Mahe: 22.4.2008
Muscat to Dubai to Seychelles was a 14 hour journey, including the 4.5 hour stopover at Dubai. Seychelles, a group of 173 islands, of which only 57 are inhabited, lies off the coast of Kenya, around 3 hours away from it as the jet flies. The flight from Dubai was over deserted sea, when suddenly, out of nowhere, we landed on a bigger speck called Mahe Island, the main landmass of Seychelles.
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We rode in on an airbus, all of 350 passenger capacity and full to the brim with gora tourists. A few Seychellois and we two ‘pore’ Indians were feeling throroughly minoritised. They were all looking forward to a few days of toe-wriggling in the sand. Some would stay for a week, some for a month. April to October is season time at Seychelles.
We rode in on an airbus, all of 350 passenger capacity and full to the brim with gora tourists. A few Seychellois and we two ‘pore’ Indians were feeling throroughly minoritised. They were all looking forward to a few days of toe-wriggling in the sand. Some would stay for a week, some for a month. April to October is season time at Seychelles.
First thing that struck me about Seychelles was the greenery. Whenever we think of Seychelles, we usually thinK of sun and sand and a beautiful woman on the sand soaking up the sun. Perhaps selling sea-shells as well. But the place is absolutely verdant. There are hills with lots of trees and lakes between them. From the airport, which is on the eastern shore, we had to cross to our hotel on the western shore and the road took us across a small hill with mildly winding roads, with glimpses of houses on the mountainside, the sea below and islands in the distance. The ‘information’ girl at the airport was saying that tourists to Seychelles nowadays enjoy the hills as much as the beaches!
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Seychelles has a population of 85,000 inhabitants only. Victoria Town, which is the capital, has a town-centre that is hardly a kilometre long and is perhaps the only road with a divider! All other roads are single-track and fairly narrow, so much so that a Terios practically looks like a Prado on them! But we were really impressed with the cleanliness. Given the fact that here the climate encourages the locals to be mild, friendly and easygoing, the municipal authorities are doing their jobs well. However, public buses are few and far between and dependence on taxis quite high.
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The ride to our beachside hotel ‘Coral Islands’ took around 30 mins, which, by Seychelles standard is a long distance and cost us 200 Rupees ($25). It’s an oldish hotel, tourist-oriented, which meant that the rooms were small and functional and had no TV (you were supposed to be outside enjoying yourselves!). But it had a private beach and a swimming pool and that’s all the holiday-makers wanted. The hotel was full. We freshened up and rested for 1.5 hours before leaving for our first appointment at 11.00 am.......
The ride to our beachside hotel ‘Coral Islands’ took around 30 mins, which, by Seychelles standard is a long distance and cost us 200 Rupees ($25). It’s an oldish hotel, tourist-oriented, which meant that the rooms were small and functional and had no TV (you were supposed to be outside enjoying yourselves!). But it had a private beach and a swimming pool and that’s all the holiday-makers wanted. The hotel was full. We freshened up and rested for 1.5 hours before leaving for our first appointment at 11.00 am.......
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The son of our customer came to pick us up, in T-shirt and three-quarters, for an official meeting. I tell you, in full shirt and trousers, we were feeling like monks at a carnival! We saw his outlet, visited the boat pier where the ferries for the other islands leave from, and finally got dropped near the Clock Tower (city centre), where we dived into a restaurant for a spot of lunch. We had had breakfast at 3.30 am and so were spoiling for a fight!
The son of our customer came to pick us up, in T-shirt and three-quarters, for an official meeting. I tell you, in full shirt and trousers, we were feeling like monks at a carnival! We saw his outlet, visited the boat pier where the ferries for the other islands leave from, and finally got dropped near the Clock Tower (city centre), where we dived into a restaurant for a spot of lunch. We had had breakfast at 3.30 am and so were spoiling for a fight!
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The place was, as expected, full of holiday-makers. The main industry as well as forex-earner for Seychelles is tourism, followed by export of fish (canned and raw). They import everything else. Last January, the Rupee was devalued by 43% against the Euro and prices of commodities have practically doubled. As per our customer who came for tea in the evening, an average Seychellois with a large family will have a very tough time making both ends meet. He himself has a bunglow nearby facing the sea where he lives with his girlfriend; they are DINK and so find it comfortable. Otherwise, the government is now selling islands to Arab sheikhs to get foreign exchange.......
The place was, as expected, full of holiday-makers. The main industry as well as forex-earner for Seychelles is tourism, followed by export of fish (canned and raw). They import everything else. Last January, the Rupee was devalued by 43% against the Euro and prices of commodities have practically doubled. As per our customer who came for tea in the evening, an average Seychellois with a large family will have a very tough time making both ends meet. He himself has a bunglow nearby facing the sea where he lives with his girlfriend; they are DINK and so find it comfortable. Otherwise, the government is now selling islands to Arab sheikhs to get foreign exchange.......
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We spent the evening on my room balcony drinking Bacardi Rum, looking over the pool, the poolside restaurant and the rock band, and the sea at high tide — and realised that all the restaurants had closed. We were left with the wide choice of a tuna pizza vs a tuna burger as room service and we polished off a large tuna pizza with a lot of valour.
We spent the evening on my room balcony drinking Bacardi Rum, looking over the pool, the poolside restaurant and the rock band, and the sea at high tide — and realised that all the restaurants had closed. We were left with the wide choice of a tuna pizza vs a tuna burger as room service and we polished off a large tuna pizza with a lot of valour.
Mahe: 23.4.2008
Woke up at 7.30 am and went for a pre-breakfast swim. We walked along the beach for some distance before taking a dip. The sand was white and fine. There were hardly any brown grains. No sea shells, at least on this beach. The water was lovely, absolutely clear, low in salt and smooth at the surface, ideal for floating and snorkeling. We dried off standing around in the sun and Radha impressed the goras by doing a head-stand at the water’s edge. We then had a hearty breakfast and went for our morning meeting.
Our hotel is actually at the wrong coast compared to our main business area but it was one of the cheaper decent hotels (at $133 per day) and it took us only 20 mins to cross over anyway. Seychelles is about to go through an inflationary spiral and all rates will probably go up in the near future. Fuel prices have also risen from 6 Rupees to 15 Rupees per litre and THAT is going to cause some distress, for sure.
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Here people, though easygoing, are quite punctual. They do not have the laziness of the typical African, and do not like to consider themselves African for that matter. Apparently the Creole spoken here is quite different (and superior to) the Creole spoken in Mauritius, which is not too far away.......
Here people, though easygoing, are quite punctual. They do not have the laziness of the typical African, and do not like to consider themselves African for that matter. Apparently the Creole spoken here is quite different (and superior to) the Creole spoken in Mauritius, which is not too far away.......
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Our lunch was at the same cafe as yesterday, at town centre. Whereas today I had roast chicken, Radha repeated his plate of french fries. We followed this up with a stict at an internet cafe, sending off e-mails and reports, and returned to our hotel to await our pickup at 7.30 pm for a Creole dinner.
Our lunch was at the same cafe as yesterday, at town centre. Whereas today I had roast chicken, Radha repeated his plate of french fries. We followed this up with a stict at an internet cafe, sending off e-mails and reports, and returned to our hotel to await our pickup at 7.30 pm for a Creole dinner.
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I woke from a brief nap at 6.00 pm to find the sky overcast and the ground wet, the leaves dripping. A stiff wind was blowing droplets off the palm fronds in front of my balcony. It was very reminiscent of Indian rains. In Seychelles, such sudden showers happen throughout the year. Although April to September is the declared season time, winter is not at all cold. Now the tropical atmosphere is almost palpable, the air full of scents, the breeze sluggish — it all makes you feel like lying down on a deck chair and putting your feet up!
I woke from a brief nap at 6.00 pm to find the sky overcast and the ground wet, the leaves dripping. A stiff wind was blowing droplets off the palm fronds in front of my balcony. It was very reminiscent of Indian rains. In Seychelles, such sudden showers happen throughout the year. Although April to September is the declared season time, winter is not at all cold. Now the tropical atmosphere is almost palpable, the air full of scents, the breeze sluggish — it all makes you feel like lying down on a deck chair and putting your feet up!
Our customer hosted the dinner at ‘Boat House’ near our hotel, famous for their Creole cuisine, with a variety of fish dishes. Surprisingly, there was a wide veg spread as well, including avocado and breadfruit. Fish dishes included dried fish ‘do-piyaza’, fish curry and tuna steak. Chicken additionally. We tasted the local beer as well and it was quite smooth.
Dinner here is an early affair and we wound up by 9.30 pm.
Mahe: 24.4.2008
Our last morning at Seychelles went quite well, starting with the pre-breakfast dip, as usual. The sea had more waves and swells today, and the temperature was cool enough to wake us up. We had a meeting at the hotel at 10.00 am and another one on the way to the airport.
At the airport, we found that our flight was delayed first by one hour and then by another hour. When we told Kenyan Air officials that we’d miss our connecting flight to Mombasa, he smiled and said that the delay was on account of a group of Indians coming to Seychelles via Nairobi, who had gone missing at Nairobi airport. Bit of national guilt being dished out, I’d say. We did end up missing the connecting flight although we practically sat on the head of the Immigration Officer at Narobi to give us our visa quickly (Our visa application forms were the worse scribbles ever). The next flight was at 10.30 pm, 3.5 hours later.
.Weather during the last few hours at Seychelles had been sunny and sultry, which had cooled down around 2.00 pm after a heavy downpour. Nairobi, in contrast, was a pleasant 20 degC and Mombasa, when we finally landed, was at 25 degC. The White Sands hotel was a big resort-type one, located by the sea, although we were too tired to investigate. Since dinner was part of the tariff, we dozed through a couple of courses and hit the bed at 1.30 am.
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