Recently in Seychelles Category

There are many different varieties of coconut across the world, but surely one of the strangest is indigenous to the Seychelles, and predominantly to the island of Praslin. In the centre of this small island is the Vallee de Mai nature reserve. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to the Coco de Mer. Swathes of these palms tower above and make a strange rattling sound when the wind moves their vast, 10m-long leaves around.



Despite its name it has nothing to do with the sea; however, its strangely shaped nuts were washed up on faraway beaches and those who found them thought they were some exotic marine plant.

Every Coco de Mer palm has a gender. Unsurprisingly, this one is male.



Even more uncanny is the female. On the tree, the nuts may look innocuous enough.



But once the outer husk is stripped away, the seed is revealed, rather resembling a shapely female bottom.



This symbol is everywhere in the Seychelles, even on the stamp you get in your passport.

 

The pace of life on the island of La Digue is so slow that even the local giant tortoises seem relatively dynamic. There are only ten vehicles on the island - everyone else meanders around on bicycles, and even a wedding party are taken to their beach-side ceremony by ox cart.

The Seychelles are made up of 115 islands, but most visitors will stay on the three largest - Mahe, Praslin, and La Digue.

Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles and its largest conurbation, still seems incredibly small - there are just three roundabouts and only one set of lonely traffic lights, with signs preceding it so drivers aren't too surprised by the changing shades of red, amber and green.

Indigenous drinks of the Seychelles? Yes, rum is one, but you can also sip a nice cup of local char.

With beaches like this ten a penny, it's pretty difficult not to fall in love with the Seychelles.


This is the beach at Anse Royale, on Mahe. Our hotel is called 'Le Relax', and tries to make it as easy as possible to do so. Sitting on the terrace with an ice-cold Seybrew beer, we watch the sky turning from blue to a nicotine-stained yellow as the sun goes down.


Above us, large fruit bats circle on the evening air currents. They can sometimes look a little foolish with their big heads and chunky feet - like bumble bees, too large to fly - but they bring a real novelty to the evening, and we're told they make a darn good Creole curry.