Over 100 islands make up the collective Seychelles. Only 10 of these are inhabited, from the very small, exclusive North Island, where Kate and William honeymooned, to Mahe, the main island. They have nearly 100,000 residents, swelled by up to 10000 tourists, per week. iIt’s on the up after a period in the doldrums. BA have started flights after 14 years, Air France will soon, so the reliance upon Middle East airlines will be reduced. When I first visited, in the eighties, it was a successful communist state. It’s a democracy now, however, the last President was an elected crook and the country lost ground, to the likes of Mauritius.
It’s quite a humid climate, September is the month to be here if you want your sweat glands to have a holiday, too. We have spent three days on Praslin and two on the main island, as a wind down to the exploits of the previous three weeks. It takes no time to realise we should, and need to, take resort holidays instead of all of this adventure stuff. Within two days, my brain is mush, we try to play Scrabble and give up after two rounds with a headache! It’s as much as I can do to get up, eat breakfast, lounge around, read, sip a cocktail, eat dinner and watch IPL in bed. Usually, 9 hours sleep for me involves the early stages of Riga mortis!
I’m not a fan of meals inclusive resorts, however, this one, Paradise Sun (naff name) has a great manager, who works the public areas, and a chef who knows his stuff. It’s an eclectic mix of residents, mainly French, Italian and German, which I think demands a more. cosmopolitain offering. After three days of very little, we are very relaxed, refreshed and planning for getting home. The reality of paying bills, organising meetings, maintenance, services etc... a rude awakening!
For once, inter travel island is by ferry, a welcome change after 15 flights, only two to go! We are staying at a new five star resort, The H Resort, on the main island. AD got a great deal months ago and it’s a great location to finish the trip. A huge, long beach, great facilities, lovely room etc. the sun is incredibly hot, we are 7 degrees south of the equator. I’m lying under a parasol, reading a book, wearing factor 50 and, still, I emerge pink and sore after a short while! That’s me a lot more mindful on the second day. To be honest, the food is average and expensive, there’s no IPL on the 30+ tv channels and we are done. Two more glorious nights sleep, any less than 9 hours is unacceptable these days!
We had a great moment taking over the toddlers pool, to cool down, and recounted every day, and incident, over the previous last three weeks. It’s been a wonderful trip, reminding us of the multi destination journeys we made before moving to Cape Town. With a couple of trips to Europe, every year, taking a holiday doesn’t seem as prevalent, or necessary. Perhaps, it should be.
So that’s it, 26 days, 17 flights that covered 12,984 miles, 15 hotels and..... the end! This is more a diary for us, than a travel blog, however, this little app is a wonderful tool to hold memories, photos and videos for a lifetime! Another four ticks in the box, namely Varanasi and Kolkata, Bhutan, Nepal and the IPL, means that’s four less to go. The ones I have in mind, are all distant from each other, Antarctica, Greenland, French Polynesia and.... Bulgaria! That should try AD’s travel agency skills!