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Seychelles Islands, Indian Ocean -July 1, 2001
Position: Seychelles Islands, Indian Ocean -July 1, 2001 The Seychelles are another group of islands in the Indian Ocean similar to the Maldives. These islands are located about 800 miles east of Africa. They are independent and very spread out covering 1,000 miles north to south and 300 miles east to west. They are different from the Maldives that are just atolls. The Seychelles have mountains of around 7000 feet and are very rugged. The islands are larger so have greater major cities and a larger population. Most of the people speak a local language as well as French and English. We enjoyed the Seychelles as they offered a variety of cruising with beaches, snorkeling, and the beauty of tropical island life. We found an island National Park that is home for thousands of very large and old land turtles. They are a protected endangered species. On this island there is a prehistoric forest, Vallee De Mai, which is home to the unusual coconut, the coco de mer. It us found only on the island of Praslin and in one section of this tropical forest. These coconuts weight up to 40 pounds. The forest is very concentrated with these large trees and the coco de mer requires 10 years to reach its 40 lbs. On the island of Praslin we found a new five star resort that has a beautiful and most difficult golf course. Seven of holes are on hills reaching an elevation of over 700'. On one hole, the T box is tiered to a greater elevation with the black T's 200' above the whites and over 500' above the green. It is only a 150 yd hole. You could not see the green! The golf pro wondered if we felt this could be a championship course. It was amazing! Few US tourists reach the wonderful resort islands of the Seychelles as airline connections are difficult. Most visitors are from Europe as there is a direct 747 connections to London and Paris. We left Seaquell in the Seychelles to return to MN. where we plan to pickup 3 grandchildren who will join us on an African Safari. The crew will sail Seaquell to Zanzibar and we meet them after our Safari. See you in Tanzania |
