THE SECRETS OF LA DIGUE – THE EPICENTRE OF MY SEYCHELLOIS DREAM
(Posted 15th May 2015)
La Digue may not be the Bali of the 1970’s but then, who wants to really go back to the 1970’s in this day and age? Today we are used to being ‘connected’ and back then we commonly used postal services to send picture post cards from our travel destinations. Those served a dual purpose, to let everyone know we were alright but also to make sure that through the postman’s indiscretions the entire neighbourhood would know where we were hanging out. I equate this with the selfies of today social media egocentrics love to take and plaster all over their Facebook or Instagram accounts, the brag posts aimed to turn all and sundry green with envy and to let the world know ‘hey, we are here or hey, we are there or in this case HEY I AM ON LA DIGUE’.
Yes, I can hear the combined sighs again from my readership, shaking their heads about spending a fortune when visiting the Seychelles and then some when taking the ferry trips to reach La Digue but don’t just stop yet reading on. La Digue can be rather more affordable than some of you think and yet, for those seeking 5star rated resort comfort, a fully fledged Spa included, that also is of course available as after all, this is the Seychelles. This is where glitz and glamour is ever present, manifested in big yachts, helicopter arrivals and departures, schooners sailing between the islands and fancied accommodation where the staff are at one’s beck and call. In fact, Derek Savy, formerly Director of Marketing of the Vanilla Island organization and since early this year back on the archipelago to pursue his own business interests, sent me details of a great diving package out of the ‘Yellow House’ of the La Digue Island Lodge after we had a chance meeting at the quay of the little harbour when he arrived and I, heavy hearted, left back for Praslin, Mahe and then via Nairobi to my own shores. La Digue has sought the niche to cater for weddings on the beach and become a honeymoon destination, so aptly shown when the little island thrilled the Victoria crowds with their oxen cart display at the Carnival International de Victoria parade.
All of this can of course cost a fair penny or rather a fair pound, as helis do anywhere around the world as do yacht charters and 5+ star resorts.
Yet, on La Digue can also the ‘other Seychelles’ be found, the more affordable side, the side with that local and often purely Creole touch and today I will be talking about both.
The arrival on the La Digue quay, on a much smaller ferry called Cat Rose, as opposed to the big league Cat Cocos sisterships which ply the waters between Port Victoria and Praslin, follows after a fast quarter of an hour at sea. That is all the time it takes to get out of the harbour of larger neighbor Praslin – there will be a separate feature covering my recent visit to the Seychelles’ second largest island too coming up – and reach the little port of La Digue. When stepping off the ferry there are already enough signals what to expect, namely a much more laid back lifestyle AND vacation style. Less people, greater informality and as a result do fewer resort or DMC reps with signs await the passengers rushing off the early ferry arrivals. It connects passengers on day trips coming from all the way on Mahe, or from Praslin, normally full of tourists while the later ferries bring in a lot more of the locals. When I say that my dream retirement would be living in a beach shack on La Digue, WiFi of course included, it is not too far-fetched therefore and has a much more deep rooted foundation than a fleeting desire, but more about that later.
First things first though. This visit was to be my first overnight stay on La Digue, all previous outings lasting only for the day, and it was intriguing to experience the island quieting down after the last ferry left for Praslin and before the first one arrived the next morning. Apart from the surf crashing into the rocks beneath my room named Cocotier, more a junior suite really at the Patatran Hotel where I set down my cases for the night and enjoyed some seriously friendly and warm hospitality, there was – silence. Perhaps a bit of chatter of other guests, the clinking of glasses when the dining room staff set the tables, the sound of an arriving taxi bringing guests back from those fabled big name beaches, more common today than using the traditional oxcart, or the squeaking of the breaks of some bicycles which guests can rent but that was already it, as far as the soundbites went. Once in the while, early morning and early evening, the revving engines were heard of fishing boats either going out or coming back, blending in with the bird song and the never ending sound of waves coming ashore, making a perfect fit for an island location.
This visit, unlike those before which were dedicated to exploring the beaches and the famous plantation and see the Catholic church from where the annual procession starts for the Feast of Assumption, was dedicated to finding out more about the available accommodation, check out the resorts but also self-catering and B&B establishments, the latter really making a vacation on La Digue affordable for wannabe visitors travelling on a more limited budget.
(The view from my room, a rich Creole dinner and the view at breakfast – Patatran I miss you!)
There are more or less just three bigger hotels on La Digue, both the Patatran and the La Digue Island Lodge dating back some years and a more recent addition, the Le Domaine de la Orangeraie. For both the Patatran and the Orangeraie is a little road passing between the beach and the main building and ocean side restaurants on one side and the accommodation built into the hillside, perhaps a little unusual but something one quickly gets used to. The Orangeraie is the one with the Spa and truth told, one gets all the fitness training one needs, as the location is right on top of the hill and one has to climb some seriously steep inclines, unless of course using one of the resort’s electric trolleys.
I visited the resort, chatted with the Swiss Spa Manager for a while to get a feel about the place but was in the end quite happy with the Patatran, which presented itself as a more economical alternative and yet offered besides a spectacular cliff setting a pool with a view and of course all the other hotels services one comes to expect. The resort hotel was well kept, well matured so to say, a mix of a more classic main building and modern cottages perched over the ocean or hugging the hillside. What was particularly impressive was the utterly cheerful disposition of every member of staff I got in contact with and those were more than just a handful. For that alone is it worth to return at some time in the future and more than for just one night.
The Patatran (www.patatranseychelles.com) provided for a rather more informal atmosphere than many other resorts I had seen, allowing guests to come in shorts and Hawaii shirts to dine in the evening, precisely what the guests I spoke with were looking for as a getaway. While mealtimes are set, breakfast from 07.30 hrs till 09.30 hrs, lunch from noon until 14.30 hrs and dinner from 19.00 hrs till 21.30 hrs, did the staff assure me that a guest coming late for breakfast would still get his fill, no fuss made. Snacks of course are available throughout the day should, induced by the fresh sea air, that peckish feeling set in.
Evening entertainment on La Digue, unlike on Mahe and the capital Victoria, is rather more limited and while the resorts offer some, mostly live background music for dinner or the traditional Creole dance displays, La Digue is not for those wanting to disco the night away and dance a hole into the floor. La Digue clearly is for those who want to enjoy the remoteness, the secluded beach spots at Source d’Argent Beach where they are shielded from prying eyes in little nooks, crannies and coves behind the mammoth granite rocks, or be among only a handful of people along the larger beaches of Grande Anse or Petit Anse or Anse Cocos. It must be said that my awestruck reaction when I saw these beaches is reflected in the 2013 ranking done by CNN which named Grande Anse as their best beach of the year while my personal favourite, Source d’ Argent, came fourth that year.
Just about 2.500 people live on La Digue today, many working in the hotels, guest houses and B&B’s but most engaged at the harbour, in fishing, boat building or working on the plantation or in the shops. The highest point is just 333 metres high, meeting the British definition of a mountain which by their book starts at 1.000 feet and which is on some maps befittingly called Nid d’ Angles and on others Nid d’ Aigle.
Getting around the island and exploring it can still be done on foot, faster though by bike – rentals can be arranged through the hotels at an instant’s notice – by the traditional oxcart, one of which came to Mahe for the Carnival International de Victoria to depict the laid back island life of La Digue and promptly did their group win the first price for best cultural display at the parade – or by one of the five taxis permitted to drive guests around from place to place, a costlier way to explore the island but then, airconditioned too.
(Impressions from the Casa de Leela selfcatering cottages)
With only a day at my disposal I had to opt for the taxi to see some of the various smaller locally owned places and in summary it was worth it. The two which convinced from the moment I walked into their reception to the moment they waved me off like an old friend, the Casa de Leela and the Le Sur Mer Chalets both appeared to be in excellent shape, gardens skillfully maintained and the pool at the Casa de Leela, the property located off beach, crystal clear. Here a single cottage would set a guest back some 120 Euros a night, negotiable during the off season and then bargains thrown in for good measure, like staying a certain number of night and getting one more for free. A breakfast could be ordered instead of made by the guest, fruits, toast, homemade jam, cereals and eggs for just an additional 10 Euros per day and WiFi, while not free, would only cost 150 SR, or at current exchange rates some 11.50 US Dollars and then be without download limitations and for the duration of the stay.
(The chalets at Le Sur Mer – just over two years old and fully booked when I visited)
Located on the beach, with a road between the beach plot and the accommodation side, did the Le Sur Mer Chalets present themselves also from a very positive side. The overall 10 villas, neatly arranged looking into a centerpiece garden were well appointed, and like at the Casa de Leela all airconditioned. Breakfast again was selling at 10 Euros per person and dinners depending on vegetarian, fish or meat ranged from 15 to 25 Euros per person. Some of the film teams who had come for the Carnival festival on Mahe in fact stayed at the Le Sur Mer Chalets and the owner, Ben Choppy, had many good things to say about his past, his investment in the hospitality sector and the good occupancies he enjoyed. He however shared a few pointers too when he complained that his application to develop his beach side plot with a small restaurant and to put some restrooms up, emphasis on restrooms not bedrooms, was not processed as fast as he had hoped for and kept pending for reasons he did describe in some detail, perhaps something the powers that be in the tourism industry should look into. He, like everyone else I met, was utterly charming and told captivating tales from his younger days and about the lifestyle which brought him back to his native La Digue in his later days in life.
The only disappointment of sorts was a visit to the Anse Severe Villa where the owner was reportedly away, no caretaker could be found and the guests spoken to were rather livid about waste thrown into a pond behind the house, rubbish left behind one of the side buildings, a broken sunbed and the apparently constant flow of some locals tapping into the outdoor sockets or sitting down to relax or have a drink, INSIDE the fenced compound. The guests felt they had been had, definitely when they compared their La Digue accommodation to their self-catering villa on Mahe and when I heard what they paid per night I could only agree with them. No doubt will the upcoming grading and classification of different accommodation types in the Seychelles by the Ministry of Tourism deal decisively with such admittedly very rare quality lapses.
(‘Severe’ indeed … more like severely neglected)
La Digue is a prime piece of Indian Ocean real estate which has captured my imagination and it has little to do with the fact that some of my best friends from the Seychelles hail from that little island.
It is remote enough to escape the maddening crowds – if at all one can ever speak of crowds anywhere in the Seychelles – and yet not too remote. This little island is accessible daily by ferry from Mahe via Praslin, telecommunications work, the internet – the archipelago’s fibre optic connection to the African mainland off Dar es Salaam has yet to show that speeds similar to ours in East Africa can be generated – works reasonably well and there are a few shops, apart from the tourist boutiques, where ordinary Seychellois buy their daily supplies. Those, due to the transport cost, are dearer than when one shops at the STC, short for Seychelles Trading Corporation’s supermarket in the heart of Victoria but a weekly shopping basket for a couple on a self-catering holiday would still not exceed 1.500 SR (Seychelles Rupees) whereas the same on Mahe would perhaps only cost 1.200 SR, equivalent to between 100 and 120 US Dollars.
Smaller restaurants on La Digue, especially those where the locals go to eat or fetch their take away, again are slightly more expensive than those on the main island of Mahe but one, or so I am told, still can get a take away box for between 55 and 60 SR, in other words a full meal for less than five US Dollars.
Of course does the ferry cost some Rupees too but for a couple wanting to explore more than just Mahe and Praslin, La Digue is the third and final option to find B&B’s or self catering apartments, chalets or villas as none of the other islands offer that possibility.
The Seychelles’ Tourism Board’s website www.seychelles.travel has a link to what they call Seychelles Secrets and once on that page are listings found of budget accommodation, B&B’s, holiday apartments and self-catering establishments, combined with prices, showing what a night well off the beach in a simple room, no a/c, will cost or what a chalet near the beach, with a/c will set one back.
Flights from the African mainland reach via Nairobi with Kenya Airways or via Addis Ababa and Air Seychelles is now also flying from Dar es Salaam to Mahe so there is no shortage of seats. Those seats naturally must be sold, i.e. allowing for bargain hunters to get deals no one would have thought possible even a few years ago.
No doubt is the archipelago known for the glitz and glamour, for the rich and famous, the captains of industry and high finance, top politicians, the new oligarchs and money tsars from Russia, India and China, the royals and the superstars from film and the music industry and that is alright. Many of those fly to Mahe in their own jets, island hop around in helicopters operated by Zil Air and some are met by their own yachts positioned days in advance, while other prefer to hire one, crew included to sail between the islands.
Yet, ordinary folks too can now finally think of coming to the Seychelles and have their own dream holiday of a lifetime, when they grew tired of the beaches they normally frequent and got enough of their year after year after year vacation spots to warrant a change.
No one pretends a trip to the Seychelles is cheap, and thankfully not I hasten to add, which keeps the quality of clients up and those Germans and Brits – sorry folks but it is the truth – out who are fighting a new war every morning over their beach beds.
(Good by, for now, my dear La Digue)
A visit to the archipelago has become more affordable now after many Seychellois have invested their nesteggs in such ventures, and if one cares to click on the Patatran website shown above, and checks out their published tariffs, it becomes obvious that depending on the season some real bargains can be struck. And then, when on these paradise islands, can those selfies finally be uploaded on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or other social media with the right bragging noises such as ‘Harro frm da Seychelles’, using the common slang found on time lines these days.
La Digue, more than any other of the islands, Aldabra of course excluded, for me is the ultimate getaway, a place where I might actually find the right environment to perhaps just file a few daily news reports, courtesy of being connected and finally get around to finishing that elusive first book, an hour a day at a time so that regular chats with the locals, extended walks along those grandiose beaches, or bike rides along the few narrow roads, can take the priority they deserve. Oh La Digue, how I miss you already!
