Seychelles

May 14, 2024 (was supposed to be the 14th and 15th – but the tender curse resumed)

We disembarked on a beautiful but windy day in Mahe’, near Victoria (the capital of the Seychelles). We wanted to snorkel, and found a tour with a glass bottom boat ride, snorkeling, beach time with lunch and a walk to meet the giant tortoises.

On our glass bottomed boat ride we discovered that the glass is tempered glass like that of a car windshield. How did we find this out? It was a rough day in the bay, and motoring along we hit a larger wave just wrong – shattering 2 of the glass panels. The panels splintered – but the coating remained intact long enough for us to transfer to another boat and then to another glass bottomed boat.

From that point on, the day went without a hitch.

John reported seeing more varieties of coral here than any other place he’s ever snorkeled or dove.

History lesson:

The Seychelles are the smallest and the least populated African country with only about 100,200 permanent residents over 115 islands (most live on Mahe’ in the capital city of Victoria). The Seychelles first human inhabitants were Europeans and the Indian and African slaves imported by them to develop the previously deserted islands. The largest islands are granitic since they developed when Gondwanaland separated into South America, Africa, India, Antarctica, Australia and Madagascar, but over 60 are smaller coral islands.

The islands were first mapped by the Portuguese in the 1600’s, but the French were the first to establish colonies in the mid 18th century, which were lost to the British in 1796. They remained a British colony until 1976, when they gained independence, only to suffer a coup a year after their first election. In 1979, they became a one party socialist state until 1991 (during which there were several coup attempts – one prevented by the presence of an Indian warship). In 1993, under a new constitution, they are now a democracy with a 35 member National Assembly and elected President. The most common language is Seychellian Creole, but most islanders speak English and French as well.

Due to the later human habitation, more of the native species were preserved and although endangered, many have recovered due to the active conservation goals of the Seychelles (42% of land is committed to conservation), preserving nesting areas for hundreds of thousands of birds. The Aldabra Giant Tortoise has recovered to 150,000 individuals after being hunted to near extinction by sailors harvesting the animals for long voyages.

For avid divers and snorkelers – the Seychelles are a “must visit”. During their “summer”, snorkeling is amazing, but higher winds kick up from late May until August – so less ideal and more amenable to windsurfing. Birders, hikers and nature lovers would enjoy the islands at any time of the year. Definitely a place we will return to spend a little more time and explore.