La Digue, Republic of The Seychelles

 The Seychelles is an archipelagic country made up of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean off East Africa. It was uninhabited until explorers from Portugal, France and Britain began visiting the islands. It was first a French colony an then came under British control from the late 18th century until 1976, when Britain left. It has three official languages; Creole, English, and French

The government has a president elected by popular vote  for a 5 year term. There are 35 members of parliament, 26 who are elected by popular vote, and 9 who are appointed based on percentage points received by each political party.

The capital city is Victoria on the largest island of Mahe. We  first visited La Digue which is 10 square Kilometers, and the 4th largest island by area. It is the third most populated, with a population of around 3,000 people.. It was named after the ship on which naval officer Mac Joseph Marion Fresne arrived in 1768. In 1771 it was officially named a part of France. 




The amazing granite rocks in the water in La Digue.

La Digue's main sources of income are fishing, coconut processing ,agriculture and tourism. It is known for it's beautiful beaches and bike paths. Most people on the island get around by bicycle.

Lots of bicycles near the beach.

 There is no town on La Digue and area around the dock is very small. There are a few small stores selling food essentials and a couple of small restaurants. Not a big place for souvenirs or shopping.  We first visited  an old historic plantation called L'Union Estate with it's Creole house and old coconut processing equipment. 

The Creole style home at L'Union Estate.

A coconut husk Christmas Tree sprayed silver.


Antique coconut grinding equipment.

Located at the back of the house was a land tortoise sanctuary.   These gentle animals that can live up to 150 years. They were quite sociable and liked being fed the palm fronds.

.The female turtles have a fairly smooth shell.

The male turtles have prominent lumps on their shells.

 Then we drove for a few minutes to the beautiful beach area. La Digue is a granite island, and has the most amazing giant unusually shaped  granite rocks on the beach and in the water. The water is crystal clear and a beautiful emerald blue green color. The water is very shallow and you can walk out from shore a long way.








After spending a few hours at the beach we returned to the ship and sailed few hours to the capital  Victoria on the island of Mahe.






Comments

  1. LindsayDecember 22, 2022 at 6:49 PM

    Adalea says "those turtles are really cute."
    The rocks are super cool!

    ReplyDelete

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