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 3: Valee de Mer, Capricorn, Anse Kerlan, Le Monde

 

View from Chalet Côte Mer

We woke up to a bright and sunny day on Praslin to hear so many different birds tweeting. There’s a bright orange little bird, called the Madasgascar Fody, that is amazingly pretty. It was cloudy the couple of days earlier so it came as a pleasant surprise. Headed down to the restaurant for breakfast and then to a dip in the pool. M tried again to get me to float J! Apparently, I was breathing too heavily and not giving in to the experience.

View of the jetty from Chalet Côte Mer

The Jetty

We left the hotel at around 1015 AM to go to the UN World Heritage site: Valee de Mer. It supposedly feels like Jurassic Park in there. By the time we reached the English guide had already left with a bunch of tourists so we decided to come back the next day. We went to the café and I had a cappuccino (I need my cuppa!) and decided to explore the only other coast left on the island.

View of the Chalet Côte Mer and the Jetty 

The road is among the prettiest road I have ever driven on. Vegetation is so thick on both sides of the road that there is barely little sunlight that reaches the road. The road is winding and with steep inclines that it is wonder to drive on. The moment the road flattened out, we could see the ocean with its awesome azure color. It’s a color so pretty that I begin to wonder why only a few islands have it. A sobering thought then strikes, if it was everywhere, it probably wouldn’t have been such a wonder.

Love this pic of M on the bench

I wanted a pair of shades, so we would stop at every place that was selling souvenirs to check if they sell shades. We drove further until we hit an area which had a bit more people and, a mall! I completely fell in love with the mall. From a person who hates malls because of the sheer number of people who throng it in other cities, it came as a shock, there were maybe 10 people in it apart from the sales persons. Oh and what brilliant work life these Seychellois have! Shops open at 10 Am, lunch is from 12 to 1 (or 2 whatever the owner decides) and they close by 4PM. I loved it! This is a dream destination to retire from the vagaries of work. I digress, so let me get back to the topic. It was 12 so the shops were shut and we drove down further in search of a restaurant called Capricorn which is on Anse Kerlan (Ans Kerlan). We finally found it, shut, for Christmas and New Year. Oh, there was a small little beach and what a beach! Super soft white sand, turquoise waters, marvelous, with nary a soul anywhere close by.. Either nature or the restaurant had made a small cove, where stones have been placed to look like a fashion ramp. At the end of the ramp, a wooden seat had been placed for people to sit and watch the lovely ocean. In my opinion, it is the most ideal place to sit and contemplate Life, Universe and Everything (with apologies to Douglas Adams). I was very glad that I spent some of the best 30 minutes of my life here.

Breathtaking Anse Kerlan

Found a supermarket where we bought some water, some biscuits and cigarettes. Well, we had to eat and there wasn’t a place that was open and we remembered that we passed a French restaurant that seemed open so we drove back and there it was, cute little French restaurant, Le Monde, so we parked our Sirion, went in and ordered food. It was a hot and balmy day. Sitting in the portico of the restaurant, with no fan on, made me a bit uncomfortable, but we had to eat. Waitresses seemed to be all on vacation so there was only the owner, her daughter (?) serving food. Tables got mixed up and meanwhile on a table next to us, there were 6 Italians who all ordered Lobsters, and they were among the largest I had ever seen. We ate to our hearts content and drove back to the mall. M and I bought a pair of shades and some other knick-knacks and drove back to the hotel. We hit the fantastic pool there and spent the rest of the evening at the hotel.

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

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

We arrived on the Praslin island and what struck the two of us was the sheer amount of greenery that is present. We had a large suitcase and therefore it was not possible for us to walk to the hotel which we could see from the pier. We hired a car to drop us to the Chalet Côte Mer where we had a reservation which is barely 5 minute drive from the pier. Winding uphill roads with a cool breeze blowing as we were driven greeted us at the island. 

The view from the hotel room was just supremely splendid. The hotel has been constructed on a side of a small hill, where every room has a view of the ocean. Lapis Lazuli of the ocean, green trees all around and a view of the ocean with a couple of small islands from the balcony was the view. I could feel the warm, gentle and salty breeze blowing along with the smell of water just pricked my senses. While I try to describe the view with words that I can, it falls short and as they say “A picture is worth a thousand words”, I am including some pictures of the same.

M wanted to freshen up and I needed a cuppa to get the blood flowing back to my head as I hadn’t had a coffee for the last 20 hours. Meanwhile, I went to the restaurant which has dried thatched roof from the palm trees that Praslin is famous for, ordered for my caffeine shot and went to the pool which is situated right next to the restaurant. The sight from the pool just blew my mind. The sea water which was an ugly grey in the middle of the ocean gave way to a lovely azure that I hadn’t seen before in a sea, except for in the movies. I could see a couple of boats in the harbor opposite to me. The pool is a deep sapphire in color because of the tiles that had been used and where the edge of the pool ends, I could see the beginning of the beryl waters of the sea. Thoughts failed me and I was moved to tears, the second time that sheer beauty in nature just crippled me emotionally (the first time was in the snowcapped mountains of Auli situated in the Uttarakhand state in India). What a sight to behold! I tried to capture the place and the beauty with a camera, but experiencing it with my eyes was an awesome experience.

Chalet Côte Mer is a wonderful hotel, tad expensive, but superb rooms. The large room that we had, had a double bed, with an extra single bed (for kids or for a couple who fight and need a separate bed!), a full closet with a digital safe, a refrigerator, 3 sofas, and a balcony with a couple of chairs to just sit and take in the view or read or just contemplate if one is so inclined. The bathroom is superb, with a bidet and a shower panel.

Everyone in Seychelles speaks French and Creole, a dialect that has evolved from French. Seychelles was a French colony until Napoleon lost in the battle of Waterloo when the administration changed hands to the British. So while English is widely spoken, French is the language that everyone is adept with. The overwhelming tourists are from France, there are settlers from Africa and India (brought here as slaves by the British) also, as there are from France. Indian cuisine is available which is mainly cooked in coconut milk. Coconuts are present in two colors: a bright orange color and the green (as against only green in India), which took us a couple of days to figure out. People drive on the left hand side of the road as is common in most countries in the Commonwealth.

Dinner is a fixed menu affair and if you are a vegetarian, you will have to inform the staff accordingly so that they can prepare something for you. They have a limited drinks menu and I tried the Cote de Mer special and the Pina Colada, both of which were - lip smacking. I also had the local Seychellois (Seychel-loa) beer Seybrew (say-brew) which is light.

M and I have already decided that Seychelles requires another visit and I hope the next time, it is with a bunch of friends that I know appreciate nature.

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.