|
|
|
|
Seychelles consists of some 115 tropical islands; many of them are coral islands apart from some 40 granite islands. The islands are remnants of the mainland between Africa and Asia. Population is 80.000. The Capital is Victoria on Mahé Island with 28.000 inhabitants.
I do not know why, but the Seychelles had been a dream of mine from a long time back. At the beginning of December I decided - Now or never. Even Erika forgot that she was afraid of flying…
I looked through the offers made by a few travel agencies which included the Seychelles in their program. There I got inspired to visit more than just one of the islands. Of course I said no to their hotel offers, knowing that with the aid of the internet and a thick guide book about the Seychelles I will find a better deal. We purchased only the plane tickets through the agency. A week later, after hours spent on the internet, the said guide book and e-mails from 30-odd hotels, I chose three hotels on three different islands. They were exactly the same hotels offered to me by the travel agency, and at a very similar price!
Erika managed to upset her stomach with coffee (!) a week before the flight, and it bothered her right up until the time of the departure. Obviously a significant role played her fear of flying.
We were aware of what we were getting into. January is the rainiest month in the Seychelles, according to some literature it has 22 rainy days.
Being an older and experienced traveller, I prepared for a trip under an umbrella. I also prepared myselfe for something else - that the paradise described in the travel brochures might be "improved" by hordes of Slovak and Russian mafia types, along with other of the less sophisticated, newly-rich vacationers from these countries.
We only noted any mark of noisiness and lack of culture in this peaceful paradise three times. On the Baie Lazare beach on the island of Mahé, we used to frequent the hotel Plantation Club for lunch. The restaurant was near a large pool, we loved the Thai chicken soup and fish specialties. The single floor hotel has 160 rooms in a long row. We encountered a group of young, drunk Englishmen there once. Maybe five of them, but making enough noise and disturbance for more.
On another day, at the next table, there were 5 or 6 people from the Czech Republic. I bet that they were from Brno. They acted as if no one could understand them and they were quite loud. We flew back to Paris with these same Czechs, they were "world champions", being the only ones who stood up and started opening compartments above their heads the instant the plane touched down. An annoyed stewardess rushed to them and made them sit down and fasten the seat belts again.
Last modified January 2005
copyright 2000-2011 © Vlado Branko
|
