Day 3 (March 13, 2022): Seychelles, at last!

At mighnight Doha time, we checked out of our hotel and headed back to the airport for our flight to Seychelles.  After a long overseas journey, we could have spent the stopover exploring Doha by night, but we decided to leave that for another time and opted to relax and rest before the next leg of the journey.  (And had no regrets about that choice!)

Hamad International Airport is the most lavish international airport we have ever experienced.  And even in the wee hours of the morning, thousands of international travellers were scurrying to and fro, enjoying the luxury shopping, five-star dining and taking flights to every corner of the globe.  Thanks to Qatar Airways, Doha has truly become a global connection point.

Our flight was a bit delayed leaving - we took off after 3AM, instead of the planned 2:20AM - but actually landed early, at 8:15AM. A delicious meal of lamb made the flight all the better.

It took just over an hour  to deplane, clear customs, claim our bags, and get the rental car set up.  Then we started our drive (on the left hand side of the road, mind you) from the southeast of Mahe Island, where the airport is located, to the west coast, where our resort is situated, in the town of Beau Vallon.

When we arrived at the hotel, it was clear our room would not be ready for a few hours, so we left to explore the northern section of Mahe, a 25km loop from our resort to the northern point of the island, back down to the capital (Victoria) and then over the mountains again to our resort.  By the time we arrived back there, our room was ready. 

After checking in, we lay by the pool and instantly fell asleep. After all, we had been up since 6AM Friday and hand’t gotten more than broken rest in the last 50 hours.  We concluded the afternoon with a walk on Beau Vallon Beach, coffee on our veranda, and dinner in the hotel restaurant.  

Now that we are here and settled, we can focus on exploring this island — and relaxing!

When you enter the departures hall at Hamad Intenational Airport, you are taken aback by the grandeur and size of it.  Truly an architectural wonder, and truly understandable why the entire complex cost $17 billion.

“Untitled (Lamp/Bear)” by Swiss artist Urs Fischer stands 23 feet tall in the middle of the grand foyer leading to the airport’s duty-free hall. Made out of cast bronze, the bear weighs between 18 and 20 tons. The piece previously resided in front of the Seagram Building on New York City’s Park Avenue. It was auctioned off at Christie’s New York for just over $6.8 million in 2013.

We had to board our Qatar Airways Boing 777-200 at a remote stand, so it gave a rare opportunity to see the engine up close,  The Rolls Royce Trent 800 series turbofan engines used on the Boeing 777 have a maximum diameter of 9 feet, and each costs a whopping $259 million! 

 

This announcement constantly rolls through on the Qatar in-flight entertainment system. While it obviously speaks to a large percentage of Qatar Airways’ clientele, as a Canadian, one cannot help but be amazed at it, especially when you think about it in, say, an Air Canada context!

The routing from Qatar to Seychelles is pretty much a straight line south.  As you can see, Seychelles lies just below the equator.

  

Upon deplaning in Seychelles, the tropical heat hits you immediately. After a long cold Canadian winter, 30C felt a bit overwhelming.

A few views of our resort - Fisherman’s Cove in Beau Vallon, Mahe Island.  Beau Vallon is a community nestled in the coastal hills and shoreline on the northwest corner of Mahe Island.  The resort is at the south end of the best beach in Seychelles - Beau Vallon Beach.


Another view of the resort, its cove, and its jungle-clad mountainous backdrop.

 

Looking to the north of Beau Vallon from the resort’s infinity pool.

This is Mahe Island, where 90% of the Seychellois population lives.  We drove the 25km loop circled above to get our first glimpses of Mahe’s beaches and boulders.

The 25km drive meanders from cove to cove — in French, cove is “anse”.  Besides its turquoise waters and palm-fringed beaches, the Seychelles is known for its granite boulders that litter the coastline.  We imagined they’d be impressive, but today’s drive made us realize just how breath-taking they are. The photo above and the following five photos show various scenes of the drive from Beau Vallon to Glacis Beach and to North Point.

Our favourite photo of the trip so far!

After returning from our drive and checking into our room, we fell asleep by the infinity pool for a couple of hours and then walked two-thirds of Beau Vallon Beach.  The warm Indian Ocean waters made it a pleasure.