Seychelles

About half way through the year, we needed a beach trip. Safaris and touring cities are great, but sometimes you just need some plain ‘ole rest and relaxation that only a beach can offer. So, we went to the beautiful Seychelles. I’ve been lucky enough to have visited several beaches – in the US, Caribbean, Middle East and Europe – but I have to say these islands had the most sparkling clear water and velvety sand. The water was so clear that when I looked down I could see the sand ripples by my feet when I was standing in shoulder high water.

Curieuse Island – Giant Land Tortoises

During our week trip, we stayed on the main island – Mahe - except for one day when we took a boat day trip out to see a few other islands. My favorite stop was Curieuse Island - giant land tortoises were slow motion amazingness. Curieuse Island was our second stop, in time for some lunch and play time with the tortoises. Curieuse Island has the largest free ranging Aldabra Giant Land Tortoises, offering a sanctuary to a population of over 300 tortoises. This breed of land tortoises is listed as vulnerable to extinction; they are also thought to be one of the world’s longest living animals with many living well over 150 years. Once we finished lunch, we were able to feed the tortoises some leftover bananas and leaves we found on the ground. They even ate in slow motion!

This made for some great photo ops but the tortoises were also genuinely interested in us – they gravitated towards us when we landed on the beach and were quite friendly, never snapping at anyone. We were able to pet them, touching their necks, which they seemed to like because they would strain to stick their necks out extra far. When we pet their legs to feel for their scales, they seemed a little more uncomfortable.

The skin on their necks was loose and had a leathery feel and if you massaged their neck a little you could actually feel the bone structure beneath. It reminded me of a cars stick shift – with loose leather covering the gear stick.

The sanctuary also had baby tortoises that were no larger than a soccer ball (or football for my international friends) and weighed about 10 lbs. The park rangers put them in an open-aired pin for a few hours while visitors were on the island so we could easily see them. Since the pin was open-aired you could easily pick them up; they were surprisingly heavy for how small they were. The rangers showed us how to hold them in the center to help keep them balanced. After spending about an hour and half with the tortoises, we headed back to our resort.

Our Hotel - The Four Seasons

We spent the rest of our time in Seychelles at our resort, The Four Seasons. The resort was picturesque and made it easy to not leave all week (with the exception of our boat trip). They did a fantastic job building it into the hillside and you mostly had to use golf carts to get around. If we chose to walk the hills, we were prepared for some exercise! The beach was great; the water was very calm, great for snorkeling and water sports, like kayaking. We took one out and went a little too far where the water was pretty choppy. After that I was good with snorkeling and sun bathing. The resort restaurants were delicious. I read several reviews with people commenting on the prices but I felt they were comparable to a nice restaurant in the USA. We ate at Italian, Asian and Sushi themed restaurants; everything we had was excellent. We tried to eat at all the dinning places twice since there were so many dishes we wanted to try! We also used the spa on our last day as a departing treat and it was ahh-mazing. We both had a massage and then spent time on their roof deck with a glass of champagne; the sun was setting and it was the most incredible view for our last night there. The service the entire week was impeccable and we were so lucky to be able to spend a week there. If you don’t have a tight budget, I highly recommend the Four Seasons Resort. And even if you find yourself staying somewhere else in Seychelles, you must make your way over to spend time with the friendly giant land tortoises.

If you enjoyed learning more about Seychelles, keep the virtual journey going with a trip to Cape Town, South Africa.