Seychelles - our dream holiday come true !

23rd December, Wednesday, 2015

After much undue excitement of Tumpu’s viral fever with temperatures touching 105F on Sunday and just barely coming down to about 102 till Tuesday morning, I was kind of sure that we’re not travelling on Wednesday to Seychelles. Not only was I irritated with such apt timing of viral fevers , but there was quite a large sum of money to be lost as everything we had booked was non refundable. But I made peace with it on Tuesday night and had kind of resigned to my fate, but looks like miracles do happen from time to time and Wednesday morning after I came back from an early morning walk with Brownie, I found Tumpu and Bubula ready with their bags for their journey to Seychelles that night ! I checked Tumpu’s temperature and it was back to normal for the time being ! So it was a complete mad rush through the next 8 hours or so as a couple of last minute shopping was still left, packing for the four of us for 10 days , making sure we weren’t leaving behind essentials for our trip , especially in this season which was supposed to be full of tropical rain showers - so armed with snorkelling gear, umbrellas, swimsuits, shorts , torches and the like  and a marathon list making and packing session through the day , armed with boxes of antibiotics and bottles of Crocin, we headed out for the airport by 7:45 in the evening ! We flew in to Mumbai on the 10:40pm flight and reached just after midnight. Our flight to Seychelles was scheduled to depart at around 4:40AM , but the moment we reached and completed our immigration, we saw that it had already been delayed to 7AM and then got pushed out to 8AM .. this was sad because we were already so tired and exhausted and spending the night lounging on airport chairs was not something we were looking forward to .. 

24th December, Thursday, 2015

Thankfully the flight did take off shortly after 8 in the morning and four and a half hours later we were were making the descent towards the paradise islands .. the view as we descended was magnificent to say the least. You could suddenly see specks of green in the blue ocean and as we moved closer, the green specks became slightly bigger surrounded by a border of yellow sand and turquoise blue bands of the ocean changing in to the deep sea blue further inwards. It was a glorious morning and the islands were literally shining in the sunlight giving us a warm welcome to our dream destination ! The runway was a small strip of land flanked on the two sides by the lovely blue ocean and green patches of the island and it was totally idyllic touching down into Mahe with anticipation of much more glorious times ahead in the next couple of days. Having our passports stamped by the famous derriere , we had finally arrived at Seychelles :) 

Dhruv in front of the small carrier to take us to Praslin from Mahe

However the experience was a little soured by the fact that obviously we had missed our connecting flight to Praslin but there was no new flight that had been arranged for us by the airlines. And the airport staff were anything but helpful. They seemed to have no clue about our delayed flight and the fact that we needed a new connection to Praslin. Anyway somehow things got sorted out and we were extremely lucky to get a connecting carrier at 1:45 , just in the nick of time to reach Praslin, take a taxi and rush to the jetty to catch the ferry to LaDigue by 2:30pm ! 

from the ferry on our way to La Digue from Praslin

Our understanding was that LaDigue was supposed to be a car free island, but that wasn’t exactly true. There were a couple of these large trucks converted into open buses with two rows of seats on the two sides and wooden railings lining the sides. Kind of interesting - I’m not sure what to really call these - but we took one of them with our luggage and reached our home for the next couple of days CocoTier du Roche.

We were just so totally tired and hungry that we kept the luggage in the room and walked to the nearest eating joint, Gala Takeaway which was about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. It was a small joint with ready made chicken fry and some rice and surprising lentils which were very similar to our dal along with some beef curry, pork stir fry and the like. Stuffing ourselves with what was available, we walked back to the hotel and everyone kind of crashed out. The excitement of coming, not coming, the mad packing in a day, the delayed flight, no connection at Mahe, everything had drained us totally and we went into some deep slumber for the next couple of hours ! 

25th December, Friday, 2015

Christmas Day and this was our first actual day on LaDigue. The place we were staying at is a self catering villa arrangement. There are about 10-12 houses or so and the whole area is a beautiful wild garden with very familiar flora and fauna as in South India. Full of coconut, banana , lime, guava, papaya , mango trees all around interspersed with lots and lots of different colours of  hibiscus, allamunda, bougainvillaea, purple flowers and lots of green and colourful foliage. The early morning is beautiful with the chirping of so many birds all around. Especially the red body which is apparently native to these islands in the Indian Ocean such as Seychelles and Madagascar, the jet black sun bird drinking in nectar from the coconut flowers, our all familiar mynah and the many spotted turtle dove.

The jet black sun bird

The Red Fody

We also spotted the famous green gecko - this was no common green, it was the colour o f bright fresh plantain leaf green , almost fluorescent and full of a red/orange spotted design - on the bright orange of the coconut stalk , the scene looked straight out of a Paul Gaugin painting ! In souvenir shops that I would visit later, there would be so many things with this gecko design, t-shirts, wooden pieces, so obviously Mr Gecko was a special inhabitant of the islands in the area. 

The fluorescent green gecko

Walking a little further out of the area, you can hear the roar of the ocean from the streets long before you can see it. The only way to get around from our place was to either go by walking or cycling , so we took the cycle route. This isn’t a holiday for lazy bones and you need to be kind of fit and active to make the most of what the island has to offer to you. Be prepared for miles of cycling uphill and downhill and walking through beaches, trekking from one beach to another through the rocks. We cycled all the way to the L’Union d’Estate. To go through this park, you need to pay 100SR per head and then you reach the small wooden jetty which overlooks the Source d’Argent beach. The first view that hit us was pretty surreal to say the least - miles and miles of light blue water over the rocky coral lagoon , before the waves actually start and goes into he deep ocean. Granite boulders all around and suddenly a small island (if that’s what you can call it) with just a handful of trees. 

Surreal at Source d' Argent

The granite boulders are supposed to be prehistoric rocks in place for ages and ages. We walked through the water and sand/rocks which were filled with these black slug like fat creatures covered in sand which looked pretty disgusting at the start. But then we kind of got used them and spent time studying what they actually do other than lying around in the sand just doing nothing :) We found that they have these black tentacles that come out from their front and they suck onto the sand in front of them, then move their body mass to the next position. Later on we got to know that these are actually sea cucumbers .. we tried our best to avoid stepping on these as we walked through the water but that wasn’t an easy feat ! 

Boys at Source d'Argent

We walked along the beach and found slightly deeper water areas where the boys splashed around a bit , but it was getting a little rough since the bed was pretty rocky and full of corals. Walking a little further into the water, we saw areas of coral clusters which were just beautiful - not very colourful though, but in all shapes and flower like arrangements - if you looked a little deeper , you could see so many fish coming out and going in to these coral spaces. It was beautiful ! Unfortunately it actually started raining and we decided to take shelter on top of a rock where there there was  a makeshift shelter with some straw and leaves and wild flowers - seemed like an ideal wedding spot :) We started walking back from there and through the estate where there was an enclosure full of so many tortoises ranging from 10 years old to over 100 years old .. They loved being fed the leaves and generally trudging along - it was fun watching them for a while. We cycled to our lunch spot - a restaurant called Zerof - very good food and a lovely house rose wine to go with it. Dhruv had a nice sea food creole curry with rice while Tumpu and I had fish with rice and chips. Sahu had a grilled barracuda with rice. Shortly after lunch , we cycled on to the other side of the island and visited Anse Severe. The beach was shallow here with some small waves crashing the shores - but the speciality was the variety of corals all around. And the sand, oh the sand !  it was literally pink in places mingled with the white .. it was so beautiful , I just wanted to carry some of the sand back home .. we cycled even further and further till we reached the end of the road and with high tide approaching , we couldn’t really get into the water anymore, so just sat and enjoyed the sound of the ocean and the the view of a couple of islands that we saw across from this end.

Dhruv in a pensive mood watching the waves come and go

26th December, Saturday, 2015

Today we went to Anse Grande - the cycle/walk route was pretty long and very steep .. cycling downhill was actually scary at times because you seem to be literally flying down without any barriers on the two sides of the road. One wrong swerve and you’re into the forest and rocks. Dhruv did brilliantly on the cycle though while Tumpu was quite settled on his Baba’s back seat. 

Our cycles on La Digue

He made for good entertainment as live radio , singing One Direction hits continuously and of course thoroughly enjoying himself ! At the end of the hilly road, we came across a sudden patch of a water body in the middle of the forest area which was full of these big water lily blooms - almost looked like a lotus but not quite. 

The white water lilies

The shady paths all around and the swamp in the middle seemed so perfect. After some more marshy path, we could hear the roar of the ocean and then came onto Grande Anse and wow .. was it grand or was it grand !! The colour of the sea was a lovely aquamarine blue with waves splashing on to the absolutely pristine white sand. Initially we were told that this beach isn’t safe for swimming or getting into the water but there were plenty of folks who were getting in and swimming, not too deep though. But I was unlucky as I wasn’t prepared with my swimsuit, so had to be happy just wetting my legs. The boys simply had a ball .. Tumpu didn’t venture too much into the deep - he was happy chasing waves back and forth and Dhruv was happy jumping in the waves endlessly. 

Anse Grande

T found a brand new pair of Ray Ban shades washed ashore with the waves and promptly claimed these as his own ! Anse Grande is probably the biggest beach on the island of La Digue and it is really vast stretching from one end to the other between huge boulders on both sides which is typical of most beaches on the islands here. The boulders are framed on top by greenery that is so stark green in contrast to the blue sky and white sand and blue ocean. It looks so totally fresh and beautiful. There was a small eat out on the beach run by a couple of locals. A buffet was on the cards, local food served in huge steel containers. The waft of food cooking on the hot day was making me hungry and we decided to have our lunch there. In addition to octopus curry, pork stir fry, chicken curry, lentils , rice and noodles, there were these huge grilled fish being grilled on charcoal giving out a lovely smoky aroma all around. 

Fresh grilled fish at the buffet

Settled with a glass of Takamaka (the local Seychelles rum) and Sprite and Coke for the kids, we stood in line waiting with plates in hand in the cramped food joint. Food was very satisfying and yummy and life was good :) After a short rest and spotting a couple of salamanders slipping in and out of the wooden benches, we set out on a short hike through the rocks and on to the next beach which was Petite Anse. 

Trekking to the other side

Petite Anse

The sand here was equally white and pristine , but the water was a little more rough. The beach was smaller than Anse Grande as the name suggests but so so very pretty and picture perfect. We sat on the rocks for a while watching the crabs getting washed away as the waves splashed on the rocks and taking them away. There was so much to discover and stuff - the live shells and mussels stuck to the rocks , forming pretty designs on the rocks with their arrangement and formation, the small slithery creatures (I found out later that these are called mud fish) looking like tiny tadpoles literally jumping from one rock to another , tiny schools of fish in the small puddles of sea water that formed in between the rocks .. I could sit there endlessly and just study all the creatures. We ended the day with dinner at the Fish Trap set on the beach by the jetty. It was probably by far the most expensive restaurant on the island , had a nice ambience , especially if you got to sit outside looking at the black sea flooded in moonlight and lights of the small boats glittering out on the sea and the cool sea breeze washing away the tiredness in your bones that had formed through the day. 

27th December, Sunday, 2015

This was a big day for us - we hadn’t booked the boat ride in advance - but cycled up to the jetty in the morning and found a boat that was ready to take us out to the other islands and snorkelling along the way. It started off being a bright sunny morning and kind of hot when we boarded the speed boat. 

Ready at the jetty for our boat ride

But as we left, the sea became kind of rough and riding through the waves which were almost 3-4 ft high was kind of rough and scary. It started raining as well and T and I held on to each other so tight and my heart flipped every time we jumped those waves. Dhruv was super cool though and didn’t feel a thing - he was so brave, my heart swelled with pride. Out near the island , when I told the boat guys that we were going to do snorkeling for the first time , they were pretty shocked, I don’t think they were initially ready to really help us - but I insisted. 

Snorkelling ready ! 

What helped was a French middle aged couple who were with us as well - and the lady was really nice , said she was also a beginner - gave me a 30 second crash course on the do’s and don’ts and within a couple of minutes, Dhruv and I were jumping into the ocean.. but once we were in , it was a land of dreams for me atleast .. it was as if I was in a scene from Disney's Finding Nemo. Fluorescent blue tiny and big,  bright yellow and black, orange , green fish all floating in and out of the corals - some coming so near to me .. I wasn’t so good at the snorkelling , so had to keep taking my head out of the water , but it was oh so an experience altogether .. Dhruv and I totally loved it and I felt so blessed to be experiencing this with him, both doing it for the first time , he on 11 and me 41. Unfortunately it suddenly started raining again and the clear water became a little rough - not only that, once I got back on to the boat I actually started feeling a little sea sick and ended up puking as well.  We were glad to get back to land and into the room - freshen up and rest a while before cycling back to the island pizzeria for lunch. I spent the rest of the day in the room with the boys , sleeping, writing, reading and more than anything studying the spotted turtle doves - activities of their entire families and the endless snails in the garden.

Snails everywhere !

Mommy and Daddy of the spotted dove family

There were just so many - mommy snails, baby snails, snails on leaves, on branches , in the grass making way through a couple of feet in two hours - now I really know what moving at a snail’s pace means .. I was daydreaming about whether anyone would give me a job studying the life and habitats of these beautiful creatures on this island. We ended our stay on the island with dinner at Zerof;s again - the special Sunday night buffet with live Creole music - the lead singer had a lovely baritone voice and I was almost tempted to start dancing to the lively tunes and songs that they played - seemed very close to Cuban folk songs and closer home to our Goan/Konkani music and tunes - simply loved it ! 

28th December, Monday, 2015

Today was a rainy day - but we were lucky since this was the day of transit, moving out of La Digue to Praslin and taking the flight back to Mahe. 

Looks like a toy plane - waiting for take off from Praslin to Mahe

We stopped the taxi in Praslin, the driver being kind enough to take us to spots along the side of the famed Unesco World Heritage site of  Valle De Mai Forest to see the towering coco de mer trees and and I finally spotted some of the fruit on the trees as well. Apparently these can grow to as big as 20 kgs ! It was like these large double headed coconuts growing on tall palm trees with oversized leaves. 

coco de mer

This was supposed to be the original garden of Eden as some call it and the coco de mer unlike any other fruit in the world was supposed to be the forbidden fruit of Eden. After a tiring day of travels, we reached our destination in Mahe at Baie Lazare at Maison Solaile .. the owner being Andrew Gee , an artist from UK settled here in the Seychelles for the last 20+ years. 

Maison Soleil

The houses were done up so tastefully and some quirky additions such as an outdoor bathroom tile with turquoise blue stones brought in from Bali, a wooden branch used as the toilet roll holder in the bathroom , lovely corals placed around here and there made it a delight to stay. The walls were full of lovely paintings of the beaches or local scenery.

The well stocked kitch

The kitchen was stocked with everything you needed for a short stay with lovely crockery and tea sets and the basics of cooking up a quick meal whenever we needed. We were really happy with the choice we made for our stay and was looking forward to the next couple of days.

29th December, Tuesday, 2015

The island of Mahe compared to La Digue was of course vast. The roads plenty but very very hilly and roller coaster like at times. It wasn’t really possible to get around on bicylces here , so we decided to walk mostly and take local buses from one place to another. The walks were long and many miles at a stretch through roads up and down. But somehow even though our muscles were aching, the light breeze and the absolute beauty in every corner of the forests made the walks worthwhile. There were so many varieties of ferns,  inner cliffs of the roads that we walked through  draped in wild money plants, red seeds of large trees adorning the paths all around and colourful flowers sneaking out from here and there.

Exotic plants that we buy at the nursery and try to go in our gardens in Bangalore grew in the wilderness all around .. areas full of flowers, my favourite wild pink creeper, the purple wreath, the red and orange birds of paradise and so many varieties of them - they just drove me totally crazy. In my opinion, this was the true beauty of Seychelles  - not only in its beaches but also in nature’s bounty in every nook and corner. The wilderness of the forests, the birds fleeting in and out, huge fruit bats flying over us, roads lined with spider webs and huge lovely colourful spiders, it seemed to be a different world altogether where time stands still and you can truly be one with nature. I was very happy that we didn’t rent a car, we wouldn’t have enjoyed this raw beauty that these idyllic islands have to offer us. This was a complete tech free holiday as in no data plan, no iPad, no video games for the boys - but they were totally engrossed studying the bats and spiders and the snails on the roads and collecting the red seeds - this is how life should be.  Though at times poor T would be really tired and carrying him became an impossible task mostly. The flora and fauna all around reminded me of the Western Ghats in India.

The day wasn’t as bright and sunny as we would’ve liked it to be - but it was okay - we decided to make most of the day while the weather lasted. So we started walking to the famous Petite Anse which belonged to the Four Seasons Resort. Tony Blair was apparently staying there while we visited , didn’t get to meet him though ! And of course various other celebrities, But the beach was accessible to the public and what a beautiful beach it was. Dhruv , Tumpu and I had just the greatest time in the water. It was safe to kind of go out deep and we totally enjoyed ourselves swimming, jumping the waves , swimming back to the shore. I also got a glimpse of the 10-12M$ villas that were bought by the likes of European Football League managers and Russian businessmen and politician - people who travel with a staff of 30 odd people every time they visit - I wonder what a life like that would be. Just the walk into the resort was like a hike in itself - absolutely stunning. 

Petite Anse of Four Seasons at Mahe

After spending the afternoon at Petite Anse , we had to hike back up to the main road and went back to our lodge to freshen up before heading out to a really late lunch. We chose a restaurant called Anchor Cafe which was situated on the road side with the view of the ocean in front. The view was very different, not the usual beach - actually no beach as such and the water came up to the edge almost like a lake with several boats stationed there. It looked very outlandish actually and a wild kind of beauty with the rocks along the edges. The Anchor Cafe was a fantastic place - the setting perfect , the food absolutely delicious especially the desserts. The decor done up with old surf boards and old ship anchors and chains and the kids enjoyed themselves. We ate into the evening literally , a lazy long lunch with coffee and dessert and then walked on to the side of the ocean.

Fun at Anchor Cafe

 At the edge there were small sandy patches and actually coral reefs , so we found a treasure trove of shells and coral pieces in this area. A family of locals nearby were enjoying the evening here and their little boy of eight collected shells sitting along side me .. we even exchanged a couple of shells  - it was one of the magical moments of the trip for me  - he was so cute and a little reserved. He left after a while but came back running and I felt a tugging at my dress from behind to see him .. “My mom won’t let me take these, so you take them” .. so I ended up richer with his shy smile and his collected shells which were now mine .. all in all it was a beautiful day !  We were a little apprehensive about catching the bus home. So we decided to start walking back. On the way we suddenly spotted these red crabs coming out of the sand and watching us and going back into their holes. Tumpu was so thrilled to see red crabs “ I don’t believe it, we saw red crabs!!” I didn’t manage to get a good picture though as there wasn’t enough light .. We finally got a bus back to Baie Lazare and then was the long walk back to our rooms. 

But we had to buy some supplies for breakfast and dinner that night. All the stores of Seychelles are owned by Indians who were now rightfully Seychelles folks - but it was so amusing to see the names “Kumar & Kumar”, “Ganpath mini market”, “Shalini Stores (selling the best Takamaka)”, Vallabhji Patelji and the likes. Most stores were owned by Gujaratis or Tamilians - actually we didn’t come across any store owned by local natives. We stopped at one of these “kirana stores” as we call them back home and bought our supply of water, bread, eggs and the like and also wine from Johansseberg being sold in terapacks ! We came home showered and had a light dinner of some quick pasta that I made for us before crashing in for the night.

30th December, Wednesday , 2015

Today was the day to visit Victoria and the famous Victoria Market. This involved a long bus journey though. Almost one and a half hours. But these bus rides were so interesting to watch the local people of Seychelles and them going about their daily business. Mothers carrying babies entering the buses and then promptly pacing the babies in the first lap of another woman who would be sitting ( in case they didn’t find a seat themselves). Guys with real matted hair, reminding me of Bob Marley every time I saw them .. most of the people were kind of reserved. In general they seemed to have a tough life, most of the folks using the bus were folks, working hard for a living , but seemed very patient and accepting of the life they had. But they were generally nice when we asked the locals for directions or any other queries we would have. All the bus drivers were very helpful as well. The fare system was pretty interesting for the buses - 5SR per head no matter what distance you would be traveling. So you get in to the bus , give your 5 SR and you could get down at the next stop or the last one, didn't matter - somehow it economically balanced out overall ! 

Most of the locals were Africans , some women were wildly beautiful, especially the young ones, their head dressed with a thousand small braids, some in multi colours  - the dresses mostly very very bright and lots of jingle on them. Victoria was a small town centre - the market was a little disappointing compared to what I had in my mind to be honest.  At the centre of the town was the Little Clock Tower. 

Clock Tower at Victoria

I was expecting a full spice market with heaps of spices on sale - but except for the couple of isolated stalls behind the fish market, I couldn’t find much. We had lunch at the popular Pirates Arms restaurant. I looked for some souvenirs around but they were too expensive, nothing like the small souvenir shop I found on La Digue. It also started raining a bit, but we took a bus to Beau Vallon, the largest beach in Mahe. We didn't spend too much time on the beach though - took a short walk and and walked back in the rain again and took a bus back to Victoria and then another bus back to home. I cooked a quick dinner of rice, and dal made with canned tomatoes and meat masala powder in absence of anything else and omelettes for all - but it was oh so delicious ! Especially accompanied by glasses of Takamaka with Sprite. We had two regular friends and visitors at the house, a dog called Lucky and a cat called “Cat” .. they were so adorable and had completely adopted us - visited us every evening to chat with us .. loved them.

31st December, Thursday , 2015

Dhruv turns 11 today  - can’t believe how time has flown by and my little baby grew up into a big boy. God’s gift to him was the perfect weather - it was bright and sunny and just glorious. The sky was blue, the birds chirping, the leaves were the greenest of greens and the ocean was the most gorgeous turquoise colour I have seen in my life. We picked Anse Royale as the place to spend the day in .. that was Dhruv’s choice as well. 

Anse Royale at Mahe

Anse Royale was an experience in itself .. the water stretched forverer as a lagoon with waves inwards , the sand white and beautiful. We spotted so many fish in the waters. tiny fish, small fish, some as big as a foot .. silver fish with a yellow lining , some silver fish with very thin black outlined fins , others black and yellow .. it seemed like a dream. I missed a perfect picture moment as a local with long matted hair carried a catch of a large number of squid across the beach. Anse Royale was unlike the other beaches since it was really really long and also had some nice restaurants that lined the beach inland. So we had our lunch at one of those restaurants, a nice lazy lunch by the sea before we headed out to the further section of the beach which needed to be approached by walking on the main road. We took a leisurely walk on the road, boys in nothing but their shorts and stopped along the way to check local stalls selling tender coconuts or local fruits. The beach on the other side was called Fairyland and surely it was one !  It was like a small nook at the end , a cozy beach overlooking a small island which one could swim out to. This was one of the prettiest beaches by far and ideal for small kids who could literally swim as if in a pool and explore the tiny fish swimming all around and the corals and the shells .. the view was truly straight out of a picture postcard ! 

Fairy Land past Anse Grande

We couldn’t spend as much time as we would have liked since we needed to get back to Maria’s for dinner as we had a reservation for Dhruv’s birthday. So we left around 5pm and took the bus back to our Bai Lazare bus stand. Today’s route was slightly different than the other days and we ended up going through the interiors of the villages where you could see the Seychelles way of life on this island up close - small colourful houses with gardens, ducks running around from the front of the house on to the street, chickens running around , a naked child playing with an old toy car someone had left behind , papaya and banana trees in every garden, passion fruit lining the fences as well as varied hues of flowers everywhere and of course our little red feathered friends playing around merrily on the branches.

The ride today was literally like a roller coaster and Tumpu and I had to hold on tight to the bus handle to prevent ourselves from falling off !! It was lovely though .. We ended the day and the year 2015 on a lovely note with dinner at Maria’s Rock Cafe where meat , fish or prawns are cooked in front of you on a hot black stone with garlic or saffron butter and eaten with a creole sauce. Both boys enjoyed themselves and we cut a locally bought fruit cake for Dhruv’s birthday and shared it with all the other guests, an impromptu birthday party for our big boy !  The walk back home was equally magical as the sky was clear and jet black with millions of stars twinkling so bright all around - its been a long time since I’ve seen the sky bedazzled with star jewels .. a perfect way to bid adieu to 2015, an eventful year in my life for sure ! 

1st January, Friday, 2016

The year started off with the most brilliant weather of our whole stay. It was almost as if Seychlles wanted to show us how beautiful and enchanting she could really be before we left. The morning was  perfect with sunshine and birds chirping all around. After a scrumptious breakfast of a cheese and ham omelette , we packed our stuff and shifted it out to the other room which was so nicely and artistically done up - it was small but romantic , ideal for honeymooners with an open courtyard bathroom and a much bigger private garden space. Then we headed out to Takamaka Beach - had to take the bus but today being a public holiday buses were few and far between , so we ended up waiting for almost over an hour at the bus stop ! 

Waiting at the bus stop

We discovered the area all around and found these tiny black and red seeds which were so pretty and ideal for making small bracelets. With my purse bursting with our seed collection, we finally boarded the bus and reached Takamaka Beach. 

Perfectly enchanting Takamaka Beach ! 

And Oh My God ..  I had never ever seen this blue in my life - with prussian blue in the middle outlined by turquoise at the edge - the sea looked as amazing and enchanting as it could possibly be. It was surely going to be difficult leaving Seychelles tonight. We enjoyed splashing around, walking on the beach, collecting some last minute shells and coral pieces and a fantastic buffet lunch at Cafe Batista on the beach. By 3pm, we had to catch the bus back to our rooms though for final showers, cleaning and packing up before we headed out to the airport in the evening. And by night we were out of this dreamland .. truly a paradise like experience - with every nook and corner showing off nature’s bounty and beauty - this was an experience of a lifetime for me .. we felt that it was too short though. A couple of more days to explore each of the beaches more closely would have been  great - though we would surely be hungry for more ! Somewhere along the way, Tumpu has decided that this is where he wants to live when he grows up ! Surely both boys have had the time of their lives , and so did I :) Hoping life is long enough that we get a chance or more to go back and explore the paradise islands all over again some day !