In order for MS Island Sky to make its next destination, we had to disembark early this morning and said our goodbyes to the wonderful team who had looked after us so beautifully over the last two weeks. As our flight had been delayed until the evening, a morning tour had been organised for us to fill the time before we could check into a hotel for the afternoon. It was unbelievably hot, and though nice to see a bit of the capital island, the heat made this pretty challenging. However we headed off in our little minibus with a very good local guide who took us to Victoria, the capital, named in honour of Queen Victoria.
We first saw its 120 year old clock tower, a replica of one placed at the entrance of Victoria Station in 1892 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee. We saw a Hindu temple, their market full of every kind of fish – covered in flies and being eagerly watched over by beautiful white egrets.
Our guide was extraordinarily knowledgeable about all the plants and along the way, also told us more about the Seychelles. There are 100,000 people living on the Seychelles with over half on the island of Mahe. They are largely of African, Indian and Caribbean descent and the majority are catholic, but some Anglican, Hindu and Muslim who all live happily side by side. They speak a form of Creole, but different to that of Mauritius. There are 26 small villages each with their own church, school, medical centre and police station. Education is free and compulsory from 4-15. English is their official language but they learn to write Creole, English and French in school. Overseas scholarships are offered for doctors and lawyers on the proviso they return to practice in the Seychelles. There are four main industries – tourism, fishing, boat-building and agriculture – in particular coconut, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves and pepper. They have had an army since 1977 however drug addiction remains a major problem. The airport was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1972.
We then went to the Victoria Botanical Gardens which were lovely but it was unbearably hot.
She explained the many, many uses of the coconut plant:
- Root – for menopause
- Trunk – for building
- Leaves – for brooms
- Heart – for salad – millionaire salad
- Unopened flower – for alcohol/ also used as yeast
- Husk – for mats/mattresses / clean dishes / loo paper
- Shell – for fire / jewellery
- Water – from coconut
- Milk – from squeezed flesh
- Kernel- for various copra products
- Residue – for cows /sheep
Within the garden there was a sanctuary for tortoises and the making of new tortoises!
Following lunch, we were taken to the other side of the island to the Coral Strand Smart Choice Hotel on Mahé’s north-western shore, where we had been booked day rooms. Maybe not so ‘smart’, as chaos ensued as they tried to assign a room to us all – a first for them, I later discovered!
Still our room was a welcome relief from the heat and after cooling down, Lucinda and I had a lovely swim in the beautiful warm sea and headed along the beach. So strange to suddenly see all these people! Also quite strange to suddenly come across Fisherman’s Cove where Lucinda and Rob had spent their honeymoon. After much flirtation with the security guard, we were granted permission to go in and have a look. It is still a beautiful hotel if a little less secluded than it was 35 years ago!
Following dinner at the hotel, we headed to Seychelles International Airport to check in for our midnight flight home with Emirates.
What a truly wonderful holiday…
EC-Rider Travels 
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