October, 2023

After our time on the island of La Digue was complete, we hopped back on the Cat Cocos ferry and 15 minutes later we were back on the island of Praslin for our final five days in the Seychelles.

We chose to stay in Anse Volbert Village which is located about 10 minutes from the ferry port and located on Anse Volbert (Anse means cove or beach). Plus, it’s the location where we will take multiple boat trips with Sagitarrius Tours.

The Village itself is only about 6 blocks long with more grocery stores than we have pizza joints in Greencastle. ATM’s are also fairly plentiful and lots of take-away restaurants. If you like curry, then this is your island. Popular flavors are shark, chicken, jackfruit and fruit bat. With a large population of Indian and Bangladesh, the flavors were wonderful and not spicey.

Sagitarrius Taxi and Tours

If you are staying on Praslin, you better have several boat trips or dive trips lined up or you will just be lounging on the beach (not a bad option either).

Several months before we arrived we found Sagitarrius and started communicating with them. They were prompt when responding and very quickly we had three boat adventures scheduled and on the calendar.

Wellll, never think that island time is going to be like our scheduled time. Therefore, our first scheduled day was pushed back and one trip had to be cancelled due to the island being closed. Remember: island time = being very flexible.

Sisters Islands, Coco and Felicite and Curieuse

Starting bright and early at 9:00, nope 9:30 (flexible), we hopped in the Sagitarrius boat and headed out to Sisters Islands where we would snorkel and have a beachfront bbq.

The ride took about an hour as we sailed across the rolling waters of the Indian Ocean. I was a bit surprised at how rough the ocean was between the islands. I also was totally amazed at how blue the water is and there are so many shades of blue.

Curieuse

More swimming and snorkeling before we trekked across the island trail through the mangroves to the tortoise sanctuary.

The Aldabra giant tortoise, native to the Seychelles, roam freely on Curieuse. The island serves as a sanctuary for them, contributing to conservation efforts. They are like small puppies and come right up to you and they love to have their heads and chins scratched.

Cousin Island

Purchased in 1968 by BirdLife International, this tiny island was home to the endangered Seychelles warblers totaling a count of only 26.

BirdLife International allowed the indigenous forest to regrow and the warbler population grew. These warblers have been successfully moved to other islands and their population now exceeds 3000.

This is also home to the Seychelles Magpie Robin and an important nesting island for the brown noddy and white tailed tropic birds.

It costs about $30 pp to land on the island and take the conservation tour. Because there is a fresh water spring on the island, many species of plants and animals are thriving here – especially the mosquito. Even “bugged up” these clouds of bugs were a bit overwhelming but they provide protein to other species.

Final Thoughts

From everything we had read about the islands, we knew that this would be a very pricey part of our journey – and we weren’t wrong. They operate on the Seychelles Rupee or the Euro and they seem to prefer cash – not credit. (Don’t be surprised when their credit card machine doesn’t work!)

When checking into any lodging, you will also have to pay the tourist tax – 25 rupees per person, per day. That can get a bit tough when debit cards only allow you to take out around $400 (5,000 rupees) per day and your hotel is $800 (10,000 rupees) plus the tourist tax!

This is one reason we always carry two debit cards from two different banks. It provides a safety net in case one of the cards is blocked or lost.

In this case, it allowed us to use both cards to pay for the lodging and tourist tax and give us some cash to eat and operate on.

Of course, the next day we had to do it again for the boat trips. Ahhh, never a dull moment when traveling and that’s why planning in advance is so important!