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Mahé
This is the largest island of Seychelles and the only one with a town, Victoria. Even if your mind is set on the beaches, you’ll want to look around this appealing settlement, founded in 1778 and capital of Seychelles since 1903. It was named Port of Victoria in honour of the British queen after her coronation.
The town centre clusters around Freedom Square. The Clock Tower, looking like Big Ben in miniature, was actually modelled on Little Ben, which used to stand on London’s Vauxhall Bridge Road. It was erected in 1903 to commemorate the Seychelles accession to the status of colony.
Almost opposite, in front of the white-painted wooden Law Courts building, stands another relic of colonial times. On top of an old fountain, the little statue of Queen Victoria is a copy of the original, at 35 cm (14 in) the smallest in the world. It was set up in 1897 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Victoria’s reign, then removed to the Carnegie Library (now the National History Museum) when Independence was proclaimed in 1975. Many of the inhabitants believed the statue to represent a saint, and you may still see people crossing themselves as they pass the fountain.
From the roundabout, Independence Avenue, lined by banks and air companies, leads down to the port and ferry terminal. The National Museum of Natural History, guarded by a big plaster crocodile, has good exhibits devoted to marine life and the coco-de-mer. Further along the avenue, on the opposite side, the Tourist Office offers helpful advice and a good choice of maps and brochures.
At the intersection with 5th June Avenue stands a statue representing the three continents of Europe, Africa and Asia, whose inhabitants originally populated the Seychelles. They are symbolized by three pairs of birds’ wings. If you continue south along this avenue, you will come to another distinctive statue, a stylized bronze figure snapping a chain, erected in 1978 to commemorate the revolution of the previous year. Behind it is the Popular Stadium, inaugurated by Princess Margaret in 1972. The land of this modern area was reclaimed from the sea. Opposite is the Old Port and offshore lies Hodoul Island. The island was named in honour of the pirate Jean-François Hodoul who built a jetty (which no longer exists) over the marshes between the island and mainland in 1800.
Going down 5th June Avenue, you come to a big modern building shared by the National Archives and the National Library, then a roundabout with a statue in the middle. From here, take Francis Rachel Street, lined by souvenir stalls, back to the clock tower. You will pass the mosque on the way.
State House Avenue winds up from the square to, where else, State House, the old seat of government in the middle of beautiful grounds (unfortunately closed to visitors). Just before the entrance to State House, surveyed by an armed guard, the National History Museum has a few old French cannon adorning the staircase. Apart from important documents relating the trials and tribulations of the islands’ history, you can inspect the “stone of possession” by which the French claimed their rights to the islands in 1756. It was the custom not to plant the national flag but to lay a stone.
Facing the taxi stand and bus station, St Paul’s Cathedral overlooks Freedom Square. It has undergone many changes since it suffered damage during a cyclone in 1862. The interior, with a single nave, is very plain.
Traces of Victoria’s colonial past are most obvious in the district around the market, which you’ll reach by following Revolution Avenue before turning right into Benezet Street. The Selwyn-Clarke market is held in a modern building resembling a Chinese temple. The best and busiest time to go is Saturday morning (it closes around noon). The neighbouring district, centred on Market Street, is crammed with the tiny shops of Indian and Chinese fabric and hi-fi dealers; note the hairdressing salons, relics of a bygone era.
Cross over into Church Street to see the huge Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception looming over the town centre. The three-naved building was completed in 1874. The life of Mary is related in the stained-glass windows. On a hill in the park behind the cathedral, an unusual bell-tower with four bells chimes every hour—then again two minutes later, just in case no one heard the first time.
In the park west of the cathedral is the House of the Swiss Capuchins. With its arcades and balconies, many consider it the islands’ loveliest building.
Take a bus or taxi for a short ride south to discover the Seychelles’ fantastic flora and fauna in the Botanical Gardens, spreading over 6 ha (15 acres) to the foot of the mountain. There are several of the famous coco-de-mer palms here, and giant Aldabra turtles in a separate enclosure. You could also make a detour to visit the Bel Air cemetery, southwest of the town centre in an attractive residential district. Among the crumbling tombs is that of the notorious pirate Hodoul, much respected by the Seychellois, bearing the terse inscription “He was just.” Another tomb, inscribed “Pierre-Louis Poiret”, is believed by the Seychellois to be that of the lost son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.
To survey this island paradise, drive inland along Sans Souci Pass into Morne Seychellois National Park. Two stopping-places provide especially superb lookouts, and you can also visit a tea plantation and factory on the way. Many of the colourful houses you’ll see are made up of just one room on stone or concrete foundations. In the tropical forest you’ll recognise banana trees, papayas, mangoes, breadfruit and coconut palms.
Beaches are an individual matter. Beau Vallon, on the north coast, is the biggest and perhaps the best. Its long, semi-circular stretch of white sand studded here and there with massive clumps of granite and fringed with palm trees is very well equipped for water sports. At noon, watch the fishermen dragging their catch onto the beach.
Near the northern tip of the island, at Glacis, a marquetry workshop offers carefully finished objects in native woods. Further west, the village of Danzil has a big airy church containing a statue of St Roc. The saint apparently stopped the spread of a smallpox epidemic in 1884 and is consequently revered by the Seychellois. The treasure of a pirate called La Buse is supposedly hidden somewhere in the area.
Heading south of Victoria, past the airport and the village of Cascade, where you can see the remains of an old watermill, you arrive at tranquil Anse aux Pins, a tree-shaded bay protected by a stretch of coral reef. In this area, three plantation houses are the only ones on Mahé to have survived the passage of time. Saint-Joseph is the seat of the Creole Institute, while Saint-Roch, built in 1970, is now the centre of a lively Craft Village consisting of a dozen bungalows and a restaurant. A little further away, Plaine Saint-André is the oldest; it was built in 1792 by a French settler and has been converted into a museum. Just beside it is a fascinating workshop (La Marine) where exquisite models of historical ships are crafted.
The next beach along the coast, Anse Royale, has majestic granite formations; one of the islands’ first colonies was founded here in 1772.
Ask someone for directions to the Jardin du Roi. It was here, on the mountain slopes, that the governor Pierre Poivre first introduced spices to the Seychelles in 1771–72. The tropical garden includes heady plantations of vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, pepper and nutmeg, all of which are sold on the spot. There are also a few animals such as Aldabra tortoises, kept in enclosures.
At the coralline Anse Forbans the road turns inland towards Quatre Bornes, then to Anse Takamaka on the west coast. This beach is unprotected by coral reef and dangerous for swimming, like its beautiful neighbour Anse Intendance, which you might be lucky enough to have all to yourself.
Baie Lazare was named after the 18th-century French navigator Lazare Picault, who landed here when sent to investigate the islands on behalf of Mahé de la Bourdonnais. There’s a lovely view from the pretty neo-Gothic church of St Francis of Assisi.
Sheltered by palms and takamaka trees, Anse à la Mouche has a good beach where tuna-fishers bring in their afternoon catch. Smaller Anse Boileau forms a semi-circle of sun and seclusion. Grande Anse is particularly popular with wind surfers. Rewarding views await if you press on to Port Glaud, a locality surrounded by experimental farms and one of the most frequented resorts of the archipelago.
Port Launay is another popular beach with a mysterious flight of steps at its southern end, hewn in the rock leading from the shore to the cliff-top. Some believe they are a natural phenomenon, others maintain that they must have been carved by Malays 2,000 years ago. There’s nothing to prove either theory. Anse Souillac is set among cinnamon plantations; you can buy the fragrant spice in sticks or powder for cooking or pressed into tablets to perfume your clothes cupboards. Baie Ternay is the end of the road; you’ll have to backtrack to Port Glaud to return to Victoria.
Islands around Mahé
Lying off Victoria and Mahé’s east coast are six isles, enclosed within the limits of a national marine park. Sainte-Anne was the site of the first French colony in the Seychelles but is now a private island.. You can visit the islands of Moyenne, Ronde and Cerf. There are no motor boat sports from the islands within the national park, but excursions are available in ordinary or glass-bottom boats. Moyenne, privately owned, has a restaurant in an old Creole house. Ronde was a women’s leper colony in the 19th century; the old village chapel is now a restaurant. Ile au Cerf was named after the ship of Captain Murphy, an Irish sailor who landed here in 1756. It’s rather jungly and also has a restaurant.
The main islands off the west coast are Thérèse (privately-owned), Conception, and the tiny Ile aux Vaches Marines.
Silhouette
To the northwest of Mahé, Silhouette, with only a few hundred inhabitants in its 16 sq km (6 sq miles), is the third-largest of the islands. It was not named for its silhouette—seen from Beau Vallon, some think it reminiscent of a woman’s profile—but for the French finance minister Etienne de Silhouette, who died in disgrace in 1767.
Strange trees and plants abound in the jungly interior: the pitcher plant with its amphora-like receptacles ready to snap their lids shut on anything silly enough to crawl inside; takamakas; sandalwood and cinnamon trees.
At Anse Lascar, the discovery of a number of Arab graves, now swept away by the sea, suggests a possible 9th-century Arab settlement. Built like a miniature Greek temple with Doric columns and peristyle, the mausoleum of the influential Dauban family can still be seen; their colonial 19th-century mansion has been converted into a restaurant.
Praslin
Second-largest island in the Seychelles, Praslin is linked to Mahé by air and sea. With the surrounding 15 smaller islands, it forms a separate little archipelago a 15-minute flight to the north of Mahé. It is less mountainous than its neighbour, a world of creeks, coves and forest with an amazing underwater life. Cars, bicycles or mopeds can be hired to explore every inch of it.
Praslin has a population of 7,000 with the main settlements at sleepy Grande Anse and Baie Sainte-Anne. East of Grande Anse, a road along the Nouvelle Découverte River enters Vallée de Mai. In this national park, light barely filters through the overhead canopy of dense green forest and the ground is strewn with granite boulders estimated to be some 650 million years old. Palms, banana and cinnamon trees, acacias, bamboo and takamakas mingle their foliage, garlanded with lianas. The regal coco-de-mer palms tower skywards, their fan-like leaves rustling in the breeze. At the top of Coco-de-Mer Grove, look for the tallest tree—it’s also the oldest, having survived eight centuries. Another strange tree, the capuchin (Northia hornei) produces seeds resembling the hood of a capuchin monk. A vigorous insect life flourishes, bright green geckos flick across the path, and you may hear rare black parrots, but it isn’t possible to see them in the dense foliage.
The road out of the valley passes a tea plantation and coconut groves to Baie Sainte-Anne, some of its houses still thatched with palm leaves. Ferries from Mahé and La Digue dock in this large natural harbour. There are plenty of good swimming spots in the area but the best is lovely Anse Volbert on the northeast coast, which is also called the Gold Coast. Around here the granite has a pink shade, due to the presence of feldspar. Beyond is Anse Possession, where France claimed the island in 1768 with the traditional stone laid by Marion Dufresne, then Anse Boudin. Last stop is one of the most beautiful beaches in all the Seychelles, Anse Lazio.
Islands around Praslin
Huge takamaka and casuarina trees shade the exquisite white sandy beaches of Curieuse island, north of Praslin. Only 3 sq km (1 sq mile) in area, the island was named after one of the ships of explorer Marion Dufresne. A few hundred giant land tortoises, an endangered species, live here. They lay their eggs on the beach in May and June. Guardians watch over the eggs and the little hatchlings until they are old enough to fend for themselves.
The granitic Aride, northwest of Curieuse, is one of the most unspoiled places on earth. The second-most important nature reserve in the Seychelles after Aldabra, it is home to vast colonies of seabirds: sooty terns, lesser noddies, white-tailed tropical birds. This is the only place where the lemon-scented Wright’s gardenia grows.
Cousin, west of Praslin, was designated an official nature reserve in 1968 in order to protect two endangered native species, the Seychelles warbler and the hawksbill turtle. Since then an estimated 250,000 birds have taken up residence on this speck of granite. There are more than 25 species altogether, as well as several species of tortoise and lizard. To visit, you have to obtain a permit from a travel agency. The number of visitors is limited, and guided tours are authorized only on certain days of the week, while swimming and picnicking are forbidden. You usually have to transfer to a canoe to land, since the coral reef makes access difficult. Cousin’s small sister Cousine is also a bird sanctuary and out of bounds to visitors.
East of Praslin, La Digue is the fourth largest island in the archipelago, named after another of Dufresne’s ships. In sweet laziness, transport is by oxcart, by bicycle or on foot—you can walk anywhere on the island within an hour. Perhaps the most romantic of the Seychelles islands, La Digue is characterized by the unruly heaps of massive granite boulders tumbling into the sea, tinged pink at dawn, grey at noon, and glowing red in the sunset.
The most renowned beach, in fact the one that stars in all those enticing tourist brochures, is Anse Source d’Argent, its great granite rocks among the palm trees worn by sea and wind into sensual curves. At low tide the reef is revealed. Be careful at high tide when great breakers crash onto the white sand beach. To reach this beach you have to cross the Domaine de l’Union, past a huge coconut grove, a plantation house, an old-fashioned naval yard, a coprah factory, an abandoned cemetery and an enclosure holding a number of giant tortoises.
Around the island there are several other inviting beaches, many with intriguing names: Gaulettes, Grosse Roche, Banane, Fourmis, and so on. Anse Sévère is the best for bathing. Anse Patates, at the northern tip, features rocks that really do look like potatoes. In the reserve near the village, bird-watchers may spot the rare black paradise fly-catcher, once thought to be extinct.
To the northeast of La Digue is a group of smaller islands, Grande Sœur and Petite Sœur, Marianne and Félicité, largely given over to agricultural plantations. Round Island, closer to Praslin, just off Pointe Farine, was once, like its namesake near Mahé, a leper colony, but this time for men only. The hospital buildings can still be seen.
Outlying Islands
Scores of frigate birds wheel overhead as you approach Frégate, the easternmost of the Seychelles islands, some 60 km (37 miles) from Mahé and about the same distance from Praslin. Once the haunt of pirates, it has all the marks of a real “treasure island”; cannonballs have been found there, and three tombs embedded in the coral reef, disclosing skeletons buried with their swords. Hilly and woody, Frégate is the garden of the Seychelles, providing the vegetables for Mahé’s market. It also has a colony of giant tortoises that amble placidly through the hotel grounds, mowing the grass.
A place for dreamers, Bird is a coral island far to the north with limpid waters ideal for snorkelling and bathing. It has one small hotel, and thousands of birds that fear no man.
Bird’s neighbour Denis Island is privately owned and has a luxurious lodge and good snorkelling opportunities. It’s particularly suitable for lovers of deep-sea fishing.
Far to the southwest of Mahé are the less-known Amirantes islands, a dozen coral isles that were governed by Great Britain and joined to the Seychelles as recently as 1976. Desroches, with only a handful of inhabitants, is an hour’s flight from Mahé. Covered in luxuriant vegetation, it is ringed by a fine sand beach. Snorkelling areas are well marked. Divers make for the submerged Outer Rim, a wall of coral teeming with marine life. Nature-lovers will enjoy the maze of footpaths criss-crossing the island.
Surrounded by coral reefs, the Poivre atoll is justly famous for its magnificent beaches, lush vegetation and incomparable opportunities for scuba diving. The Indian Ocean drops more than 1,980 m (6,500 ft), creating a diver’s paradise. Even beginners can take the plunge here and explore the coral reefs, which lie close to the surface.
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