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Seychelles 2016 by Sue Jackson

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November 2016 I went alone on a Saga holiday entitled Seychelles Island Explorer for 9 days with the first 2 days spent at the 4* Crown Beach Hotel at Pointe Au Sel, Mahe, then a 7 day cruise round the islands on M/Y Pegasus a small boat with 21 cabins.

3rd November. When I arrived at Mahe at 7.30 am it had been raining and as the taxi drove me to the hotel the heavens opened with a torrential downpour, not a good start, but things improved throughout the day. In the afternoon the other Saga guests arrived and we were a small group of 6. The second day was free , so using the local buses which charge 5 rupees (£0.30) for any journey it was possible to explore the island and I visited Anse Lazare in the south of the island, where there was a lovely beach with large waves for surfing, but nothing else in the way of cafés etc..

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  1. Beach at Pointe Au Sel
  2. Beach at Pointe Au Sel
  3. View of the capital, Victoria, Mahe, with the islands of Ste. Anne and Moyenne in the distance
  4. Botanical Gardens, Victoria, Mahe
  5. Pink Ginger flower, Botanical Gardens
  6. Orchid, Botanical Gardens
  7. Cannonball Tree flower, which has heavy spherical fruits like cannonballs

5th November. Our local Saga guide took us on a guided tour of the capital, Victoria, where we visited the Hindu Temple and the Botanical Gardens, then early afternoon we boarded Pegasus and sailed to the nearby island of Ste. Anne where we moored overnight. 6th November. At 6 am we sailed for 4 hours to Curieuse, one of the smaller islands in the inner archipelago.

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  1. Hindu Temple at Victoria
  2. Seychelles Giant Millipede, Cousin
  3. Beach at Curieuse
  4. Giant Tortoise, Curieuse
  5. Skink, Curieuse
  6. View as we walked round Curieuse

We arrived on the beach at Curieuse by Zodiac and had a 1.7 km guided tour to the Doctor's House where the island doctor lived during the 1870's then returned to the beach for a swim and BBQ. Curieuse was once a leper colony and is now a strictly protected part of the Marine Park. Approximately 250 Giant Tortoise live on the island.

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  1. Fairy Tern, Cousin
  2. White-tailed Tropic-bird adult and chick, Cousin
  3. Adult White-tailed Tropic-bird on nest, Cousin
  4. Adult White-tailed Tropic-bird in flight, Cousin
  5. Nearly mature White-tailed Tropic-bird waiting to be fed, Cousin
  6. Wedge Tailed Shearwater, Cousin

7th November. We sailed to Cousin and visited the bird reserve where there are no natural predators and the nesting birds have no fear of humans. The most common birds were the White-tailed Tropic-bird, and Fairy Terns. After lunch we went by Zodiac to Anse Lazio on Praslin, which has been voted one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, unfortunately there were big waves, so not very swimming friendly and after an hour it rained heavily.

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  1. Anse Lazio, Praslin
  2. La Digue
  3. Unidentified flower, La Digue
  4. Red Ixora flower, La Digue
  5. Sunset

8th November. We sailed to La Digue and it was still lightly raining, so we just had a walk from the boat and saw some pretty flowers. In the afternoon we sailed to Praslin and moored there overnight. We had a Creole evening and were entertained by local musicians and Sega dancers.

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  1. Lady at Vallee de Mai Nature Reserve talks about the Coco de Mer
  2. Me holding a Coco de Mer nut
  3. Coco de Mer palm trees
  4. Cote d'Or beach, Praslin
  5. View of Pegasus from Aride
  6. Male Seychelles Fody, native to Cousin, Cousine and Fregate islands and introduced to Aride

9th November. In the morning we visited the Vallee de Mai Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on Praslin. There are approximately 4000 Coco de Mer palm trees growing here and they only grow naturally on Praslin, Curieuse and Silhouette islands. The trees can live up to 1000 years , but it only bears fruit after 25 years and it takes 7 years for the nut to mature. The female palm produces about 20 fruits of which 3 to 5 reach maturity and each weight about 20 kg. A male tree must be nearby to fertilise the female flowers. While we were in the reserve we were lucky enough to see the rare Black Parrot which only lives on Praslin. After the reserve we went to Cote d'Or beach for a swim. In the afternoon we sailed to Felicite where we had the option of swimming from the beach or snorkelling from the Zodiac, then we sailed back to Praslin.

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  1. The beach where we arrived by Zodiac on Aride
  2. White-tailed Tropic-bird chick
  3. Seychelles Magpie Robin
  4. Fairy Tern chick
  5. Seychelles Bronze Eyed Gecko
  6. Lesser Noddy

10th November. In the afternoon we sailed to Aride and had a very rough Zodiac trip to and from the island. Aride is a Special Nature Reserve under Seychelles law. It was colonised until 1815 when forests were felled, coconuts planted and sea birds and their eggs were taken in thousands. Today not only the birds, but all plants, turtles, fish, shells and coral of the reef are protected. Aride is the most important bird reserve in the Seychelles. It hosts more than 5,000,000 pairs of 10 breeding sea bird species, several thousand Frigatebirds and 5 species of land birds endemic to the Seychelles including the very rare Seychelles Magpie Robin. The rare Wright's Gardenia only grows naturally on Aride and is classed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. The flowers have a strong heady smell and grow in the rainy season from October to May. A rough ride on the Zodiac back to Pegasus and a 4 hour sail to Moyenne near Mahe.

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  1. Wright's Gardenia
  2. Getting the Zodiac ready for the rough trip back to Pegasus
  3. Moyenne island with Mahe in the distance
  4. Giant Tortoise, Moyenne
  5. Male Madagascan Fody or Cardinal Bird, Moyenne

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  1. Beach on Moyenne where we snorkelled from the Zodiac
  2. Snorkelling with the fishes
  3. Sergeant sish
  4. Unidentified fish
  5. The group at our last dinner

11th November. We went on the Zodiac to Moyenne and had a walk round the island where we saw the Giant Tortoises and numerous birds including the colourful Madagascan Fody. We then snorkelled from the Zodiac and saw lots of fish, on to the beach for a BBQ and finally back to Pegasus to pack for departure the next day and a lovely final evening dinner.

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