enjoy the last dinner with a nice Creole buffet and go to bed, exhausted from the day of bikes, walks and swims and also a bit cooked by the sun!...

Snorkeling at Coco island

We leave the bungalow at 9:00 and join the others at the dock, in the village of La Passe, a fifteen-minute walk away. La Digue is fantastic for this: everything is at human scale, there are no cars (only about twenty vehicles, mostly service ones), people get around on foot or by bicycle, taxis are ox-drawn carts (although today it's a tourist attraction), it feels like going back in time...

By boat, we quickly reach île Coco, which is hard to describe, it's so beautiful and unusual. It's a tiny island, made only of clusters of large granite blocks, with some palms, a strip of white sand surrounding it and a fantastic coral reef!... Some stone blocks form what they call "the gateway", since it looks like the entrance to some secret temple, Nature has carved the rock in an incredible way!... It's a truly photogenic island, it almost looks fake! Luckily ours is the first boat to approach the islet and so we can go wild with photographs, I take so many, from all angles, I'm super excited, it's beautiful!!!... It seems incredible to me to be here (once again!) everything is perfect: the sun is shining, the sky is a deep blue and there's no wind..

Optimal conditions, never had until now, and which promise unforgettable snorkeling! We all soon dive into the water and arrange our towels and backpacks on dry land, on the islet, on the stone blocks; they form a very fun maze and even though the space is really limited, we manage to carve out little corners of privacy! We put on masks, snorkels and fins, I take the disposable underwater camera (which all things considered takes decent photos if there's good light on the surface) and we start exploring the coral reef. It's a spectacle!... I've never seen so many fish grouped together, not even in the Maldives!... We're surrounded! There are ones of all colors: purple, blue, yellow, green, black, multicolored, and of all types: parrotfish, clownfish, I don't know where to turn my head anymore!...

After a while, when I return toward the island, I see a roundish, slightly darker shape on the surface, with Seychellois around it playing with it: it's a beautiful sea turtle!... It's small, and seems docile. One of the guys hands it to me and I hold it in my hands for a few seconds, it's very heavy!... I don't know if it's appreciated, so I put it back in the water. It's really adorable and a little group of people forms all around to admire it... After a while, we get back on the boat and leave île Coco for Félicité, a larger island, opposite, where they tell us we can observe other turtles, though we shouldn't go ashore since landing is forbidden for excursionists. I would have stayed forever in the little lagoon of Coco... The moment I dive from the boat, I immediately find myself in front of another turtle, as if it had been waiting for us!...

After a while I also glimpse a beautiful ray, black with white spots! I chase it for a while, hoping to photograph it, but it goes too fast, it realized it was being chased and speeds up! It's crazy, after a while water gets into my snorkel and I can't breathe anymore, I have to catch my breath at the surface, but as soon as I put my nose underwater again, no trace of the ray anymore... It's completely vanished... what a shame... But it was fun!

After a while, we get back on the boat and, eating pieces of fresh coconut, we once again enjoy the view of île Coco and Félicité... How wonderful!... It's a perfect day! I couldn't ask for more. As we head back to La Digue, I confide to Bibian (a very nice Creole lady who organizes the excursions from the Patatran, but also serves breakfast, dinner, acts a bit as a p.r., does everything in short!) that it must be wonderful to see Anse Source d'Argent from the sea... Wish granted! The boat, instead of turning left toward the port, continues for a while, to sail past the beautiful beach from offshore!... How kind! I couldn't have hoped for a better conclusion to our stay in the Seychelles! We can clearly observe the granite boulders immersed in the green and battered by the waves, at the end of the beach...

It's fantastic! Now we can return to the port, everyone is obviously very happy about this little detour and I thank Bibian with a knowing smile...

Back at the dock, after a quick lunch, we take a shower at the Patatran, using the shower of a vacant bungalow (I must say the staff of this small hotel were extremely helpful and very kind). After a while, a pick-up comes to get us to take us to the dock, where the boat for Praslin awaits. Saying goodbye to La Digue is very hard. The colors of the little port are very cheerful: yellow, red, fuchsia, green... The sea is very calm today, the crossing will probably be less rough than the one on the way... In fact it had been almost tragic, there were very big waves and the boat kept moving left to right, it seemed like we were going to capsize at any moment!... Luckily today it's much calmer. When we arrive at the Praslin dock, a taxi waits for us to take us to the airport, how luxurious!...

The flight from Praslin to Mahé is very funny because I'm sitting next to an old Seychellois gentleman probably drunk, who is taking a plane for the first time!... I even help him put on his seatbelt because he can't do it by himself! We have a lot of laughs with the two pilots because this gentleman claims they're useless, that the autopilot does everything! Little by little, we're returning to 'modernity', I see the houses of Victoria, the port, the factories... What a contrast with La Digue, which we left a little more than two hours ago... I already miss it!

Tonight we're still sleeping on Mahé, again at the Plantation (where we had stayed the first days) because there was a discount combining this night with the other 4. The evening is a bit melancholy, partly because tonight there's no musical group, partly because the atmosphere of the restaurant is much less intimate than in Praslin or La Digue, and above all because it's the last evening in the Seychelles... After dinner, we take a walk on the beach, I still want to watch the moon reflected on the sea and hear the sound of the waves...

Back home....

The alarm goes off at 5:00; after a quick breakfast, we gather our luggage and reach the airport with the minivan. I stay glued to the window the whole way to observe every palm, every little house, every beach one more time...

The plane leaves at 9:00, I smell the Frangipani flower I kept in my pocket one more time, and as we fly over the mountains of Mahé, still wrapped in the morning mist, we say goodbye to this wonderful archipelago, which will remain forever in my heart...