Seychelles
When we got married in 1993, Seychelles was
our first choice honeymoon destination. However, the flights from
Tokyo were too inconvenient, so we decided to go to Thailand
instead. Singapore is the only country in Asia that has direct
flights to Seychelles. Naturally, we picked Seychelles as our
first holiday destination after we moved to Singapore. There is
only one flight per week, and it takes about seven hours from
Singapore to Seychelles.
| The
flight from Singapore arrives in the middle of the night
(3:30 AM). Since we did not have a hotel reservation, we
took a taxi to a beach and stayed there to see the
sunrise. Note: we wouldn't advise you do the same.
Customs requires a reservation for the night of arrival.
We lied our way through customs, waited on the beach for
2 hours in the dark, and finally saw the sun rise. In the
dark, Masami's phrase of the morning was, "this
sucks". |
 |
The next
morning, we took a local bus to the capital city, Victoria.
People in Seychelles are very friendly and fluent in three
languages: Creole, English, and French. We were very happy to
hear comprehensible English. Back in Singapore, we struggle with
Singlish (butchered English with Singaporean accent).
 | At a market. |
 |
We
rented a car and visited many beaches on the island. They
are all exceptionally beautiful. |
| The
next day, we took a tour to visit the Marine National
Park and the small island of Moyenne. I do not remember
much about the National Park except that we both got
seasick from sitting at the bottom of the glass-bottom
boat. However, Moyenne became one of our favorite places
in Seychelles. |
 |
Moyenne is
privately owned by British gentleman Mr. Brendon Grimshaw. He
transformed an overgrown jungle island filled with tropical weeds
into a habitable place for him. Hiking trails cover the island,
and his home and restaurant cater to tourists. He wrote about his
life as a journalist before purchasing Moyenne and about his life
on Moyenne in his book "A Grain of Sand: The Story of One
Man and an Island" published by Camerapix Publishers
International.
Our final
destination was the island of La Digue. Until recently, the only
transportation on this island was ox cart and bicycle. Now cars
shuttle tourists from the boat jetty to hotels. We rented
bicycles and explored the island. At the beach you can only reach
by hiking the rocky trail, I enjoyed the soft white sand and
colors of the ocean which changed from emerald green to dark
blue. Wes enjoyed watching the topless women.
Our
guesthouse on La Digue was very cozy. Their Creole dinner was
really delicious filled with locally grown vegetables and herbs.
Creole dishes may look simple in the picture, but the fresh fruits, vegetables,
and spices make it a delightful meal.
