Life, the Universe and Everything


Seychelles - Thursday 2010/12/02

Overview     Wednesday 2010/12/01 <   Thursday 2010/12/02   > Friday 2010/12/03

On this day was our planned trip to the islands Praslin and La Digue. We got up at 05:00, had a small breakfast and then were picked up with a bus at about 06:00 and brought to the harbour in Victoria where our ferry to Praslin would be leaving. On our ferry there was also a funny Japanese film crew who were apparently creating a documentary for kids.

There were quite strong waves on our trip and when we arrived about 45 minutes later, there was heavy rain on Praslin. Luckily we didn't stay long because we only switched boats to get to La Digue where we arrived after another 15 minutes trip with the sun welcoming us.

On La Digue we switched from the boat unto ox carts, which brought us to L'Union Estate, which is a Copra factory. There we were shown how coconuts can be opened with a sharp stick. The coconuts will then be dried and the resulting copra is processed in a mill to get coconut oil.

Nearby is the Anse Source d'Argent, which is the famous beach on which many commercials like Bounty are shot and which has also been used in an Emmanuelle film. Since it wasn't cleaned when we were there and was full of seaweed it didn't look all that impressive. There is also the house used in an Emmanuelle film and an enclosure with some giant tortoises which can be fed and petted.

From there we went further through a vanilla plantation (which didn't smell at all because vanilla only gets its smell after a long process of drying and fermentation) to a very nice beach. Since we didn't have much time we didn't go swimming but spent our time walking along the beach with some amazing rock formations. We then were brought back to the harbour and took the ferry back to Praslin, where by now the sun was shining as well.

Our first stop on Praslin was at a restaurant for lunch. It was a buffet with different curries and some grilled fish. Since we had announced Anna's allergy to cinnamon before this trip, they were nice enough to prepare all the curries without any cinnamon.

After lunch we made a short stop at a waterfall to take pictures and then went on to the Vallée de Mai. We got a very thorough description of all the different parts of the Coco-de-Mer palm tree and then walked a bit through the forest, getting explanations about different plants and animals along the way. There were some small geckos on the male parts of the Coco-de-Mer which are important for the pollination. We also saw one very large, brown gecko which was eating white slugs on another male Coco-de-Mer. There're supposed to be endemic black parrots but we only heard this one. We also didn't see the chameleons or snakes which are also supposed to live there.

Afterwards we were brought to Anse Lazio which is a wonderful beach with unbelievably fine and white sand. We spend some time swimming and watching the rockskippers on the nearby rocks. With this our day on Praslin ended and we took the ferry back to Mahé with the sun setting while we were on board. We were brought back to our hotel just in time for dinner.


Catcocos Ferry Rainy Mahé Japanese TV Crew Japanese TV Crew
Catcocos Ferry Rainy Mahé Rainy Mahé Rainy Mahé
Rainy Mahé Ste. Anne Island Rainy Mahé Catcocos Ferry
Catcocos Ferry Rainy Praslin Rainy Praslin Rainy Praslin
Rainy Praslin Rainy Praslin Somewhere between Praslin and La Digue Somewhere between Praslin and La Digue
La Digue La Digue La Digue - Ox Cart La Digue - Ox Cart
La Digue - Ox Cart La Digue - Ox Cart La Digue - Ox Cart La Digue - L'Union Estate - Copra mill
La Digue - L'Union Estate - Coconuts La Digue - L'Union Estate - Coconuts How to open a coconut How to open a coconut
How to open a coconut How to open a coconut La Digue - L'Union Estate - Copra mill La Digue - L'Union Estate
La Digue - Carambola tree La Digue - Carambola tree La Digue - L'Union Estate La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent
La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Emmanuelle's House La Digue - L'Union Estate
La Digue - L'Union Estate La Digue - Giant Tortoises La Digue - Giant Tortoises La Digue - Giant Tortoises
La Digue - Giant Tortoises La Digue - Crab La Digue - Crab La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent
La Digue - Vanilla La Digue - Vanilla La Digue - Vanilla La Digue - Vanilla
La Digue - L'Union Estate La Digue - L'Union Estate La Digue - L'Union Estate La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent
La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Skink La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent
La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent
La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent
La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent
La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent La Digue - Anse Source d'Argent
La Digue Praslin Praslin Praslin
Praslin - Waterfall Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai - Female Coco-de-Mer
Praslin - Vallée de Mai - Male Coco-de-Mer Praslin - Vallée de Mai - Female Coco-de-Mer Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai
Praslin - Vallée de Mai - Female Coco-de-Mer Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai
Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai - Jackfruit
Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai - Male Coco-de-Mer Praslin - Vallée de Mai
Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai - Jackfruit
Praslin - Vallée de Mai - Jackfruit Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai
Praslin - Vallée de Mai Praslin - Vallée de Mai - Big Gecko Praslin - Vallée de Mai - Big Gecko Praslin - Vallée de Mai
Praslin - Anse Lazio Praslin - Anse Lazio Praslin - Anse Lazio Praslin - Anse Lazio
Praslin - Anse Lazio - Rockskipper Praslin - Anse Lazio - Rockskipper Praslin - Anse Lazio - Crab Praslin - Anse Lazio - Rockskipper
Praslin - Anse Lazio - Rockskipper Praslin - Anse Lazio - Rockskipper Praslin - Anse Lazio - Rockskipper Praslin - Anse Lazio - Crab
Praslin Rainbow

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