A trip of a lifetime! 4 days in the Seychelles

For our spring break getaway we decided to go to the Seychelles for a few days. We traveled with our friends the Perrins (who we went to Finland/Estonia with for Christmas 2015... maybe I'll do that blog post next) and we had a fabulous time! I can honestly say we LOVED the Seychelles. Definitely one of my favorite trips! Sorry (not sorry!) for the ridiculous number of pictures in this post. It was too beautiful to not capture every moment!

Because it's hard to avoid terrible flight times leaving Saudi we decided to take advantage of some unused airline miles and book our first leg of the trip to Doha separately and spend the evening with the Perrins before our 2am flight to Victoria, Seychelles. We left home at 11:30, and picked up Lucy before noon. But then our flight to Doha was an hour late. After spending an hour in customs and missing both a real lunch and dinner I was cranky. I swore off flying to Doha ever again--"Travis, next time we come to Doha we're renting a car and driving!"  (Side note: I discovered that there is a Bahrain-Qatar ferry in the works. I really hope this happens! Flying to Doha is ridiculously expensive for only being a 30 minute flight away!) (Side note 9/11/2017--Now Qatar and Saudi are no longer friends, so we won't be traveling through Qatar at all unless they get this resolved)

We arrived at our friends' house and were welcomed with an amazing pork-topped grilled pizza. It tasted so good!! There's something about eating pork when it's illegal that makes it taste even better than normal. (Which is saying something, because it's delicious already!) After dinner we hung out at their place for a few hours. I had fallen asleep with Max when there was a knock at the door. Our taxi driver from the airport had come back to tell me I had left my purse in the car!! Somehow I had not realized it was missing in the 3 hours we'd been at our friends' house. I am SO SO thankful he returned, and he was so honest too. My wallet, phone and diapers were all inside. He was holding my ISG (Lucy's school) ID card that I had only received the day before, and was definitely the most accurate picture of me in my wallet so he was certain it was mine. We gave him an extra nice tip.

Driving to and from the Perrins' in Doha was fun. Middle Eastern cities (I've been to several now!) all have a similar vibe but their own unique characteristics. We saw several businesses that were familiar to us from Saudi, and they also organized their streets similarly. The drivers are much improved over Saudi though! While there's more traffic in Doha, driving around (at least in the middle of the night) didn't seem nearly as perilous as what we're used to. Which was good since we had our children on our laps.

Our flight to Victoria, Seychelles took off on time and was uneventful. There was an extra seat next to us so we were able to bring Max's car seat on board! I think this allowed me to get a little sleep. From the air we could see the islands as we were landing and WOW, what a treat for the eyes this week was going to be! It reminded me of Hawaii... but these islands are not volcanic. They are actually the world's only granitic islands, and they are also the world's oldest islands. It is the only place you can find granite boulders in a tropical setting!

It took a lot longer than anticipated to exit the airport and get our rental car. Pro tip: Get some Euros in whatever airport you're in before you arrive in the Seychelles! The ATM's in the Seychelles only give out the local currency, but you have to pay for your rental car in Euros! This is also common for other large expenditures such as travel agents and even some lodging, for whatever reason. So Travis had to hit up the ATM to get Rupees then stand in a LONG line at a money exchanger to convert them to Euros. By the time he had the cash and was able to pay for the car we were more than ready to be on our way!

Hanging out at the airport waiting for Daddy to get the car

My husband didn't seem to think getting a sim card for data was necessary (T: "IN MY DEFENSE, it was supposed to be included on my work phone but the plan wasn't applied in time..."), so we forged ahead in our rental car with only our senses to guide us. "We know the villa is on the north side of the island". Surely it won't be that hard to find, right?

An hour later, after a wrong turn at a roundabout, driving up a mountain and through a very busy downtown area that we could have bypassed, then after a couple U-turns, we arrived at our amazing villa.

The view was spectacular! The islands of Praslin and La Digue are on the horizon.

All the bedrooms in our villa opened up to the porch and amazing views!

T

This baby has no idea how amazing his nap is right now!

The dining and kitchen areas--also open to the gorgeous view

Of course there's a curvy staircase

The back of the house as seen from the pool. An overabundance of porches!

The villa had five bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, multiple living areas, a good sized kitchen and an incredible infinity pool with an unreal view. The bedrooms were the only rooms that had air conditioning though, which in the Seychellian humidity was necessary! The entire outer wall on the pool side of the house was made of sliding glass doors so we could open it up and create a decent cross breeze.

We have decided that when traveling with a family (or especially with two families!) that AirBNB is the way to go. With 5 people now it's difficult to vacation (read: sleep) in a one room hotel room. And for the price of a suite or two rooms, you can usually find a nice AirBNB that comes with much more space and personal service! You can really win when you double the price of the place and split it with friends, as long as they don't mind cohabitating for the week! The Perrins have become great travel companions, and their kids (Annsley, 8 and Decker, 5) and our kids love hanging out together.

Several people have asked the difference between visiting Seychelles and the Maldives (see post from our 2014 vacation). While both are incredibly beautiful tropical paradises, they are very different. First off, the geography is different, with Seychelles being much more "vertical". This is due to the geology, the Seychelles being granite and the Maldives (at least the island we stayed on) being coral. Second, most Maldives vacations are spent entirely on resorts, with some excursions for snorkeling. Seychelles offers the opportunity to rent a hotel or house and plan more extensive activities... not to mention you see a LOT more of the local activity!

We did four major excursions on this trip: Visiting a couple hundred centenarian turtles on Moyenne island, relaxing on some of the most beautiful beaches on the world on Praslin and La Digue islands, hiking an "easy" trail that ended up being much more than that, and tasting local rums at the Takamaka rum distillery.

Instead of the usual write up, I'm going to let the pictures do the talking for the rest of this post:

The traffic jam we were stuck in on the way to our AirBNB. Notice that we are driving on the left side of the road!
Travis and Dirk did great, but that was a surprise to us when we got there! 

A beautiful view around every corner!

These buses were some of the fastest vehicles on the road,
and they took up every inch of their lane... and often more! It was up to you to get out of the way!

One of my favorite views from the highway!

Driving up to our villa. Not pictured: 5 additional steep, hairpin turns!

Watching a storm hit Praslin island in the distance

The kids (and adults) loved our pool!

Annsley and Max made fast friends. She is such a caring girl!

Sometimes driving down the center of the road seems safest

This was a public beach we wanted to check out. The weather changed our plans. It rained every day, but we didn't mind!

The Lunch Stop!

Did he nap the whole time we were on vacation?

Had it not been raining our kids would have enjoyed the tire swing.

Sillies

Super cool giant snail we found outside the property!

Max winning over the ladies!

We randomly stopped at this public beach on the side of the road. The girls had so much fun running around and climbing on the rocks!

This water was rain runoff from the mountain behind the road. 

Ellie hates being left behind. 

The next day we had signed up for an excursion to Moyenne Island, a small island that had only been inhabited by giant tortoises (and tourists) for close to 100 years.

All ready to go!

Feeding the fish from the boat

Could they be any cuter?

Stretching after a nap... This kid has no idea how awesome it is that he gets to nap on a table on a boat in the Seychelles

I didn't edit this picture! The water and sky actually look like this!

Snorkeling. Or in Lucy and Ellie's case, floating around with dad

Look closely and you'll see Lucy getting a back ride

Just me hanging out on a boat taking pictures

Simply stunning. I couldn't stop taking pictures.

These sunsets and sunrises never got old!

Here's some pics of the sunrise progression on our last morning: (Sorry I can't figure out how to move these to the end without adding a lot of work. I don't get paid for this.)

The last day we went to the Takamaka Rum distillery. They had a really cute little gift shot and a deal for sampling all the rums. Too bad we were flying back to the ME so we couldn't take any with us! They had 4 or 5 different flavors and they were all good, but the coconut was my favorite!

These two are great friends!

The distillery gift shop

We stopped at a convenience store for water. These convenience stores are all over the island, but grocery stores were few and far between.

Looking south from the convenience store

Riding out to Moyenne Island

I think I already shared this pic above but it's so beautiful!!

This next series of pictures is from Moyenne Island:

That big guy is over 80 years old!

Getting a closer look

A collection of sea shells at the education center on Moyenne Island

Can you see the native bird in this picture?

Napping with the gentle giants

This turtle is getting a drink. The orange markings on the back help the researchers identify the turtles.

Check out those long necks!

This series of pics is from our excursion to Praslin and La Digue:

Ice Cream at 10 am? Anything goes on vacation. This is the entrance to the park referred to as "The Garden of Eden". Unfortunately we didn't have time to explore it.

The first beach we saw on La Digue

Ellie was so proud she found this... shell? Rock? Piece of coral?

She's so proud!

Now... for the crème de la crème... Anse Lazio. This is the most stunning place I've ever seen in my life. If I had known, I would have planned to spend DAYS here. One hour was not enough. The sand was the softest, the water the most perfectly clear turquoise, and the waves were SO MUCH FUN! Not to mention the scenery. I would go back in a heartbeat!

The most beautiful beach in the world!! Literally!! I've been to enough beaches now to say that with confidence!

Well hello there Mr. Crab!

So stunning!!

I'll take that sailboat on the right...

Does this pic convey how beautiful it was? Probably not... you should go see for yourself!

This is TOO MUCH FUN!!

Seriously... this is like the most fun they've ever had!

Family pic in the water!

I think I took this picture from the back of the boat as we were leaving the islands. Praslin is on the left, La Digue on the right

While cruising we saw a flying fish!! I didn't get a picture of it, but it flew along side the boat for a good 15 seconds!!

Next stop was La Digue. Again, the pics can't quite describe how stunning the scenery was. Unfortunately this beach was rockier and a little less kid friendly, so we didn't have quite as much fun as we did at Anse Lazio. Here there was a stand selling drinks in coconuts. Can't remember if we bought one. But I do remember that Lucy had to poop. The nearest bathroom was a half mile walk away, and there's no way she was going to make it. So my daughter pooped on the side of the path behind a bush and I covered it up with some large palm fronds. On the most beautiful beach in the world. But that's how traveling with kids goes, eh?

Exploring the granite boulders of La Digue

We weren't snorkeling, but the water was so clear we could see these big fish swimming around us! 

Hard to tell the scale but these fish were huge!

Can't take enough selfies when the scenery is this pretty!

Looking left

Just another nap on a beach for this kid

I wanted a pic of Max with his feet in the water. But he was not having it. So instead I got this sweet one of Travis comforting him :)

Lucy can't get enough salami when we're on vacation :)

These last pictures (yes this blog post is finally almost over) are from the 'easy' hike we took on our final day in the Seychelles. Lucy was not impressed. She whined about how terrible it was the whole time and even told us she was going to write a book about how bad it was. While it was a challenging hike, I think if we hadn't had kids with us it would have been quite enjoyable! It definitely was not easy though--the sign lied.

All smiles before the hike

This was a former tea plantation

The view from the park area was good enough!

Ellie and Annsley at the beginning of the hike. This was the easy part!

WE MADE IT TO THE TOP! Possibly the hottest and sweatiest our family has ever been. Lucy and Ellie were NOT going to smile for this picture.

I had to nurse Max while we were up at the the top. Because this 1.5 hr hike turned into a 3 hour hike. I nearly slipped off the mountain, but we survived.

Stunning views as expected! Glad we have a picture. I was so tired by the time we got there I don't even remember really looking.

This boulder nearly killed Dirk. He was carrying Ellie and somehow moved lightening fast out of the way. I really don't know how we would have gotten down the mountain if it had hit him.

We made it back down!! Travis slipped and nearly crushed Max only once.

And with that, our incredible vacation was over. If I ever get the opportunity to go to the Seychelles again, I would! But I would plan to spend a lot more time on Anse Lazio. An hour, or afternoon excursion, simply is not enough. 

Yep, Max napped the whole time we were in the Seychelles.

She is stand-sleeping. And technically still wearing a seatbelt 😆

He woke up! One last pic with his buddy Annsley before going back to the land of sand.