Mahe (Victoria) Seychelles 5/14/24
Mahe (Victoria), Seychelles
Our view and welcome to the Seychelles. As we walked to our tour meeting point, we were handed gifts from the locals, our choice of earrings or handmade soaps. Really very thoughtful. It very much reminded us of the French Polynesia islands.
Mahe Island, once known as the isle of plenty, is indeed an island of plenty and the principal island of the archipelago where you find one of the tiniest capitals in the world, Victoria. We had about 45 minutes to walk around the downtown area. I think we needed more time, as always to really see the town. Colorful and lively, and very clean. But very warm..
The local market featured a lot of fish. There were also quite a few simple stores and more sophisticated ones. A charming capital city.
Local fisherman we saw selling his catch on the road
A few of the architecture styles in town
Doors to the cathedral
The Arul Navasakthi Hindu temple in Victoria..
La Louise viewpoint is a few minutes outside of Victoria and gives you an impressive view of Victoria and other inner islands. And of course we saw the lovely Serenade of the Seas, and some pretty spectacular yachts.
We continued our journey and went to Domaine De Val Des Pres Heritage site. When plantation industry was at its peak, this estate used to produce coconut, cinnamon bark, vanilla and other spices. It is well preserved and gives you a glimpse of life back when. There were local craftspeople, and some tortoises at the back of the property. The house is furnished as it may have been back in the 1800's.
These huts are representative of slave huts that housed the workers.
Just down the road we had lunch. Service was very slow, but food and drinks were great. It did, unfortunately put us behind schedule on the tour, and we discussed what we would pass on in order to get back to the ship on time.
From there, we hustled to the tortoise farm, and got to see nature in action - we had a turtle who had the mating urge, and he did not care if he had an audience.
As we drove to the beach, the rock formations and scenery kept me busy with the camera. The granite is amazing.
To Anse royal beach for about an hour. Hot and humid, but water was comfortable
Would have loved to see this house - what a great spot.
These girls were having a great time, using the boat as a teeter totter!
Beach is pristine and while Mickey jumped in the water, I took a few pictures and just enjoyed hanging on the beach.
By this time, we were running quite late, and the decision was to bypass the waterfalls and head back to the ship. However, our tour guide decided there was plenty of time, so we stopped and hiked to the falls and back to the van. Now, we were really cutting it close. And everyone was getting a bit nervous. As it turned out, we got on the ship with 10 minutes to spare...don't like being that tight to the gangway up time, went directly to the bar, and had a cocktail.
First day in Africa, a success. We were to go to La Digue, Seychelles the following day. It was a tender port, and the seas were too rough, so Captain Shel said not gonna happen and we got another day at sea. On to Port Louis, Mauritius for an overnight stay, since we are missing La Digue.
Comments
Post a Comment