Kerala might be God's own country, but He lives in Seychelles: Day4: Valee de Mai, Pirogue Restaurant, Anse Volbert

Ealry morning view of the pool

As I had already said in the previous post, we were to to go to the Valee de Mai today. Woke up bright and early so I can enjoy the glorious viewfrom the balcony and to catch the English guide at Valee de Mai. Had breakfast,chilled by the pool took a quick shower and we left for the Valee. We reachedthe place at 945 AM sharp and it was no surprise that we were among the firstto be there. While we waited for the guide, got myself a cuppa to refreshmyself. We then walked out and started to look for English speaking people andthere weren’t any and just for the two of us, the guide was asking 50 Euros so wedecided that we could go on the trail by ourselves.

Thick vegetation in the Valee de Mai



Coco de Mer Female and Male.
Need I say which is which?

Valee de Mai is a UN World Heritage site for the Coco de Mertrees which grow only in the Seychelles – specifically on the Praslin andCurieuse Islands. They are tall trees that look like palm which bear fruit. Infact, they are the only case of gigantism in fauna on the Seychelles islands. Treescould be male or female based on the type of fruit that grows on it. The classificationof male or female can only be made after the tree bears fruit and this typicallyhappens after 8-10 years after the seed is sown. The female fruit resembles thehuman ovaries and the male fruit resembles the human phallus! It is absolutelystunning! We talk of life imitating art, but here was life imitating life.

Sunlight streaming through the palms at
Valee de Mai

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
at Valee de Mai

The valee was very picturesque. Thick vegetation was allaround us. It was so thick that sunlight was barely piercing the palm frondshigh above us. I was looking for a bright yellow gecko that is present only onthis island, and a nail sized frog that is really loud unfortunately I did notspot either one. We could hear the birds chirping, frogs croaking and, Isuspect, various other reptiles making sounds. While the Valee did not looklike the garden of Eden that people claim it to be, it certainly looked likethe forest scene in the movie Jurassic Park. This, in my opinion, is probablyhow Jurassic period forests would have probably looked like all those 65million years ago. We walked a long, winding 2 KM trail in the Valee.

M at Valee de Mai

Anse Volbert

We got back on the road towards Anse Lazio where on Day 2while driving we took a wrong turn and saw a restaurant called Pirogue which iswhere we wanted to head for lunch. This is probably the most professionally runrestaurant (or any other establishment) that was run on Praslin island. We hadlunch and M wanted to go to Zimbabwe, a high point on Praslin island. However,I wanted to see the beach that is right opposite Pirogue called Anse Volbertfirst before we left for Zimbabwe. We walked to the beach and here it wasprobably the most gorgeous beach I had ever seen. It was so beautiful. We thendecided to stay at the beach, despite not having clothes. So we went to a shopthat was selling souvenirs to see if they sell any bikinis and shorts for us toget a dip. We shopped and spent the next couple of hours in the ocean. The mostfun I have had in the cleanest beach I have ever been on. While Anse Lazio isextremely pretty, it probably is rated so high because it is privatelymaintained, but this one, is not and yet is so gorgeous and so inviting. Thesea was calm, the beach very clean and white, the water was a azure, the sky abrilliant lapis lazuli with some white clouds floating through, the steady coolbreeze blowing wonderfully caressing M’s hair. This was a feeling of pure andimmaculate bliss. I promptly proclaimed this to be my best beach in the world.

Another view of Anse Volbert

M at Anse Volbert

Had to go to the pier, as I had to change the timing of ourreturn catamaran ride to Mahe island to the morning run instead of the eveningone and I had to also return the car. When I asked around, I was informed thatI had to leave the car at the pier, with the car keys under the mat! Left the carat the pier with trepidation and started the walk back to Chalet Côte Mer, which isnot very far, but the road to reach the hotel is at a 20% incline, and boy Iwas busted walking back! We were leaving for Mahe the next day at 8:15 AM andgiven that the reception at the hotel does not open until later, I settled thebill and went back for a dip in the pool. It was with a heavy heart that Irealized that I won’t get this view again from a room, at least not for theduration of this trip.

M in the pool

Kerala might be God's own country, but He lives in Seychelles: Day 2 - Anse Lazio, Bonbon Plume

Monday the 26^th December began bright and early and I woke up to light streaming into my room and got up from my bed to see the spectacular view that the resort affords. Green sea and an island with trees all over it…

M at Anse Lazio

Had breakfast which also is a fixed menu affair (choice of eggs, fruits and bread) and hit the absolutely gorgeous pool for an hour or so with M.

We then went to the pier which is a 5 minute walk where we hired a car for our stay here on Praslin Island. We got a Parrot green Daihatsu Sirion which cost us 40 Euros a day. The car rental guy took us to the garage, washed the car for us and gave it to us to drive. He told us that all the shops are owned by Indians as, in his opinion; Indians are very good with trade. We drove down to the other end of the island to the Anse Lazio (Ans Lazio) which is rated among the top beaches in the world.

Aquamarine Green at Anse Lazio

The drive to Anse Lazio is through wonderful winding roads and dense vegetation. We drove with the windows down, feeling the glorious cool breeze blowing through the island. This is the time for the North Easterly winds in the Seychelles, and it really made the island an ideal place to be. We took a wrong turn, and M found a souvenir shop that she wanted to take a look at. Stopped for 5 minutes and drove on. I stopped and asked for directions (M should have been surprised, but didn’t say it: Her contention is that men don’t ask for directions until it’s too late, and I agree!) and found that that we were indeed on the wrong road. Fortunately, it was a very short turn back and hit the right road. I drove uphill through beautiful flora passing the Valee de Mer (will cover it as a part of another blog) and came across this really wonderful resort-aparttments called raffles which could be owned with $1.5 Million dollars only. So if you have money, read this blog and you decide to buy the apartment, make sure you call me, and as a part of my commission, I will take a week free every year! Anyway, we reached Anse Lazio. 

Crab

Anse Lazio is a lovely little crescent shaped beach. It’s soft and fine white sand and a brilliant aquamarine green ocean with easy waves greeted us once we were there. It is among the best and the most stunning beaches that I had ever seen. The sand is so soft that when wet, it felt like I was standing in clay. There were not many people on the beach, and the people who were there were mostly Europeans (predominantly French families and couples) were on the beach. White frothy waves, hitting the pearly white sands, was, a spectacular sight. The sound of the waves, heard with a lot of birds chirping, was just so soothing. The clean beach was strewn with large boulders strewn across the beach as if nature intended them to be used for taking photographs. There were lots of jelly fish (mix of colorless and purple color) that were washed on the beach sand from the sea. We also saw a large crab alive and running for its life (am guessing that it was as scared as me when I saw it).
Spent some time in the ocean here playing in the water that was surprisingly cold (it is the rainy season and summer here and therefore the surprise). We had just one towel, that we hid and took from the hotel Chalet Côte Mer, which we used despite the formidable lady at the reception telling us not to!

Mr. Universe contest winner at Anse Lazio

We then headed off for lunch at the lovely restaurant there called Bonbon Plume where I had the Seychollois Eku (EEku) beer which is stronger than the Seybrew and I did not like it. Switched immediately to Seybrew, had a sumptuous lunch of vegetable curry, rice and French fries. We had a long leisurely lunch where we sat generally chatting, mostly exchanging views on Seychelles and how amazing the place was. Met an Aussie bartender, who I chatted with, who gave me an update on the Boxing Day test match between India and Australia, which Australia ultimately won. He tells me that Seychelles is seeing an increase in Indian tourists, as against earlier, Indians only came for work, typically as laborers for construction activities.

Me, in another life?

The restaurant had an area that was cordoned off where they had the massive sea turtles that Seychelles is famous for. Went and saw the grand amphibians which M likened to me. She said that I am so lazy that in a past life I could have been either a turtle or a snail as I am too slow to move my butt for anything. I had to agree with her assessment. These creatures moved so slowly that it is no wonder that they live for such a long life. The oldest sea turtle in Seychelles is 148 years old! Goes on to show, no stress equals a longer life.


Boulders on the beach