If you don't like high heat and humidity or white sandy beaches (65 of them on Mahe), then the Seychelles are not for you. We heard from so many people that were here for the first time that they never experienced such temperatures or sticky humidity. Refusing to walk anywhere, most of them took taxis. The message on the front of our newsletter said it would take a 20 minute walk to the town center, but we think that was way off. In this heat (even early in the morning) we estimate the walk was double that. Some of our older friends turned around and went back to the ship when they reached halfway. Like we said, these islands are not for everyone.
We left the ship before 10am and it was already over 80 degrees outside. Our destination was the National Botanic Gardens, a 100 year old property of 5 acres. This garden was located not too far from the pier, and we guess it took about 45 minutes to walk there. Of course, we did stop along the way to chat with friends. A funny thing, we had researched this park online, as well as visited here often in the past and discovered the entrance fee was 100 Seychellois rupee. When we arrived at the entrance gate, the fee was 250 SCR. We wonder if these prices are current, or do they change depending on if a cruise ship is in port? We have no way of knowing unless anyone reading this has visited here recently, like on a Grand Africa voyage. If this is part of a tour from the ship, the fee is incorporated in the excursion price.
Anyway, there were many folks from the ship just like us, doing this on our own. We all lined up to sign in on their guest book, then went to the office to pay for tickets. No one checks these tickets, but they could at any time. We had intended on using our credit card, since we did not get any local rupee. The card we used did not work after trying it three times. So we were allowed to pay in US dollars. The fee was $15 each, which when we figured the math, we got a deal as it should have been a bit more. Oh well, we were happy to get in and do the hike which is mostly uphill.
We headed for the tortoise enclosure which has been expanded from the old one. We used to go into a recessed pit area with several of the large tortoises and feed them. If you were not careful, you could trip over the tortoises who got aggressive for more leaves to eat. Now there are many sizes of tortoises but they have much more space and a pond in a much larger enclosure. Several folks made their way here, and even a group with two young girls that are on the ship. They had fun feeding the branches of leaves to each tortoise. And like before, when they downed the leaves, they came looking for more.
From here, we went uphill little at a time to other sections of the garden. Trails led past many indigenous plantings like palm trees and forest type trees. The pandanus tree is here, which is the one that produces the odd-looking fruit we saw in the Maldives. Another more famous palm tree here is the one that produces the coco de mer, the world's largest nut. These trees can grow to 30 meters tall and live hundreds of years. It takes 20 years before it is ready to produce the first fruit. Now a days, these coco de mer nuts are the cultural symbol of the islands.
There are many benches along the paths and we took advantage of those in the shade. One group of guests from the ship came down a hillside of lawn leaving the lily pond. Seeing the extra large fan I had brought with me, they asked if it was for sale. On days like this one, I never leave home without it. It was most useful today for sure. Then we headed up the grassy hill to the lily pond which was so full of blooming plants, you could barely see the pond. There were many dragonflies, so that told us there was a lot of flying insects. Some of which were biting bugs. We did not linger very long here.
There was a grove of durian trees, although we could not find the picture of the actual tree. There was a sign along the road that said watch for falling durian. They are large enough to kill a person, like a coconut, and if that doesn't work, the smell will do it. We kept thinking we were smelling something dead, but now we know we were smelling the durian fruit. It is so offensive that it is forbidden for the crew to bring them onboard. For those from Indonesian, durian is a fruit they like and had grown up with. The guys always say it is really good if you don't smell it while eating it. We will pass….thanks.
We took our sweet time going deeper into the dense jungle of tropical trees, ferns, and bamboos. The crowd thinned out the higher we got. We could hear birds, but did not see most of them. There were many common mynahs, and pigeons. But the best sighting had to be a few tropic birds, the graceful white and black birds that trail two long tail feathers behind them. Also in the canopy were several fruit bats, although not as many as we used to see. We made it up as high as the Chinese garden and the helicopter landing spot. There were few people up in this corner. Turning left, we made our way along the granite cliffs to a small creek that flowed from the top of the mountain. This happened to be where the restrooms are located, so it was a busy spot.
From here, it was downhill all of the way. In every opening of the canopy, we stopped and watched for the tropic birds to come back. They did, but there were few here today and it was probably too hot for them to fly. After over an hour of exploring here, we were in dire need of something wet and cold. Like a beer perhaps? So we headed back to town, and had a repeat lunch like we had yesterday at the Coco Blu Bar and Restaurant. Today it was much more crowded, but we lucked out and got the same table that we had yesterday. Many of the guests from the ship had done tours yesterday, but went to downtown today. Several of them were here like us, enjoying the breeze and the beers. Once again, we ordered our favorite Hawaiian pizza and more than one Eku beer. It is another local brew like Seybrew, but harder to find we heard. Dessert was three scoops of vanilla, chocolate and caramel ice cream in a glass. We shared of course.
Time to move on, we took a different street back to the main road, and followed the marina taking a short cut through a park. Back onboard by 3pm, we still had some time before the all aboard time at 5:30pm. It was so nice to cool down and have ice cold sodas, followed by more ice water. The heat had done a number on us and we needed to re-hydrate. Today we did not have any cooling rain, so it remained warm and sticky until the sun set.
We left the port right near 5:30pm, since everyone must have been onboard. The sun set behind small islands and dark clouds by 6:20pm as we sailed out of the Seychelles. We now have 1085 nautical miles to reach Zanzibar, Tanzania two days from now. And according to Captain Friso, we may have showers on the way. He said the weather conditions near Maputo, Mozambique are not looking so good, so we do not now what to expect there. Sometimes the swells are too high and we cannot safely dock there. Time will tell.
Dinnertime had some nice items. It was Caesar salads for both of us followed by one short rib entrée and a chef's burger on a bun. Yes, one of us had a hamburger with fries. So much fun…simple and very good. The burger must have been ½ pound. Dessert was a sliced banana with hot fudge sauce. Most folks left the dining room early. We suspect the two days of heat and touring took a toll on most folks. Tina from the Pinnacle Grill passed by us and stopped to chat. Usually she never leaves her restaurant, but she admitted that she had one table all evening. That's a record.
A comedian, Jim David, was the entertainer this evening in the World Stage. Titled "for immature adults only", he promised a laugh-filled evening with this new show. That is if the audience had the strength to laugh this late.
Back in the room we had forms to fill out for both Tanzania and Mozambique visas. We do have the option of not going ashore in either country, and we would not need to buy the visas. That is most fair we think.
Looking forward to two days at sea to recuperate.
Bill & Mary Ann
