Signing Out of The Seychelles

It's over and out from Praslin, the taxi is booked for 10am for a 12pm flight back to Mahe. I would recommend taking the Havilland propeller plane at least one way. It affords fabulous views over the islands and at $60 each, the cost differential to the ferry is insignificant. The flight lasts 15 minutes and there has been no evidence of sick bags, which given we will be travelling or in transit for 24 hours is a welcome bonus at the outset.

As we have done this trip on a significantly lower budget than a package tour, our flight times do not all tie up entirely efficiently and we have had a few hours to loose at Mahe airport, which we have done spending our last few Rupee and sitting in the sunshine, it has not really been arduous.

So whilst we await our connection to Heathrow in Addis Ababa, we are reflecting on the concept of independent travelling to and in the Seychelles.

Our experience is the following: flights are easy to come by and will vary according to the time of year, but if you are willing to have some transit time, you can pick up flights for a similar cost to the Caribbean out of season. No carrier currently flys direct from the UK and even the most expensive carriers will have a stop, or maybe two, in the Middle East.

Self catering accommodation, apartments, apartment hotels, guest houses and small hotels are in abundance, and the market seems to be growing with a considerable amount of construction witnessed. You can find such accommodation for anything from €25 per night to €100, quality and facilities will obviously vary accordingly. If you have to have a swimming pool then you will need to book a room with one of the larger resorts, although this does defeat the object. Local food, packed lunch supplies such as rolls (£1 for 6) and bread (£1 for a loaf) for sandwiches, beer (£1.40 per bottle), soft drinks (50p to £1.75 for recognised brands) and fruit (£1-£3, dependant on source and if prepared) are all easy to come by, and whilst not backpacker cheap are certainly affordable. Interestingly, we noticed a number of people staying at exclusive resorts stocking up on supplies at the supermarket to avoid the exorbitant in-resort prices.

There is a distinct lack of non-restaurant, non-resort centres such as beach bars, which does mean unless you have a sport such as diving, windsurfing etc which brings people into one place, you are likely to spend your holiday without much interaction with others. Although the final spreadsheet has not been commissioned, we anticipate that we have completed this trip for half the cost of a package offering. You can share the same beach, water, trips, sunset and Islands, and whilst the Seychelles will never compare with the cost of travelling in Asia, it can be done on a shoestring, relatively speaking.