Waking up to the sound of water,morning tea with the ocean view,walking all alone on the sand,dipping in the pristine blue ocean.
No One but just you and your loved one.Nothing but Sun ,Sand and the Ocean. That is how I wanted my Honeymoon to be.And this is exactly what the stunningly beautiful islands of Seychelles offered me.A dream honeymoon and a lifetime of memory to cherish. Infact it was just the place where reality was better than dream.
I indulged this time(it was my honeymoon after all). We chose 2 islands from the 115 islands. Not a tough task ,since only few of the island are inhabited.
It was a long flight,but the magnificent view while descending on the Mahe Airport,refreshed us.After our immigration clearance(check the cool stamp),we waited for our flight to Praslin. One can take a ferry too,but our timings did not match.Anyways the flight was an experience.It was not the usual flights ,but a flight which you simply board like a bus and you can see your pilot and the cockpit.
Praslin
1)Coco -De-Mer
As soon as we landed in Praslin,we headed to our hotel -Coco De Mer(named after the tree found only in Seychelles)(a 4 star property),I would highly recommend.
It has got rooms facing the beach , a lovely pool just next to the beach and well maintained rooms. Praslin is a beautiful city,with the ocean by your side on almost all the roads.Fresh air,beautiful ocean,trees on the sides of the roads,simple down to earth locals.
It was noon by the time we reached our hotel.We lazed around simply exploring the beach and the hotel.Next day ,we did a simple trek organized by the hotel.The view from the top of the mountain is exhilarating.You get to see the various islands from the top.
2)Valle-De-Mai
Praslin hosts -Valle De Mai- a Unesco World Heritage Site.It boasts of numerous Coco-De-Mer trees.It is about half an hour from the hotel(needless to say the drive is beautiful).It is well maintained and the entire walk takes about 2 hours plus. A must do,since you will never be able to see these trees anywhere except Seychelles.
And finally we headed to the sole reason ,I chose Seychelles for our honeymoon- Anse Lazio Beach.
The hotel has a free bus service to the beach.As we got off the bus and walked towards the beach,we were bowled over by the first sight.We were looking at each other,then the beach; gushing, smiling,spell-bounded.It hit us like a ball of happiness.It is the moment when you see something so beautiful that you wish to freeze the moment.A mixture of emotions runs through me.I feel lucky,blessed to have experience the moment.It is a white sand beach .There were tourists but few.We dipped to our heart content in the beach.
Mahe
Our next island was Mahe. We took the ferry back from Praslin to Mahe. It is a proper city and more populated than Praslin. We.We stayed in the Berjaya Resort(a 3 star property).
1)Berjaya Resort:
The resort is decent. Has a good swimming pool.And is just next to the beach(Now every beach seemed pale in comparison too Anse Lazio).The resort has an in-house Indian restaurant and there is a small casino too.
2)Mahe City:
We booked a cab to explore the city. The city is vibrant and colorful. Places to see-
1)Market
2)There is a temple in the market
3)Clock Tower
4)Mission Lodge
5)The court building
Simply drive through the city ,it is pleasantly beautiful.
You know the trip was worth,when you look at the pictures and pinch yourself wondering did you really visit such an awesome jaw dropping place.We decided we would be coming back to this country on our 25th Anniversary.Amen.