Today we had a 7-hour tour to Praslin Island and the Vallee de Mai which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We started out at 8 am on a 1-1/2 hour ferry ride to the island. It appeared there were more than a dozen groups of 12 each taking this tour. The reason for the small groups was evident when we saw the size of the buses that picked us up at the pier.
The ferry had air conditioning on the inside and a covered upper deck. We chose inside and while the seats were comfortable, they had metal arm rests that had a space at the end to hold a drink and did not allow easy access to the interior seats. The ride over was very uneventful.
Our first stop was to Vallee de Mai. This was a tropical paradise with the double coconut trees (coco de mer) that grow to be 112 ft tall with fan shaped palms that would cover a Volkswagen bug – 22-32 foot long by 15 foot wide. They were huge! It is the largest nut in the plant kingdom and found only on this island and one other island in the Seychelles. The trees are distinctly male and female. The nuts weigh 33 to 66 pounds and take 6 to 7 years to mature and an additional 2 years to germinate. The male flowers are 6 to 7 feet long and produce pollen continuously over a 10-year period. They are pollinated by geckos. This is the slowest growing large tree in the world. The double coconut when on the tree is inside an outer casing that allows the nut to float if it lands in the water, however, without the casing it would sink. The nut itself looks remarkedly similar to a female’s buttocks 😊 We could have easily spent the entire day here but as it was, we were only walked into the park less than 2 blocks – a huge disappointment as the park had nearly 5 km of trails. We apparently got the “sanitized” view.
Our next stop was to the Anse Lazio Beach. It was a gorgeous beach but we were only given 40 minutes, although the cruise ship literature said it was “the perfect spot to swim or dream away the afternoon”. I don’t know about you but my afternoon lasts longer than 40 minutes. By the time we walked to the far end of the beach, near the rocks, where the best snorkeling would be, we had used up 10 minutes. Jeff got into the water but I passed. We had lunch and a long ferry ride back. Not fun being in wet clothes.
While we were hurried at the beach, our next stop was lunch at a local resort, where we waited for half an hour before lunch was served … time we could have spent at the beach. The protein was grilled fish, chicken or ribs. I choose the chicken and it was undercooked. Jeff got the ribs and they were tough. The sides were local creole type foods. You know, some people eat their way around the world, we snorkel. Trying new foods or street foods isn’t our cup of tea.
When we were returned to the pier for the long, SLOW, ferry ride back, we were directed to a catamaran – all outside seating. The air conditioned ferry was at the dock but wasn’t used for our return trip.
This excursion was $370 per person and in my mind, half that price would have been overpaying. Highly disappointed.
