La Digue and Praslin

Besides Mahe, two other islands people like to visit in Seychelles are Praslin and La Digue. The 's' in Praslin is silent. It is a bigger island than La Digue but much smaller than Mahe.

Seychelles has a picture of Coco de Mer in most places including hotel rooms and in art which is displayed everywhere.

Coco de Mer is a species of coconut, but has two halves with a shape of the heart. It is illegal to have a Coco de Mer in your possession. Only licensed handlers are allowed to harvest it, export the creamy part inside it, and can sell the outer husk. Trees can grow to very tall height and have big leaves, possibly one of the biggest leaf a tree could have. The husk which could be sold is shown on the right side and displays a seal of authenticity. It is sold for about $400-$800 per piece.

As islands, Praslin and La Digue both offer really fantastic ocean views, wherever you go.

The country of Seychelles encompasses about 155 islands, and as you walk around the coastline, you can see many of them in the distance.

I spotted some unique species of fauna as I walked around, including the giant turtle Adabra that was just lounging around. It did not seem to mind if anyone touched its neck or thick leathery feet. It was really more chill in real life than the one I saw in the film Finding Nemo.

Most of the beaches had really fine, white sands which was very soft to walk on.

La Digue, the smaller island, had many restaurants. They were all near the ocean, and provided beautiful views.

The seafood was great. However, it was very high priced just like everything else in the country. I had read that most of the things that are used in this country are imported. I was surprised that the abundant seafood from the Indian ocean for this country composed of islands was also marked up at least 3 to 4 times that of California prices.

The flora was diverse, colorful and vibrant. I really enjoyed seeing the unique flowers and trees everywhere.

As I ate lunch, I noticed a green lizard come by very close to my food. It was eating a grain of rice. I offered a chunk of rice on a stick and to the lizard, and it just took its time enjoying each grain of rice for a long time.

The La Digue island is very small with probably a six mile perimeter. Bicycles are very common here and as soon as tourists come off the ferry, they are swarmed by vendors offering them bike rentals. Typically they rent for $12 a day. There are no locks on them and no fear of them being stolen. You can bicycle around the whole island in about an hour if you can handle the few uphills along the way.

I asked some locals sitting near this huge tree about the name of the tree and they responded Baobab. I know that in Madagascar the Baobab is quite a distinguished looking tree. I used the 'picture-this' app which confirmed that this was also a species of the Baobab.

Walking on the La Digue beaches of Grand Anse, Petit Anse and Anse Cocos was delightful.

The Petit Anse was quite secluded and picturesque.

The huge granite rocks on one end of Petit Anse were quite pretty and were surrounded by lots of vegetation. I missed the path that connects the Petit Anse to Grand Anse, I tried climbing the granite rocks but gave up after a few minutes.

A sign at the 'bikini bottom' beach reminded me that California was over 10,000 miles away.

The huge yacht at Petit Anse was enjoying the whole ocean to itself.

The shades of blues were just so amazing.

At one point, the ocean was very shallow, and I could walk almost half a mile in the ocean, and it was less than ankle deep.

The huge, high-speed catamarans make travel between these islands really fast, and it takes less than 15 minutes.

The forest right by the ferry terminal in Praslin is quite dense.

This colorful boat, idly lounging in the ocean made me forget the passage of time as I just hung out on the beach.

The dense forests, the narrow roads, the vast ocean, the soft white sands, and the carefree attitude of the locals makes these islands well worth the visit.