Postcard from Seychelles

After an "overly urban" visit to Madagascar, I decided I wanted a nice, "beach vacation" next so picked Seychelles - the smallest of the African nations.  Apparently, it's the "tony" resort destination, but I actually enjoyed my trip to Mauritius more.  They are very similar (although, admittedly, the beaches in Seychelles were nicer), and I stayed in very similar 5-star resorts right on the beach for about the same amount of time.  But I probably spent about half as much on the Mauritius trip.

Like Madagascar, Seychelles retains a French influence and most folks speak French - even though it became a British colony in 1810.  Granted, most people speak English, as well, but the default is still French.  Kinda weird.  Uninhabited for most of its existence, the population is now over 90% Creole. The economy is split between plantations and tourism.  Their flag is kinda cool/different. Witness:



According to Wikipedia:  The oblique bands symbolize a dynamic new country moving into the future. The colour blue depicts the sky and the sea that surrounds the Seychelles. Yellow is for the sun which gives light and life, red symbolizes the people and their determination to work for the future in unity and love, while the white band represents social justice and harmony. The green depicts the land and natural environment.

When i arrived in my room, I found this "interesting" note on the desk: We would like to inform you that the Seychelles is a tropical destination with a large variety of animals and insects, and you may encounter animals such as flies, ants, mosquitoes, spiders, yellow hairy caterpillar, stonefish, scorpionfish, lionfish, jelly fish, sea urchin, great barracuda, yellow wasp, honey bee and so forth.  You are asked to refrain from touching insects and other animals as they may cause discomfort. The yellow hairy caterpillar's hairs cause allergic reaction to human mainly itching and rashes when in contact with the caterpillar's hair on the human skin.

I didn't have any native fauna adventures, though.  The whole vacay was pretty chill.  Spent most of my time on the beach or at the pool, with a one day trip into Victoria (the capital - smallest in Africa!), to have lunch and do some souvenir shopping. But that was fun as I took public transport/the bus, and enjoyed an almost hour roller coaster ride along the coast and then across the island - those bus drivers don't play!  The best 5 Rupee I spent!  (The current exchange rate is about 14 rupees to the dollar).

At the end of the day, would I recommend it?  Maybe if you've been tons of other places, but I would still recommend Mauritius over it.