Boac Pacific Jet

Mens

The Seychelles-Eden Of The

Indian Ocean

(BOAC Supplement—Advertisement)

By Sue Wendt

The Seychelles became a popular holiday spot with the diplomatic set and now Simply Everyone is going there. ...

Not just royalty (Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones were recent visitors) but ordinary, run-of the-mill stars of stage and screen.

And growing numbers of other travellers seeking an off-beat, exotic, holiday atmosphere.

Every international flight seems to have its major or minor celebrity and when I flew into this group of islands lying off the east coast of Africa, VIP of the day was Bing Crosby, sitting across the aisle with ms family. As the plane came in to land, he was crooning that former hit number “Raindrops”.

It was about as appropriate a choice as White Christmas” would have been! The Seychelles were sun drenched and shimmering, just as the brochures said they’d be. And accord ing to those who live there, the sun really does shine most of the time Even during the short-lived tropical downpours, you can always drive to another beach and find sun. It is one ot the local peculiarities that while mere is ram in one spot, there’ll be blue skie s h a lf a mile away. The main island of Mahe is ringed with beaches, , of t^em 80 beautiful that it’s difficult to choose the best. One of me most famous is the Beau Vallon, a mile-long crescent of sand that looks more like solid gold. A leisurely drive around Mahe takes about four hours on a sealed road.

The 85 islands of the Seychelles were completely uninhabited until the mid 18th century, when French l a i erS M amVe i • t ! l 2 re with African slaves. Now a British Colony, the Sey chelles still retain a strong French navour, in place names, in the creole Patois spoken by the islanders—and ® Jbf delicious creole dishes con cocted from fresh seafood and

tropical fruits. Chinese cooking and spicy Indian curries add another dimension to the local cuisine.

Capital of the island group is the atmospheric little port of Victoria, boasting a Government House, a cathedral, botanical gardens, a museum—and a clock that repeats itself every time it chimes the hour!

First international-standard hotel to open in the Seychelles was The Reef, located quite near the airport. Com pleted early in 1972, The Reef offers various sports and marine facilities, including a nine-hole golf course, swimming pool, glass-bottomed boats, sailing dinghies, motor boats, pedal craft, tennis, badminton and shuffle board.

Less elaborate accommodation is offered in quaint colonial-style homes, which have been converted into guest houses, and new luxury hotels are being built on Mahe and other islands.

An intriguing place to visit is Pras lin Island, where everything grows in giant proportions. In the Valley of the Giants, the colossal palms called coco de mer tower over a hundred feet high and some are said to be eight hundred years old. These trees have an awesome presence and legends about them are legion. Their fruit and flowers are astonishingly suggestive, the double coconuts quite explicitly male and female and rep resenting the human anatomy with uncanny realism.

A tour of Mahe takes in the sup posed site of the buried treasure of Bel Ombre—reputed to value £lOO million—and the house of the in famous pirate Houdol. Visitors are also conducted through copra and cinnamon processing plants and toured over a tea plantation, which affords magnificent views.

A boat tour operates to Cousin Island, sometimes called the Island of Birds, where you can see the nest ing colonies of sooty terns and many other species of bird life.

Longer inter-island cruises are also available, taking visitors to unin habited islands for expeditions into the tropical interiors. Some of these islands are natural sanctuaries for rare birds and animals.

The Seychelles are sometimes called the Eden of the Indian Ocean. Such lyrical phrases are easy to coin. But in the words of attractive former air hostess Chris Paxton, who spent two months there with husband Lloyd, a relieving station manager for BOAC: You talk about these forgotten para dises, but this one is real. It’s the true meaning of unspoiled.”

Getting about the Seychelles can be fascinating— specially if you choose to go by ancient turtle, as did this young visitor. Alternatives are to travel about Mahe by car or to the outer islands by boat.