The Seychelles was uninhabited until the 18th century. The islands were first spotted by Portuguese explorers, but the first landing was by the British in 1609. Later pirates and privateers used the Seychelles as a temporary base during lulls in their marauding. The first formal exploration was in 1742 by the French and they claimed official possession 12 years later although it wasn’t until 1770 that the first batch of 21 settlers and seven slaves arrived. In the 18th century the British took an interest and the French didn’t resist their attacks. The Seychelles became a British dependency in 1814 although they did little to develop the islands except increase the number of slaves. This explains why French is still the national language although they drive on the left side of the road. In 1976, the Seychelles were granted their independence from Britain.
It was quite the adventure just getting to Seychelles. My original flight plan was Bangkok, Thailand to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and then onto Seychelles. The flight left at 1:30 AM and arrived at about 3:00 pm. While in line for check in, it was interesting to watch all the other people in line. Most of them had at least two if not three massive suitcases filled with items they bought in bulk to sell back home. You can see in the picture below that this guy had three suitcases filled with T-shirts. Many of the people were having weight issues so they were rearranging all their bags. It was total chaos and my only thought was that I was glad I was only spending four hours in Addis Ababa. When I checked in the the lady hands me my boarding card and says that I have to pick up my bags in Addis Ababa. I asked why they weren’t being checked all the way through to Seychelles and that when she informed me that I had a four DAY layover in Ethiopia. Apparently they cancelled some of their Seychelles flights so they only do it once a week now. Instead of telling me this, they just stuck me on the flight for Friday (four days away). I said this was unacceptable so they put me on an Emirates flight through Dubai. This was actually a much better flight plan. It left an hour later (2:30 AM) but arrived in Seychelles two hours earlier (1:00 pm). I had wanted this route when I first bought the tickets, but it was $300 more. Anyway, it all worked out for the best in the end.
We got some great views from the plane coming in. Unfortunately it was raining, but you can imagine how beautiful it is here.
Mahé is the largest and most developed of the Seychelles islands. It’s named after the 18th century governor of Mauritius, Mahé de Labourdonnais. It’s home to the country’s capital, Victoria, and to about 90% of the population. The weather was pretty overcast for most of my stay here. It was still beautiful, but it must be stunning with the sun shining!
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