THE SEYCHELLES - MAHÈ

Mahé is the largest island in the Seychelles, a whopping 17 miles long by 5 miles wide. We docked in the capital, Victoria, deep in a beautiful bay ringed by mountains. Travelling over the “mountain” five miles to the Jardin de Roi Spice Garden took half an hour. We were rewarded by seeing vanilla, nutmeg, pepper, and allspice and gorgeous tropical flowers in a scruffy garden inhabited by several giant tortoises looking dirty and slow. But then that’s probably what giant tortoises are like. While we enjoyed a lemon ginger drink, Bill was given a Coco de Mer nut to inspect. Then another half an hour to cross the island to the west coast where we swam at the Côte d’Or. More turquoise water and white sand. One could get used to this!