Day 5 (March 15, 2022): Morne Seychellois National Park

Since our arrival here on Sunday, we have been trying to visit a new portion of Mahe Island each day. Today we took in the last remaining section:  Morne Seychellois National Park (including two of its man-made attractions) and a portion of the West Coast, with its stunning beaches and coves.

We left the hotel just after 10AM and returned at 2PM. The photos below outline the sights and places we were able to take in.

For the rest of the afternoon until 6 PM, it was total relaxation, between the hotel pool and the ocean. Having brought two pool noodles with us from Canada, we spent an hour bobbing in the waters of Beau Vallon. Never have we experienced water this warm. We could have stayed there for hours, had we not turned into shrivelled prunes.

Dinner was again at the hotel. Tonight was called “international night”, but we really couldn’t see much of a correlation between what was on offer and any sort of an international menu. Oh well, it was still quite enjoyable.

I can’t believe this is our fifth day away! Why do vacations always evaporate?

The map scrawls show the route we drove today, highlighting the Morne Seychellois National Park and the upper west coast, as far as the road runs. 

Enroute to Morne Seychellois National Park, we passed this house, which is eclipsed by a granite boulder. 

Morne Seychellois National Park has two top man-made sights. This is one - the Mission Ruins of Venn's Town. It was set up as an industrious school by the Church Missionary society, a philanthropic group, in 1876-1889 to accommodate children of liberated slaves.  Since the last group of liberated Africans landed in Seychelles in 1875, the Institution eventually took in children born of African parents who worked as labourers on various plantations. The ruins consist remnants of foundations of five buildings. 

At the Mission Ruins of Venn's Town, You get a good idea of the vegetation of the national park. Take this tree, for example:  the massive roots are bigger than anything we have ever seen.

And, as is typical in any jungle, vines really have a way of taking over. Here, two large trees have been taken over completely over vines. We almost expected Tarzan to come swinging through at any minute!


From the Mission Ruins of Venn's Town, you can see much of the west coast of Mahe Island, as far south as Petite Anse. 

The second main man-made attraction in the park is the Seychelles Tea Factory. Founded in 1962, the Tea Factory is dedicated to the cultivation and production of tea in the Seychelles. 

The tea factory is a working factory. You do a self guided tour through all the steps in the process, starting here, with the drying process.

After drying, you see all the steps involved, right up to the point of people stuffing tea bags into boxes!

We laughed at the sign. Maybe something is lost in translation?

I asked these ladies what their favourite flavour of Seychelles tea is. Without flinching, they said vanilla.

This is the highest point in Seychelles — Morne Seychellois (905 metres).  Morne Seychellois National Park is the largest national park in Seychelles and covers more than 20% of the island of Mahé.

The view of Therese Island and Port Glaud from Morne Seychellois National Park. 

Boats in Port Glaud. Therese Island is on the left and the island on the right was used until 2020 as the setting of the Russian reality show, “House 2”.  The world’s longest running reality show with over 3000 episodes, in the show, contestants are building a house and trying to find someone to love in the process. Couples then compete for the house itself.

In Port Glaud, we spent some time talking to Mickey- a fisherman who takes tourists deep sea fishing. He showed us these reef shark pieces, which have been drying in the sun for five days. Mickey said he sells the pieces to local restaurants for a currie dish. 

Port Launay, which is about as far as you can go on the west coast. 

Grand Anse Beach on the west coast. 

This sign outside an elementary school provides some insight into Creole. English is the main tourist language here, but there is some French as well. The locals, however, do speak Creole, which is based on French but is adapted to local dialect and influence. See the way “merci” is spelled above? Also, drug in French is “drougue”, but  it has been adapted in Creole to be spelled “drog”.

To wrap up today’s blog entry, here are some photos of the resort where we are staying: Fishermens Cove Resort. Until last year, it was in part of the Le Meridien group within the Marriott family of hotels. It has just 70 rooms, all of which have an ocean view. One of the most established five-star resorts on Mahe, it long ago claimed a prized spot in Beau Vallon. 

The resort’s main building, housing the reception area, lobby, main restaurant and bar. 



One wing of the hotel rooms, as well as the pool.