I used the opportunity of Thanksgiving to escape to Seychelles for a week’s vacation. I prefer to save up years’ worth of credit card loyalty points in order to spend them on vacation excursions to places that I wouldn’t normally visit. The timing worked well to coincide with Thanksgiving and direct flights from Johannesburg, South Africa.
The stay was spread across two Seychelles islands: Mahe and Prasiln – I ended up visiting a third island, Curieuse Island on a day excursion with a tour company. Curieuse is home to hundreds of wild giant tortoises which I had a lot of fun photographing and petting. Additional fun discoveries included the Coco de mer, or double coconut which is endemic to the island of Praslin. Owing to its protected status and relative obscurity, it is forbidden to take these coconuts from Seychelles.
Another delightful discovery were the giant golden orb weaver spiders that are very common throughout the islands. They grow to the size of a human hand and the silk they produce is as strong as any spider. Fascinating to see so many, everywhere.
In the Seychelles there is a wonderful, accessible mix of beaches where you can relax and swim, and adventurous activities and destinations to hike and explore. The natural beauty feels preserved and unique — the unique rocky geology is so different from other places I have traveled, that the entire environments felt unique and special.
