Between sunburn and rain
On Wednesday I returned from the Seychelles. A few days earlier
as planed. Unfortunately this trip wasn’t exactly born
under a lucky star. Originally I wanted to
go sailing
for a week (with little diving) and then spend a week in a
hotel/guesthouse doing even more diving. Unfortunately the
sailing trip did not work out (Did I say I hate travel
agencies?). But I thought either I will work something out when
I am there or I will just be diving. Fair enough. This could
have worked out just fine especially as I had some local
contacts …if there hadn’t been the
cyclone over Madagascar. Knowing that people died and many lost their houses I refuse
to moan about the bad weather and diving conditions this caused
for me. So turns out I was doing little diving, no sailing and a
lot of reading during this vacation. Still it provided me with
some experiences and insights that will help me (or you) when
planing the next trip to these beautiful islands in the middle
of the indian ocean.
The Flight
So many people have been raving about Emirates to be a top-notch airline. Frankly speaking it wasn’t really living up to the expectations. The food was indeed probably the best in-air food I have ever had but the service was no more than mediocre and the entertainment system more of a bad joke. From Frankfurt the flight is via Dubai which gives you two legs of about 7 hours plus the transit in Dubai. While surely Condor is even less a fancy airline I would still go for the direct flight with them next time. Without making any political statement it also felt really weird flying through the triangle of Baghdad, Tehran and Kuwait.
The Arrival
Arriving on Mahe the first thing you notice – it’s
damn hilly! Mahe and Siluette have the highest mountains of the
Seychelles. They catch the clouds which is why you are likely to
get more rain on these islands. It’s green green green
with the usual granite looking through occasionally. When you
leave the airplane you’ll get the usual no-aircon shock
when the warm and humid air hits your face. All year around
temperatures are somewhere around 28-30 degrees. But while the
travel guide says it’s all year round destination I would
carefully pick the right months next time. For diving it seems
April and October might be the best times to go.
Getting around
Victoria is about a 10 minute car ride from the airport. The
capitol city is by all means small. 80,000 people, 1.5
nightclubs and a single bar that is not related to a restaurant
or hotel. So don’t expect a big nightlife. If you do go
out: While getting a taxi from the airport is no problem, you
might get no more than a shrug when after a few
“Seybrews” (local beer) you ask someone to call you
cab. There is no taxi service number on Mahe. Getting around
with public transport is easy before 8pm. For a flat rate of
just 3 rupies (about 0.20 EUR) you can just hop on one of the
busses that are quite frequently going. But if you want to do a
bit more than just laying on the beach you should probably
consider getting a rental car. Be advised though – driving
is on the left side of the road and can be really scary with the
winding roads. Just ride a bus and you know what I mean.
Where to stay
I have been staying in a guesthouse
in Beau Vallon at Liz and Teddy’s
(the glass bottom boat guy). It was a nice self catering
apartment just a few meters from the beach. They have 3
appartments. The smallest one starting at 30-40 EUR per night.
Which is dead cheap for the Seychelles. (Send me a mail for
contact information) Usually accommodation starts at around
70-80 EUR for a simple guesthouse which might not even include
more than a breakfast – if at all. There really is no
upper limit. You can easily spend 3000 EUR per night and more in
a (granted) luxury resort. Luxury tourism has been the main
focus for the Seychelles for years. Only recently more and more
affordable guesthouses and simple hotels/resorts are becoming
available. It’s really no backpacker destination and I
would also not recommend it for solo traveling unless you are
fine just staying solo. If your are really going for the
spontaneous backpacking type of vacation make sure you have an
address when you arrive – otherwise immigration might give
you a hard time.
What to do
Frankly speaking there is not much you can do except beach and
water sports. The mission and all what is considered scenic on
Mahe plus the different beaches can probably be visited within
1-3 days. (Driving around the whole island is no more than a 1.5
hour drive). Beau Vallon is the little more touristy beach. That
means it has some restaurants and a few hotels on the beach.
Just stay away from the “Hotel Coral Strand” area
and you should be fine. Beau Vallon is also where most of the
dive shops are. Victoria itself the most interesting was
probably the bigger supermarket and the fish market. So I
suggest to stay just a few days in Beau Vallon, maybe explore
the island a bit and then
book your ride with the CatCoco
catamaran/ferry to
Praslin
and/or
La Digue.
It’s a 40 minute ride that sets you back 40 EUR for one
way. If you have more time there is also a post ship going at
around noon. Supposed to be around 15 EUR but will take about 3
hours. Next time I surely will do the
sailing
as that seems to be best way to get around the islands. I was
diving with a couple that actually just came back from that very
sailing trip. While the boat was basic they did recommend it. If
you have a little bigger budget you might also check out
Dream Yacht Charter. Unfortunately 300+ EUR per person per night is not exactly a
bargain.
The money
This situation reminded me a little on Cuba. There are a quite
complex set of rules (that just had changed in Jan) on who is
allowed to pay for what in their national currency (rupies) and
who has to pay in EUR/USD. Accommodation and diving for example
I had to pay in EUR while for food in the supermarket rupies
were OK. In general this is a bit of a rip off to get some
strong foreign currencies. The problem is that many things need
to be imported which is probably a good reason why. Of course
you would want to try and pay in rupies whenever you can. You
can get rupies at the bank for 1:11 or on the black market for
up to 1:18 in exchange for EUR. Not that I am encouraging anyone
to go down the later route. Penalties are quite severe. Also be
reminded that for changing rupies back to EUR you will have to
hold on to your bank receipt! But for sure the best way is to
bring cash with you. Plenty. Preferably Euros. While credit
cards are accepted you really want to use them only if there is
no other option as fees might apply.
Where to eat
As I was staying in a self catering apartment I quite often
just got me the basics from the supermarket. But be prepared: no
cheese and other quite often other things are missing that
you’d expect from home. As I had local contacts I have
been invited a couple of times. You just will love the creol
fish. If you crave for some cheese I can recommend the
sand-floored Boabab Pizzeria right on Beau Vallon beach. They
even took rupies. “La Perle Noire” is just across
the “Coral Strand Hotel” and a little more fancy. It
has a nice atmosphere and the food was great. They expect you to
pay in EUR and prices are at what you would expect e.g. in
Frankfurt. I always wanted to try the “Al Mare” but
never got around to it.
The diving
Diving surely was the main reason for me to visit the
Seychelles. Unfortunately I cought a bit of a bad weather and
after a handful of dives even a cold. (yeah!) The first dive
while not spectacular from the flora and fauna still had awesome
visibility. 30+ meters and the bluest blue I have ever seen. A
big nurse shark, some reef and white tips, a moray and a school
of barracudas was the best it got during the week. We were
diving on the west coast of Mahe. What got me excited the most
was on the surface though. On the last day we got escorted by a
school of 10-15 dolphins. Just very few meters from the boat.
Would have loved to just jump right into the water. I was diving
with Big Blue Divers just out of convenience as they were just
next door. Not recommended. A couple of things happened that
just should not have happened.
So after all it was a bit of a weird vacation. The first day I got myself a pretty bad sunburn, later the week a cold. In the middle there was a lot of reading. (3 books in 10 days) Some diving and some partying. By far not that much pictures I was hoping for. It had indeed some great moments but in the end I thought I rather come back some other time. As I had the chance to change my flight for just a little fee I decided to head home a little earlier, save the money for the few nights and rather plan the next trip. Will I come back? Sure thing.
Micha