This past spring break, while our older daughter participated in a school organized service trip to Borneo (poor girl) the rest of the family headed off to a relaxing beach vacation in the Seychelles, an island nation made up of 155 islands off the east coast of Africa, located here:
Our plane landed in Victoria, the capital on the main island of Mahe, but our destination was Silhouette Island, another 40 minutes away by boat:
Hilton Labriz is a small resort that takes up about 10% of the island. The rest of the island is a completely undeveloped national park.
Pathways through the natural landscape connect the open air restaurants and free standing villas. Except for a few golf carts that take luggage to and from the villas, there are no cars on the island.
The backside of our villa, facing the water.
The view from the villa.
Looking back at our villa from the water.
Some of the most beautiful beaches we have ever visited were stretched out right along the length of the resort. Allow me to show you...
One of the cabanas by the main pool.
Just beyond the cabana.
To the left.
To the right.
(I was trying to convince our daughter that she sells seashells in the Seychelles.)
The Presidential Beach, located at the far end of the resort, is typically reserved exclusively for guests such as heads of state (really) from around the world that stay at a large villa nestled up on the hillside. However, since no one happened to be staying there that week, we were allowed access and ended up being the only ones there the entire day.
Yes, she really did figure out how to open a coconut with a rock.
The island is home to lots of dangerous looking but relatively harmless animals:
These spiders, about 4" in diameter including the legs, were all over the place.
Colorful crabs.
Lizards.
Fruit bats with a 2' wing span. They acted more like birds and flew around all day. One kept on swooping after our tennis ball during a game. Perhaps he mistook it for a flying lemon, not sure.
Several resident giant tortoises also lived on the grounds.
We spent lots of idle hours wading in the clear shallow water, looking at all of the amazing sea creatures. Some were too small, shy, or transparent to photograph well, but here are a few that were more photogenic:
A hike through the rugged hillside jungle led to a beatiful cove. The cove included some very small sharks, but everyone swam anyway:
There were a few dramatic rain storms, but they were always short and cleared up quickly, leading us to appreciate the sunny skies even more.
The Seychellois that we met were all incredibly nice and spoke a lovely sing-song blend of English, French, and Creole. On our golf cart ride back to the boat to return us to the main island, we noticed this sign that says "Orevwar". Au Revoir. Until we see each other again. I will be looking forward to it!
