Kerala might be God's own country, but He lives in Seychelles: Day5: Cataraman ride, Mahe island, Berjaya Beau Vallon Hotel & Casino

We said ourgoodbyes to the staff at Chalet Côte Mer and hopped onto the Catamaran at 8:15 AMsharp and started the ride back to the largest island in Seychelles, Mahé.The ride back was far calmer than earlier even as the ocean was just asundulating as earlier. There were fewer people falling prey to sea sickness onthe boat. We were quiet for the duration of the ride and the 45 minutes wasspent in peace. I was contemplating on how small we human beings were in the vastness of things (the ocean, in this case, it scared the bejeezus out ofme!).

Took a taxi fromthe pier to the Berjaya Beau Vallon Hotel & Casino (http://www.berjayahotel.com/mahe).It is situated on the other side of the island from the pier and we had afabulous taxi ride. The ride took us through the smallest capital in the worldVictoria. It is a quaint little town with small shops and even one temple thatwe saw while driving to the hotel. The island of Mahéis small and to cross over from one side of the coast to another, one has tocross pone of the many hills that are on the island. Once we reach the top ofthe hill, the view of the pier is just fantastic. The view on one side is thatat of the pier and the other side is lush greenery that is on the hillside. Asthe cab driver told us, Seychelles has about 90000 people. He also told us thatSeychelles is an expensive destination and that fuel is very expensive on theisland. They have to import everything from outside. There are a lot ofrestaurants as we pass by and for some reason pizzerias seem to be very popularand not the corporate kinds, small restaurants that offer pizzas. We arrived atthe hotel at 10AM.

My entry for the cover of the Sports Illustrated,
Swimsuit edition

Aida, the talkative kid

The Berjaya,where we were staying at, is a large hotel with over 200 rooms, 3 restaurants(a Chinese, an Indian & Creole and a Pizzeria), a superb pool, and ofcourse, a casino as the name implies and is situated on a beach. The view fromthe room is that of hillocks on one side, while it is that of a beach and theocean from the restaurant. The hotel is surrounded by lush greenery. However,the hotel has the most ridiculous policy of giving out the rooms only at 12PM!So if you arrive before 12 (as I saw the next couple of days, people arrivingat 7AM had to sit in the restaurant), the hotel just refuses to give you aroom. As we had 2 hours to kill, before we could get a room, we had breakfastat the restaurant, a buffet spread consisting of a variety of breads, jams andmarmalades, different fruits and they look so colorful when together (apples,oranges, peaches, plums, kiwis), choice of eggs made for you, bacon, ham,sausages, mixed fried rice, cold cuts, variety of cheeses, coffee, tea and juices.We then proceeded to see the pool. The pool is large and is filled withchildren, with their parents lounging on the comfortable wooden pool chairs. Wewalked over, took a couple of towels and went to see the beach which is rightoutside. We requested for some lounge chairs right under a large tree, which ison the beach, which is wonderful as one can sleep on the lounge chair withoutthe fear of getting sunburnt. There were quite a lot of people loungingcomfortably, either listening to their own music or reading. We also saw a lotof people sun bathing and looking extremely happy, while others were out for aswim in the, once again, lovely colored ocean.

Finally, theroom was ready, we changed and hit the pool. Spent the whole day at the pool aswe decided that today was the day when we do nothing and stay in at the hotel. Oh, and we met the most adorable little 6 year old from Norther England, Aida, who would speak so much that it amazed me! She would ask a question, not wait for a response, move to teh next until she got tired!

Had dinner at the Pizzeria and retired for the night.

M at the Pizzeria at Berjaya Beau Vallon

Kerala might be God's own country, but He lives in Seychelles: Day 1

ON Christmas afternoon M and I landed in the Seychelles International Airport situated on Mahé island, on the Emirates flight from Dubai. The flight was as uneventful as possible except for the ocean that was right beside the runway which made for one of the most wondrous landing that M & I ever experienced.

We finished the immigration formalities and came out of the airport. The feast for the eyes that awaited us was simply breathtaking - A green carpeted hill with the top covered by clouds. Smell of the warm sea wafted across the airport with the warm breeze swaying the leaves of the trees surrounding the airport. I could almost taste the salt in the air.

5 minutes later, the heavens opened up for a quick shower. We waited, impatiently, for the shuttle to arrive to take us to the pier where we were to take a fast catamaran ferry (Cat Cocos: www.catcocos.com) to the Praslin island (pronounced as Pra-lin island).

A new awareness and a deep respect for sailors emerged in my mind.

The catamaran ride from Mahé island to Praslin is a 45 minute ride. The day was windy and therefore the waters choppy. It was like a combination of being on a roller-coaster and the desert safari that we had done a year back in Dubai. The first fifteen minutes were spent in pure exuberance and thrill of being on a fast catamaran for the first time coupled with the fact that we were in deep sea waters. It was after the fifteen minutes that the mind opened up to new possibilities. The waters were very choppy, and the catamaran moving up and down on the waves, coupled with the fact that there were a lot of people throwing up due to motion/sea sickness, the mind started to wander. Being on a shore and watching the waves and the sea until the horizon, just does not cut it. In the middle of the ocean surrounded by the immense volume of water from all sides, until the eyes can see – a full panoramic 360 degree view, where the waves, are really large, is a completely humbling experience, therefore the new respect for sailors. The waves, when I sit on a shore, given that my feet are planted firmly on terra firma, are not relatively scary. Sitting on a boat, over which I have no control, the sheer size of the ocean and its waves which are so large coupled with it's movement akin to a terrifying monster's body undulating slowly as it breathes in and out, wave after wave, scared the living daylights out of me. The sound of the water splashing as the catamaran scythed through the sea was terrifying. The catamaran that we were sitting on was a big boat and it was being tossed about like it was made of paper, spraying cold water on us sitting on the upper deck, with an impunity that is chilling. Winds blowing hard, waves getting bigger and more powerful didn’t help my rather disturbing thoughts. The remainder of the 30 minutes was spent in silence. I could hear my heart pound in my chest and adrenalin pumping very hard. It was a wonder that neither M nor I threw up. I could feel the rumbling and the churn in my stomach and was beginning to regret eating the French Fries just prior to the ride!

This is an experience neither of us will ever forget and it is a check on one of the few things I had wanted to do in my life – Catamaran ride in deep sea waters.