The Seychelles
I met up with my travel companions at Heathrow and we flew direct with Air Seychelles landing at the airport on Mahe' on a beautiful sunny morning. We had flown in Coral Class (economy) which was very comfortable and luckily there were a few spare seats so I was able to spread out and sleep, so arrived in Mahe' reasonably fresh. The other cabin class on Air Seychelles is Pearl Class (business).
Very soon after landing we transferred on to a much smaller aircraft; the kind that has propellers and you can lean forward in your seat and touch the pilot. An aircraft that small was a new experience for me, but a wonderful way to fly between islands and after enjoying the view for 45 minutes we landed on a grass runway on Denis Island.
Denis is a stunning, one resort, privately owned island with only 25 Deluxe Bungalows on the island. Each has its own section of beach and furniture so is very private and perfect for honeymooners. The beds were 4 posters with net curtains and the bathrooms had a large bath, indoor showers and outdoor showers.
The chefs cooked our breakfast to order and the resort operated a 21 day rotating menu so we never saw the same meals twice.
Denis is home to some giant turtles which are approximately 150 years old and weigh up to 500kg and we passed these going to and from the landing strip. Waiting for our flight out of Denis was another highlight, in that some of the resort staff have to don their yellow firemen's helmets and provide emergency assistance for the airplanes. At the time they had a little tractor pulling a cart with a hosepipe and all of the island's vehicles were numbered, e.g. Denis Island 1, Denis Island 2 and so on. It reminded me of the Thunderbirds and the Thunderbirds Movie has since been filmed on North Island. The firecrew were excited as they were awaiting delivery of a new Land Rover to replace the little tractor.
From Denis we flew to Praslin Island, the second largest after Mahe' and stayed at a beautiful 5 star resort called Lemuria. The entrance took us through 15 foot tall wooden doors, behind which staff and management were lined up to greet us and they were standing beside an infinity pool that looked out towards the ocean.
We got a real WOW feeling from our arrival and then proceeded by buggy to our suites which overlooked the only golf course in The Seychelles and took us past another impressive building dedicated to Spa treatments. Lemuria was a luxury resort and the restaurants certainly emphasised this as the food and service was first class.
We were fortunate enough to be able to visit the Valle'e de Mai which is hidden in virgin rain forest and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984 and is the only place in the world where the 'coco de mer' palm grows.
From Praslin we flew back to the main island Mahe' to stay at the Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Resort, which was not quite as plush as the previous two places we had stayed at but occupied an enviable position on one of Mahe's best beaches and had its own casino and lots of nice places to eat and drink nearby.
Whilst here I played Roulette for the first time. I decided to put my chips on 27 as it was my birth date and told the man standing next to me who was a local and obviously a regular gambler, that it was my first attempt and the significance of the the number 27. He immediately moved all of his chips on to number 27 and low and behold number 27 came up. I won about 40 US dollars and he won a lot more than me!
I would recommend The Seychelles for its high class resorts on stunning islands and for its unspoilt natural beauty. It might cost a bit more than The Maldives or Mauritius but is regarded as being more exclusive.