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Did you know that in 1881, British General Charles Gordon labeled Seychelles as ‘what is left of the Garden of Eden’ and that it must be ‘preserved for humanity’? Today, it is often said that these islands are a paradise but back then people thought that Seychelles might be THE Paradise. Even more so, it was a common belief that the Tree of Life is still growing on one of these islands. Quite a statement, huh? Nevertheless, this could be the first attempt in human history to make a protected area of land for preservation, even if it was only hypothetical rather than practical. Hard to tell now, except for the fact that the Tree of Life is still growing and we know where to find it.
Making the right itinerary for Seychelles might be quite a daunting task. The island nation has over 150 different islands. At first glance, it might give you a headache, but in reality, there are only 3 main islands with populations and hospitality services. Yes, there are many resorts on private islands but if you want to see Seychelles your focus should be on the main three islands: Mahe, Praslin, and La Digue. The latter one could be done as a day trip, though if you have time, I highly recommend spending more time there.
It doesn’t have to be in this particular order, but I would recommend exploring Praslin before going to Anse Lazio, Anse Georgette, or La Digue. After these, the rest of the island might not excite you as much as it could. It is very common to state that Praslin doesn’t have many beaches but it paints an incorrect image. Most of the island is surrounded by sand but Anse Volbert and Grand Anse are two ridiculously long beaches that cover probably more than half of the sandy areas around the island. Nevertheless, there is much more to explore like beaches in Anse la Blague or Anse Takamaka of Praslin.
I came to the island without any clear plan and made this itinerary based on the comments of local drivers and guesthouse owners. By the end of the article list other popular day-trip ideas, but since I haven’t done it myself, therefore I can’t share my experience.
Every island is beautiful in its own way. – Christopher, Krioulo Tours
While Praslin has some World-Class beaches, the seaside in general is not what best describes the main strengths of the island. The smaller sibling of Mahe is still big enough to boast a surprisingly lavish jungle, this is where Praslin truly expels. Fortunately, it was preserved well enough to maintain a somewhat healthy population of popular endemic species like the National bird of the islands – the Seychelles Black Parrot, and the iconic Coco de Mer. Yes, the famous coconut of Seychelles. You might wonder what’s the fuss about a coconut, but the answer is very simple. It is the largest species of them all. Coco de Mer holds the Worlds Guinness record for being the biggest seed in the world. But even given a unique status, there is more to the coconut than it appears “from first sight”, or should I say – you’ll understand once you see it.
The shape of Coco de Mer is surprisingly similar to the lower part of the human body. Yes, the sexy one. So much so, that the same British Commander I mentioned before thought this tree to be the Tree of Life, therefore, Seychelles must be THE Paradise.
There are only two places in Praslin, and the whole world, where these unique trees do grow. One of them is Vallee de Mai And the other is Fond Ferdinand. Both of them are different but both are plentiful in Coco de Mer and both of them are on the same side of the island. You could easily do both in one day, though they are quite expensive. The local Georgette joked with us that Vallee de Mai must be the most expensive park in the world. That would be another World record.
The park is situated in the deepest part of the island and for a long time has been known as the only place to see Coco de Mer. Today, this is no longer true but Vallee de Mai remains the most popular place to appreciate these unique plants and their seeds. In 2023, only occasionally there have been some days when Fond Ferdinand received more people than Vallee De Mai.
The park was opened only in… And though it is maintained by the same company as Vallee de Mai, Fond Ferdinand is significantly cheaper. Despite that, probably, the most exquisite feature of the park is the hike to one of the peaks on this part of the island from where you can observe the surrounding landscape like La Blague Peninsula, La Digue, and minor islands. The climb is relatively easy but keep in mind that it contains 600 steps divided into 23 stations. So, it is not for everyone. In that case, I would recommend visiting Vallee de Mai.
At certain hours a guided tour to the park is included in the price. You can check the timetable on the official website of Fond Ferdinand.
If you happen to visit Praslin, why don’t spend a day visiting two World-Class beaches on the island Anse Lazio and Anse Georgette? These two are your best bet to compete with the best beaches in Mahe and La Digue, and I’m sure most of you have heard about at least one of them. Despite being located on the same side of a small island, if you want to visit both of them by car or bus, you have to go all the way around Praslin. There is no road connecting the two ends of the island. Luckily, what is not possible by car is possible by foot, there is a beautiful jungle coast trail connecting the two World-Class beaches located in Praslin. It should take you about an hour to complete the hike.
The perfect itinerary would be to enter Anse Georgette via Constance Lemuria resort, then exit it through the jungle entrance, from which you can take the trail towards Anse Lazio.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to traverse the trail connecting Anse Lazio with Anse Georgette due to the unexpected heavy rains during our stay in Praslin.
Usually, it never rains in September, but now it has been two weeks with some rain every day. On the last day, it was raining like in December raining month. – Georgette, local
This beach is almost certainly the most known beach on Praslin and probably comes second to Anse Source d’Argent when it comes to the granite islands of Seychelles. Given the very good PR, I have to admit I expected something more than I saw (keep in mind that after some time the typical spectacular beaches of Seychelles get a bit mundane). Where the main part of Anse Lazio struggles with exceptional rock formations it repays with turquoise waters and the size of the beach itself. It is one of the widest beaches that I have seen in Seychelles.
Nevertheless, if you dig deeper, you’ll find more. Anse Lazio is surrounded by smaller beaches with huge boulders of various shapes. Most notably, Petit Lazio to the north and two smaller beaches to the south, accessed by the hiking trail leading to Anse Georgette.
The areas surrounding the boulders on the sides of the main beach make a surprisingly good snorkeling spot. It is not entirely a World-Class snorkeling site but it has a variety of corals and many colorful fishes.
Given all that, one can easily spend, and probably should, a full day on Anse Lazio – just like our local host told us. If you want to visit Anse Georgette and do the trail between beaches, it is probably better to start with Goergette.
This beach is one of the places that illegally attempted to be blocked out exclusively for the guests of a certain resort. There is a round-a-bout path through the jungle but it is not for everyone all the time. Luckily, the strong community of Praslin won the argument with the resort, and now they must let you in through the territory of the resort to reach the beach. All beaches of Seychelles are public by the local law.
I haven’t met a local who didn’t recommend La Digue. Everyone was like “You must go to La Digue”, “Definitely La Digue”, and so we did (though we didn’t plan it in advance). Forgetting everything that I read on the internet, (which is very contrary about Seychelles in general) I find four reasons to visit this relatively small island next to Praslin:
If Praslin is more wild than Mahe, La Digue is more wild Praslin. If you are not keen on exotic wildlife, don’t worry, migrating between the main beaches surrounding the main settlement still should be suitable for you. Also, like on any other granite island of Seychelles, there are no real threats on the ground.
One of the most fun features of La Digue is that you can reach almost anything on the island with a bike. How to get it? The bike will come to you. After disembarking the ferry you’ll be greeted by a few people who rent bikes and if miraculously you manage to dodge them – plentiful options could be found on the main street by the harbour.
The legendary beach in La Digue is labeled ‘the most beautiful beach in Seychelles’ by many sources. Anse d’Argent is the only beach that I know of where you need to pay to enter it. Don’t worry, it is not like somebody is collecting money on the beach, etc, but it so happens that the main entrance to Anse Source d’Argent is situated within the territory of an old plantation which is turned into a museum nowadays, known as L’Union Estate Farm. The beach is still public nevertheless, if you find a free way to enter, don’t be shy.
Most people come to La Digue not only because of its beauty but because it is remote and the smallest of the three main islands of Seychelles. If you want to experience being alone at a beautiful beach on a remote Island, I recommend trying bad weather. Haha.. Be sure to say hi to Anse Source d’Argent from me.
Have more time? Try one of these:
As you can probably tell from the photos, during my days on Praslin the weather conditions were not perfect. This, of course, protected my skin from a sunburn but it certainly limited my ability to see the full potential of the islands. Praslin and La Digue are wilder than Mahe, it feels more comfortable in the latter during bad days. Nevertheless, if you choose to persist and ignore the rain it is still possible to enjoy your time as it is still very warm just wet.. And the photos don’t look as well. Despite that, I dare to say that I enjoyed my time in both Praslin and La Digue, but it wasn’t the typical time you’d expect once you come to Seychelles. For example, when it is raining, the jungle feels even more exotic and with much fewer mosquitos when it’s sunny. In short, whatever the weather, if you’ll step outdoors in Seychelles, you’ll find yourself on an adventure worthwhile.
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