Praslin Archives - Escapes From The Little Red Dot

Seychelles 2018 Day 9 – Mahe and The Magic Circus of Samoa

Posted on February 17, 2018March 17, 2018 by ziyi

Mommy woke up early to prepare the meals while I made some milk for K before returning to bed. The next thing I knew it was 8 and everything was put on hyper mode.

We had a plane to catch at 955am to Mahe and I rushed to pack the luggage and got K prepared and dressed. Then I loaded the luggage into the car first before mommy and K followed behind. Returned the beach towels and the umbrella and as the lady tried her best to settle the final invoice, she wasn’t sure if there was anything extra to charge. There was supposedly some extras but technically we didn’t ask for an extra bed and therefore shouldn’t have any charges. Finally after struggling with the invoice for 10mins, mommy signed off a receipt and we left.

Then it was a 20mins drive to the airport in Praslin. Supposed to return a full tank for the car, in the end we skipped pumping gas all together and arrived at the carpark of the small airport at around 915am. The staff for the Capricorn car rental was there waiting and upon checking the car conditions and the fuel tank, charged me 200rupees before we bade each other farewell.

Check in was done upon entering the front of the airport and we were given our tickets before we proceeded to the left for the gate 1min walk away. At that time, we were the only people at the gate waiting and there were 2 shops opened, one was a jewellery store and another selling souvenirs. Our plane hadn’t arrive and we spent the waiting time window shopping and having our bread for breakfast.

Soon the propeller plane arrived and we walked through the gate with another 5 people to board the tiny plane. This was a first propeller plane ride for K. The take off was smooth and swift as the runway didn’t have the length to allow a long takeoff. The 20mins journey was smooth, and mommy felt this Air Seychelles flight option was even better than the Cat Cocos ferry ride, for almost the same price. Once we arrived in Mahe airport, we had to make a dash to the building as the skies drizzled.

Immediately past the doorway was the luggage reclaim area. There was no physical belt and people were expected to pick up direct from the staff at the door. We were surprised to find many unclaimed luggage, not sure if the people realized the location of luggage reclaim.

Called Absolute Cars rental staff and again he was late and would need another 15mins. So we took a break ourselves ordering some drinks from the cafeteria there while the rain continued to pour outside. Met up with the staff who then waited for us to complete having our drinks before driving to the pickup location to handover the car. Since the paperwork was completed on the first leg of our tour, it was just a quick check on the condition and the fuel and we took over the car.

We first drove to the town center of Mahe, Victoria. There was a carpark next to Sir Selwyn market and by the time we arrived after going through a busy town jammed with cars, we couldn’t get a carpark after waiting for a bit. Asking the attendants there didn’t help as they asked me to park by the road if there were any available. So we drove around town and somehow we ended up at Francis Rachel street where we found a parking lot which was pretty empty.

We walked past Nouvobanq and wanted to exchange more Seychelles Rupees but they were closed by the time we arrived as it was a Saturday. We proceeded to go around town, taking photo of the Seychelles Big Ben. Then we walked to Sir Selwyn market to take a walk and mommy bought some vegetables. There were some shops on the 2nd level selling clothes and stuff but we didn’t get anything else.

Victoria Clock tower, aka Big Ben of Seychelles.

We walked around and found a toyshop called Toybox and bought a wooden horn for K and a shaker for a niece back home. After we exited, the shop closed for the day too. A quick walk to the Hindu temple for a photo shot before we returning to the carpark. On the way, we entered a Taste of Italy cafe to buy pizza and pasta for takeaways and exchange money at Money Stretcher for 1euro to 16.8rupees. By the time we got onto the car, the road had less traffic and we were on our way to Marquise Villas. The weekends really turn the main town into a ghost town.

Hindu temple, Arul Mihu Navasakthi Vinayagar

30mins drive to our accommodation for the last 2days of Seychelles and I slowed down upon arrival at the location showed on google maps. The apartment staff came to the car and guided us into the private carpark and shielded us from the rain to the doorstep of the apartment with umbrellas. While they did an introduction of the apartment, another staff helped bring down all the other barang barang.

The apartment was just next to the sea, sitting atop some boulders where the waves crashed against just below. There was a nice veranda with a hammock and a bed and some sitting area. A compact but complete kitchen, dining area and living room with cable tv and a modern designed toilet. There was aircon near a king size bed. The apartment staff was very friendly and gave us a local phone to contact them if we needed help.

Open air compound attached to the villa.

We settled down for our packet lunch and then it was nap time for K. K was already feeling tired and going to sleep took only a while. The staff told us that the beach just opposite the Vimal shopping center was a good location for snorkeling and so I left for it, borrowing the snorkeling gears of goggles and flippers found in the apartment.

There were some locals fishing and selling big fishes by the road. I left my slippers on the rock and proceeded into the water with waves coming straight at the beach. I took a gulp of sea water after a while in the water as I was really rusty in snorkeling but later get the hang of it, trying to take some photos with my waterproofed camera. There weren’t a lot to see and my camera was behaving weirdly so I didn’t stay too long.

Upon return to the apartment, found mommy preparing meals while K was still napping. Took a bath and sunned the wet clothes at the lines at the veranda before joining K in bed for a rest.

Around 6plus, K woke up and I got him dressed quickly as we were going to the Samoa circus. As the sun have set, the streets became dark illuminated only by sparsely distributed street lamps and many cars on the road in both directions.

We arrived at the circus at 7plus for the 7pm show and parked along the main road as the inner carpark seemed full. Purchased the cheapest tickets for 225rupees per adult and 125rupees for kid. There were better seats available but we didn’t go for that.

We bought some food at the counters just after the entrance and ordered 2 hot dog buns for 80rupees. Presented the tickets to the staff on the inside and were showed some empty seats. We were lucky to get the front seats of our category. Fed K in the often dimmed lighting after we downed the hot dogs and watch the show at the same time. Also bought K a wand that he was so amused with, for 25rupees. There was an intermission at the 1hr mark where we could get out of our uncomfortable benches ( the most expensive seats came with back rests) to walk about before returning for the remaining hour. It was a new experience for K who hadn’t seen a circus show before, one that had clowns, acrobatics, aerialists, magicians and death defying motorcycles in a ball cage.

The show ended at around 930pm where there was a chance for audience to take photos with the circus crew for 100rupees but we gave that a miss. It was then a 30mins drive back, similar to the drive there difference only with less cars.

We returned back to the apartment and started the night routine of cleaning up and preparing for bed. It was after 11pm that we slept.

Seychelles 2018 Day 8 – Curieuse island, Giant Tortoise and Anse Lazio beach

Posted on February 16, 2018March 17, 2018 by ziyi

The day started early as we had a boat to catch. Mommy woke up as early as 630am to start meals preparations while I lazed in bed. Closer to 8am, i tried to wake K up as he seemed to be still sound asleep. It took a while before he woke up, fussy. The trip till date must have gotten everyone tired. We changed into new clothes as it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, including new socks.

As it was almost 9 before we left for our boat, K skipped breakfast. Reference to the poster that was sent to my FB messenger, it said that the Sagittarius boat taxis was located next to Paradise Sun. As we drove into Paradise Sun and after checking with the reception, they could be reached via the beach. Since the carpark was full, I was told to park in a corner except for blocking the main entrance so I left the car near the roundabout and we walked through the resort to the beach.

The Sagittarius boat taxis was housed in a hut and there was a short queue already with people requesting different boat trips. The lady actually kept a record of us coming and we paid 50euros for 2 adults to go to Curieuse Island. We were given a kids size life jacket and boarded a speedboat together with another couple. The speedboat needed to be boarded from the beach and so I took off my sneakers and walked barefooted to board.

The couple dropped off at a tiny beautiful island of St. Pierre, surrounded by turquoise waters that seemed like a great place for snorkeling. There were another 2 boats that were there for groups of snorkeling people.

Next the boat zoomed across the calm waters and in 5mins we arrived at the beach front near the tortoise area. The boatman helped us to pay the 200rupees per person island fees and as we informed that we would only take two hours, we were then told to meet at the beach at the Doctor’s house at 1130am.

For the first 1hr, K was quite fussy upon arrival but slowly warmed up to the free roaming giant tortoise walking around. We saw some baby tortoise at a small sheltered area and later went to a group of tortoises under the tree shades to try to feed them. It was fun to see them and to take photos with them and to try to feed them.

Then it was time to walk to the other beach which the boatmen told us would take about an hour. So after washing my feet with the water tap, I put on my socks and sneakers before carrying K and started to trek on the path towards our rendezvous location.

The trek was easy if we were walking without load but this was quite challenging when you have a carry a 12kg boy all the way. The path wasn’t straightforward, as some of the path up and down the hills were rocky and uneven. We took about 45 mins to get through, with some stopping on the wooden path to look at crabs and K doing some slow walking on the bridge coupled with one or two rest points.

Sign showing directions either to tortoise or Doctor’s house.

Tortoise wanting to cross the bridge too?

Immediately upon arrival at the Doctor’s house, we left the barang barang with mommy on a bench while K and I went to look in the Doctor’s house. The 1st floor was an exhibit on the history of the house and island that I didn’t spend any time on as K wasn’t interested while the second floor had some display associated with the wildlife of the island.

The boatman arrived a couple of minutes after 1130 and we all boarded the boat as he pulled it closed enough for us to get onboard (after I signaled for him to come closer as we were not dressed to get wet). Then it was a short 5mins boat ride back to Cote D’Or beach on Praslin.

We thanked the boatman and the lady who helped us off the boat (the boatman also returned the island fees tickets to us which should have been returned earlier) and went to one of the showers to wash off the sand (K had a little bit of fun scooping pool water) and proceeded to drive back to the apartment. I got off to return K’s meals containers and mommy brought back slippers for us to change us and we were then on our way to the best beach of Praslin, Anse Lazio.

The drive there was supposedly about 20mins but there were a couple of curves up and down the hill. We passed through a couple of beaches that looked pretty too but didn’t have time to stop. By the time we arrived, we saw a parking lot and a sign that say that we should park here as the lots near the beachfront would most likely be full. So as an obedient tourist, I did.

As K had fallen asleep, mommy carried him and I took the rest of the barang barang. We walked a short 5mins walk to the Bonbon Plume restaurant, passing by another carpark lot that looked almost full but I would have gotten a lot if I drove in. We also passed by a small fenced area where there were giant tortoises and one was making out so loudly (2nd one I saw this trip) that must have woken K up.

The restaurant was right in front of Anse Lazio beach and therefore the price came with it. We ordered crab curry and catch of the day and these came with a big bowl of rice, basket of bread and a small bowl of lentils. I was out taking some photos and arrived back to find the plates covered with my towel as mommy didn’t have hands to wave the flies (again!) away as she fed K.

The fish was soft and nice as usual and I found the crab quite meaty and soft too, a little different from the crabs we had in Singapore. Mommy found it an issue to deshell and eat the crab but that was the only problem I guessed. The whole meal came up to 1025rupees as we had mango juice, apple juice, a coconut that didn’t taste sweet unlike those in Singapore, and scoop of vanilla ice cream that K loved.

I brought K out to crash into the waves for a couple of times before we went to the toilet to clean up. Was warned by the staff there not to use the sink and was questioned if I was one of the restaurant guest in which I answered in a not so friendly manner. I asked for an alternative in which she brought us to the shower at the back and turned on the water for us to wash up. “Asked and we will show you.” Yup, got it.

Brought K back partially wet and used the beach towel to cover him as we drove all the way back to the apartment. Immediately we washed down all the sand in the bathroom and got ourselves ready for the afternoon nap.

All three of us knocked out soon enough but the evening part was more of the same old same old routine, since there was no real night life in Seychelles. Mommy had cooked her dinner and after all of us took a bath, we proceeded out for dinner. Thought we could get it from the takeaway mobile but it appeared to have closed so we returned to Pirogue Restaurant . This time there was a band singing slow happy beachy songs while we had our meals. I made my way to KKT supermarket to buy a bottle of mineral water so that we had enough to cook K’s meal the next day, before meeting mommy and K at the restaurant.

We ordered pasta for dinner, mine curried flavor with seafood while mommy’s seafood with spinach, but because the cheese turned her off, we had to switch (since curry flavour covered cheese well). She spilled her lime juice and we shifted table so that I could eat better, suggested by one of the kind staff.

While K had fun with the steering wheel there, we finished the dinner in peace (more or less). With the addition of a mineral water for mommy to drink and my pretty nice coconut shake, the meal cost 605rupees.

We returned to the apartment for the routine night stuff with the addition of packing as this was the last night in Praslin. What made the night slightly more exciting was that we saw spiders in the room, not the common small ones that we were used to in Singapore, but those with the legs spread out reaching the size of my 3yr old son’s hand. Not one but 2! Thankfully these crawlies were just as afraid as we were of them, they quickly ran out of sight.

After K’s night cartoons of Messy goes to Okido and Jarmies, I struggled through 2 books of storytelling before we all went to bed.

Seychelles 2018 Day 7 – Valle de Mai and the Coco de Mer

Posted on February 15, 2018March 14, 2018 by ziyi

Everyone slept in late and only woke up after 8am. Mommy woke up to prepare lunch for K while I stayed in bed with K who woke up 8 plus. I sent a message via FB messenger to ask about the boat schedule to Curieuse Island, to plan for the activity for the day. After we washed up, I went to the reception to ask about breakfast and they mentioned that breakfast will be served at the apartment itself. So I agreed to that at a cost of 15Euros per adult.

Soon one of the staff brought a tray of fruits and bread and a jar of fruit juice and tea. She also made used of our kitchen to cooked 4 sunny-side-up. K had a bowl of cereals. The birds here were very fast, and while we didn’t realized, I found them already on the table about to dig in before I quickly shoo them away.

I realized the accommodation also offered boat trips to Curieuse at 50euros per pax inclusive of island fees. This was about 10Euros more than what Sagittarius boat taxis were offering but they hadn’t reply. Starfish boat charter have 2 timings of 9am and the other at 130pm.

We decided to visit the Valle de Mai today instead, and before driving out, I got the message reply saying that we could come in anytime. We would check them out the next day and drove our way to the UNESCO forest of Valle de Mai.

Before reaching, we stopped by ISPC supermarket to see if we could get any mosquito spray but it wasn’t sold there. Then another 10mins drive up the curvy road before we turned into the carpark of entrance.

We met one of the guides that mentioned that she would be taking people into the forest for 150rupees per adult and so we agreed to follow her. Mommy went to purchase the tickets for 700rupees and a mosquito spray from the shop there. After using the restroom and applying the repellent, we walked with the guide into the forest.

The 1hr guided walk was pretty informative and we definitely learnt a lot more from her information of the many different species within the forest, the Coco de mer plant and how it germinate, how to determine their age. At a certain point in the forest trail, she left us to complete the remaining 15mins back to the exit ( there was a much longer one but as it was repetitive and K was getting fussy, we took the shorter one). The repellent seemed to work against the mosquitoes. Everything seemed well until K became fussy and wanted to go home. He became uncooperative even with my handphone. I quickly stole a shot with the famous coco de mer seed before we exited the forest. It must have been the humid weather and him being bored. Bought a souvenir from the shop there, and a tee for K and visited the small museum opposite the stall that had some exhibits before we took the car and returned back to the apartment.

On the way back we stopped by a meat store Rosebelle store that sold meat and some other things like vegetables and drinks. We bought some pork and drinks and carrots and got back on the road.

After we parked at our apartment, I entered the cleaned up apartment to place the stuff we bought in the kitchen while mommy brought K to the next door for lunch, at La Goulue.

Mommy ordered a prawns with chips and I had curry fish. The food was overall decent but the flies flying around trying to sneak a landing on the food were quite annoying. We ended the lunch in the hot weather with a nice scoop of vanilla icecream, for 545rupees.

Back at the apartment, we took a short shower and changed into something comfortable to take an afternoon nap. It was already 3pm plus coming to 4 when we all fell asleep.

About 2 hours later, the night routine started with mommy and her meal preparations while I entertained K with his toys before we got out to the Cote D’Or beach before the sunset.

It was low ride and we played around in the calm waters and small waves. I carried K walking towards the sea trying to find fishes to see. There were really tiny ones and no sea cucumber which he wanted to see. Suddenly from our backs, two boys were saying something like “No shark”? That got me startled a little but as the water was clear, we didn’t see any sharks. As they got closer in the waters they started to throw lines with a attached bait and I asked if they were fishing for sharks. They replied affirmatively but I wasn’t sure if they understood what I meant.

After a couple more water plays and photos of the beach at sundown, we went back to take a nice shower and dressed up for dinner. Took a quick look on TripAdvisor and there was a Cafe des Arts nearby that was high in position and so we drove there. It was a small street that seemed to led into village rather than the beach but on reaching the end of the road, there was a parking space.

A security guard stood nearby and asked if we had reservations but we didn’t. He told us to park the car first and as we got off, he said that there was a dress code and took us to walk through the beach entrance instead of through the resort itself. From a distance to the dining area, he signaled to a lady staff who came over and I asked if we could have dinner here. She said that the restaurant didn’t cater for kids and pointed us to Pirogue Restaurant & Bar lodge instead. Too bad.

The guard led us back the same route and explained that the restaurant could be reached via walking but for a car, we needed to make a turn back on to the main road and a left into Cote D’or esplanade road, the same street where we had our lunch on first day, closed to our apartment.

Drove there in less than 5mins and parked just opposite the restaurant, that also belonged to Pirogue Restaurant . The restaurant was pretty packed but we managed to get a table.

While we waited for our meals of chicken and mushroom spaghetti and sweet and sour pork noodles, plus tomato soup, a cooler drink and a banana milkshake, K ate his pasta with the boiled pork mommy bought at the meat shop in the afternoon. The pork was tough though.

The chilled tomato soup was something different as we were expecting a warm one but it was nice, cool and slightly spicy. Then the large plate of spaghetti and noodles came and we already knew that we would be well fed this meal. The mains were ok but mommy thought that her pork was more sweet than sour, typical of the foodstuff here and very tough meat too. K was well behaved throughout, focused on completing his dinner so as to return to the apartment to watch his new favorite cartoon called Messy goes to Okido.

We paid the bill of 759rupees and drove back to the apartment. While we all prepared for the night, washing and cleaning, K stayed in front of the Telly for Little Ponies, Messy goes to Okido and Jarmies before we go sleep with a storybook and a bottle of milk.

Seychelles 2018 Day 6 – Valentine’s on Praslin

Posted on February 14, 2018March 13, 2018 by ziyi

It was a moving day with a ferry booked at 1030am to Praslin and as usual, we woke up early to pack and prepare K’s meals. K woke up close to 8 and I had to motivate him to get prepared by bringing him his toothbrush and changing his clothes. After some persuasion, we got out of the room to have breakfast at the same dining area as the day before.

After we spent some time at the fusball machine, the staff served the same drinks we had yesterday. I asked for sunny-side-up this time around and that came soon after the fruit platter of mango, banana and papaya was served. The toast this time came with a small dish of jam and 4 slices of ham.

We finished our meal at 915 and went back up to the room to bring our luggage down. Couldn’t find the landlord initially but she appeared and we handed over the keys. Was informed of transport arrangements when we first checked in but we thought we would just push the luggage to the jetty since it was 935 already.

The short stroll with K seated on top of one of the luggage drew friendly attentions from few of the locals as they rode by on their bicycles. We soon reached the jetty office and learning from the initial boat trip, I brought my printed paper to the Inter Island Boats office at the jetty. After queuing for a bit, the counter staff told me to go direct to the jetty as the company was different – Inter Island Ferries. I knew that the companies were different but that was the closest I could find and I tried my luck.

Walked to the jetty and asked one of the staff there and he informed us to just push our luggage there and wait for the ferry and handover the paper to the staff later on. Much simpler than what we had in Mahe.

Back at the jetty office we sat on the benches while K entertained an Angmo mother and her daughter with his stories of his wooden giant tortoise and roller coasters. It was quite amusing to see the chatty boy going on and on with strangers.

When the ferry pulled in at the jetty, we made our way to lined up behind a short line of passengers while those onboard disembarked and had their luggage unloaded. Then we boarded by handing over our luggage to the staff who loaded into the boat immediately as I handed over the paper. There were passengers who paid on the spot for tickets.

We went on to the second level but under shelter and enjoyed the 15mins transfer to Praslin. K didn’t feel unwell and that was great, compared to the first boat trip to Praslin!

A far away tiny island view from the ferry.

Once we disembarked, we found a lady holding up a name board with my name on it. Immediately we approached her and was welcome with a handshake. She helped with one of the luggage after it was unloaded and we boarded her taxi that took us to the Capricorn car rental 5mins drive from the jetty. In the small office, we were once again welcomed by the staff who proceeded to carry out the paper works and introduction of the island with a map and then charged 180euros for 3days of i10 grand rental (excess 3500euros). A car check later (luggage already loaded in) we were on our way to the apartment 10mins drive away.

We arrived at L’Hirondelle guest house at around noon and went to the reception to check in. The place looked nice and was near the beach just across the road. Although we were early, the room was ready as we waited and sipped on our welcome drinks. We were given a apartment on the ground level with open concept living room and kitchen. The bedroom and bathroom looked nice but didn’t come with a tub.

Opens directly to the living room and kitchen.

We then drove around in search for lunch, first visiting the stretch of road with restaurants and shops along the Cote D’or esplanade. Didn’t see anything striking and proceeded to drive further north but didn’t expect to not find anything after Raffles so we made a Uturn. By this time K had already fallen asleep so we returned to that steet to find a restaurant Les Lauriers, but didn’t realized that they close on Wednesday’s. Since K was sleeping we decided to drive to ISPC supermarket that we had past along the way from the car rental to get some groceries.

Parked in front of the ISPC supermarket, mommy went down to get the food while I looked after K who had by now woken up from the transferring from mommy to me. He became grouchy until mommy came back and we drove back to the apartment to put the supermarket stuff ( there weren’t much choices in the supermarket and they were expensive) in the fridge. We later drove back to an Italian restaurant Da Luca pizzeria to have our lunch.

Ordered an Octopus curry and Penne allo Norma, a beer and mineral water for 610rupees. The octopus curry was really delicious I thought. Although we would like to have ice cream for dessert, there weren’t any ice cream for sale.

We went over to the KKT supermarket nearby to get more foodstuff like milk and water. Then proceeded across the street to get 2 fresh fishes direct from fisherman who should have just returned from the sea, for 75rupees. He then prepared the fish for us while we went to get plastic bags to bring back the fish. Mommy also bought some fruits from the fruit seller nearby.

We returned to the apartment and prepared K for the afternoon nap. This was when we found out that due to the open concept design, it could get really noisy. Our neighbors were talking really loudly and the noise permeate through the vented doors and into the bedroom. Thankfully K managed to fall asleep. I did for a while but the beer was giving me a headache.

Mommy started the meal preparations at 5ish, cooking the fish that she bought which she claimed was really fresh. K woke up at 6, and we all took our baths and prepared ourselves (dress code for man to be in trousers) for a Valentines dinner at the TripAdvisor number 1 restaurant in Praslin.

While we were about to leave, the rain started to drizzle and I couldn’t get an umbrella from the reception because it was closed. So we hurried to the car with just one umbrella.

The drive there was difficult to say the least, the sparsely lighted street coupled with the rain made visibility low. Furthermore, as we had to drive to the other coast, we had to go through the mountainous roads that had bends but no light reflectors so I just took my time to drive. The headache added to the struggle.

After some 30mins of driving, google led me to the middle of nowhere and I had to stopped to recheck the map. Fortunately it was just a few more meters down the road where we arrived at the carpark of a posh (better) looking restaurant.

Les Rochers spacious interior oozed luxury and the staff recommendation for a seat elsewhere to chill first before going to dinner told of an experience unlike other – it was going to be expensive. We were expecting it anyway and were ok with a little splurge especially on Valentine’s night.

There were seats out closer to the beach but because of the drizzle, we just sat at our table and waited for the meals. We ordered a local crab soup to share, a lobster meal and a grilled fish meal. But what came was a lot more, like banana snacks, fried onions, garlic bread, a veggie salad and boiled vegetables. The table was full by the time dinner was served completely.

The soup was quite tasty with real crab bits to eat (with the shell too). Both meals came with 3 portions and for the lobsters were 3 halves. The fish was fresh and soft like most of the fish fillets that I had in Seychelles and I thought the lobster was ok grilled in ginger garlic. The rest of the other dishes were quite nice, no wonder this restaurant maintained its top position on TripAdvisor.

Dinner was at a real relaxed pace, allowing the diners time to enjoy the food and each other company. There was even a no WiFi board that reiterated this point. We left late after 930pm after a nice family photo and a quick look around the restaurant especially near the beach area.

The drive home was taken slowly because of trying to avoid both a road accident and a puke accident. We arrived back at the apartment uneventfully and proceeded to clean up dishes before getting into bed.