We visited two ports in the Seychelles.  

Day one was in La Dique which is the third most populated island of the country with a population of 2800 in a space of 10 square kilometers.  

We took a boat from our boat to shore to catch a boat….. our goal today was snorkeling.  The tour was very disorganized and we had a lot of waiting time.  But when we finally got to the site we spent about an hour snorkeling, enjoying the fish and coral.  Some people saw sea turtles, but we missed that.  It was a good experience, but it is hard not to compare--- and Bora Bora still wins as our favorite place to snorkel to date.  (The snorkel boat was overcrowded, took too long to return to shore and there were too many delays--- not our favorite tour to-date).    Later in the day we arrived in Port Victoria, on Mahe, the largest island of the country.  A pool deck barbecue was planned but unfortunately was rained out.

The Seychelles has 115 granite islands so is not affected by earthquakes.  Victoria is the largest city and the capital.  While part of Africa it is located 1,500 kilometers from the mainland.  It is the smallest populated country in Africa with only over 100,000 in habitants with about 20,000 of these located in Victoria.  It was first discovered by the French, and later the British took over, but many buildings still have French names.  They became independent from the UK in 1976.  The country is relatively well off with the highest per capital GDP in Africa.

The city is clean with all sidewalks and roads in great shape.   Everything seemed to work.  Unfortunately it was Sunday so most of the shops were closed, but this made traffic a breeze.  

In town we visited the market (closed), went into a Hindu Temple (our first time inside a Hindu temple), visited the Catholic Church and walked around to get a sense of the place.  Apparently, this is one of the smallest capitals in the world so it didn’t take long to visit the highlights.

Next we visited the National Botanical Gardens of the Seychelles. Here we got to see and hold the seeds of the Coco de Mer tree.  That was fun as long as one of them didn’t fall out of a tree and hit us in the head.

The Coco de Mer (Lodoicea maldivica) is a rare, endangered palm endemic to the Seychelles, famous for producing the world's largest, heaviest seed, weighing up to 35kg and resembling a human pelvis. Found only on Praslin and Curieuse islands, these trees are dioecious (separate male/female plants), take decades to mature, and can live over 800 years.

Then we went to the tortoise enclosure.  Here they have the Adabara giant tortoise, which is endemic to the Seychelles.  It is on the of the largest tortoises in the world.  Similar in size to the famous Galápagos giant tortoise, its carapace averages 122 cm (48 in) in length. Males have an average weight of 250 kg (550 lb). Females are generally smaller than males, with average specimens measuring 91 cm (36 in) in carapace length and weighing 159 kg (351 lb).

They were very friendly and were happy for us to feed them leaves.  Friendly was going on "big time" as a male was trying unsuccessfully to copulate--- he seemed to be aiming for the wrong side of the female.  Anyway, it was great fun seeing them.

We then drove around the island to a resort and spent an hour gazing as waves gently crashed on the beach.  Pleasant but not a spectacular resort.  

We are glad to have visited the Seychelles but, like the Maldives, we believe there are other places to find paradise closer to home, perhaps at a more competitive price.  (Note, the Maldives is more expensive with many overwater bungalows.  The Seychelles has more typical resort style hotels).