Day 6 (March 16, 2022): A Soaking Sort of Day

I’ve entitled today’s entry, “A Soaking Sort of Day” because today was all about getting as much water time as we could!  We decided to repeat Sunday’s drive along the north shore of Mahe and to swim / snorkel one of the beaches up there.  The problem isn’t finding a beach, rather the problem is finding a spot to park!  The roads here are so narrow, peoples’ properties butt so close to the roadways, and public beaches come with essentially no parking.  So gaining access to a beach is the hard part.  However, we did find a wonderful beach with the ubiquitous massive Seychellois boulders and had a great swim / snorkel.  We found another long beach up that way that we took time to explore (although we didn’t swim there) - it was amazing to just get up close to the boulders and to walk among them.

Having left the hotel at 10:30AM, we were back in Beau Vallon by 1:30PM, where we found the most excellent cafe for lunch.  Then it was back to our resort’s pool and adjacent Beau Vallon Beach for more swimming.  We literally bobbed in the waves for a good chunk of the afternoon, using our brought-from-home pool noodles.  The water temp being in the high 20s, it was like sitting in a bath that never gets cold.  We ended the afternoon with time in the resort pool (again, using our pool noodles to just float and rest), before having a sunset drink and dinner.

We have had a truly wonderful time on Mahe Island.  Tomorrow, we fly to the second largest island - Praslin - for two more days of Seychellois pleasure before heading home.

For now, one last ‘good night’ from Mahe!

The boulders at Glacis Beach on the north shore of Mahe served as the backdrop to a great swim / snorkel.  The hotel you see behind the boulders is the Bliss Hotel, where we were originally booked to stay.  It would have been a great spot, but we are pleased we decided on Fisherman’s Cove Resort in the end.

Our underwater camera is still taking some getting used to, having given the first go in Turks & Caicos back in November.  Our fish-spotting results are sparse.  Oh well - we shall keep working at it!

After a hour’s swim at Glacis Beach, we stopped at Anse Etoile (“Star Cove”), which is located where one turns the bend and starts heading down the east coast of Mahe. While the water wasn’t deep enough to swim, the boulders here were amazing.  We had the entire expanse of beach to ourselves.

Are those two giant potatoes with a shrunken Pam?  Or a full-size Pam and two monster boulders?!  You decide!

Every place has its “thing”.  And Seychelles’ thing is boulders.  The granite boulders add something truly unique to this place.

As you can see, Anse Etoile isn’t great for swimming.  But there is much awe and beauty even in the rocks above.

Even the seaweed here is different.  It’s fuzzy, puffy stuff that one can imagine would compost well in a garden.

 

Tons of sea glass among the beach stones!

Driftwood isn’t very common here, so this large example on Anse Etoile was very intriguing,

The church of Saint John the Baptist Parish in Glacis, built in 1882.  There are many, many churches here in Seychelles.  We just haven’t had the opportunity to search them out, as we usually do on our travels.

Our favourite spot in Beau Vallon - Da Lydia Cafe - turns out the best sorbet-filled crepes.  We just wish we had found it before today. :-( Air-conditioned restaurants are rare here, so Da Lydia is a treat in that regard, too.

After an afternoon of floating in the Indian Ocean at Beau Vallon Beach, we enjoyed the infinity pool at the resort one last time.

A pre-dinner sunset drink marked our last evening on Mahe.

 

And the sun goes down over the resort on our last evening here.