Jenn:
Loooongest flight everrrrrr. I am not sure that I’ve ever been on a flight that long. But from Raleigh, NC to Mahe, Seychelles it is approximately a 20-hour flight (in air time, not including layovers). But if there is a 20-hour flight I would sit on again, it would be one to the Seychelles.
Beeeeest vacation everrrrrr. For those of you that have followed us throughout all of our journeys, you probably remember the term I coined for Jonathan. Budget boyfriend. He later transitioned to frugal fiancé. Well let me tell you, I have a new one. Hilton Honors Husband. This one is by far my favorite and we’ll use HHH for ease of typing. With his job, where he travels at least once a week, he has racked up quite the bank of hotel points. These have greatly improved our level of travel, which I of course, am beyond happy about.
Now, I didn’t know how important HHH was going to be on this vacation. One advantage of a husband that loves to travel is that he does ALL the planning. I don’t lift a finger. So when we get to a destination, I literally have no idea what is in store until we are doing it. This has worked out for me so far, he’s never led me astray. We arrived at our first destination, Dubai, at night after a long 14-hour flight from Boston and caught a cab to our hotel. When we pulled up, I knew I was home. The valet service, huge outdoor chandelier and lush lobby with numerous people waiting to serve us hand and foot made me question our flight out in the morning. And then we checked in. Man behind the counter: “Oh, welcome sir, thanks for being a loyal diamond member. We upgraded your room for you sir.” BAM! Look at this suite. And thank you HHH!
Loooongest flight everrrrrr. I am not sure that I’ve ever been on a flight that long. But from Raleigh, NC to Mahe, Seychelles it is approximately a 20-hour flight (in air time, not including layovers). But if there is a 20-hour flight I would sit on again, it would be one to the Seychelles.
Beeeeest vacation everrrrrr. For those of you that have followed us throughout all of our journeys, you probably remember the term I coined for Jonathan. Budget boyfriend. He later transitioned to frugal fiancé. Well let me tell you, I have a new one. Hilton Honors Husband. This one is by far my favorite and we’ll use HHH for ease of typing. With his job, where he travels at least once a week, he has racked up quite the bank of hotel points. These have greatly improved our level of travel, which I of course, am beyond happy about.
Now, I didn’t know how important HHH was going to be on this vacation. One advantage of a husband that loves to travel is that he does ALL the planning. I don’t lift a finger. So when we get to a destination, I literally have no idea what is in store until we are doing it. This has worked out for me so far, he’s never led me astray. We arrived at our first destination, Dubai, at night after a long 14-hour flight from Boston and caught a cab to our hotel. When we pulled up, I knew I was home. The valet service, huge outdoor chandelier and lush lobby with numerous people waiting to serve us hand and foot made me question our flight out in the morning. And then we checked in. Man behind the counter: “Oh, welcome sir, thanks for being a loyal diamond member. We upgraded your room for you sir.” BAM! Look at this suite. And thank you HHH!
We off loaded our bags and headed out to see the world’s tallest building at 2,722 majestic feet: The Burj Khalifa. The elevator shot us to the top at lightning speed and the views were spectacular. Jonathan planned our time slot so we would be able to watch the water and light show from the top.
We wandered around the mall for a little while before heading back to our suite for a good night’s rest so we could head out in the morning for our Seychelles flight.
Jonathan:
From Dubai it was a painless 4 hr flight to the Seychelles. In-flight entertainment included 3000 movie choices as well as a window view with glimpses of the islands we would soon be exploring.
Jonathan:
From Dubai it was a painless 4 hr flight to the Seychelles. In-flight entertainment included 3000 movie choices as well as a window view with glimpses of the islands we would soon be exploring.
The Seychelles archipelago is made up of 115 islands off the coast of east Africa, north of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Mahé is the largest of the islands.
Within minutes of landing we were on our way in a rental car in search of our hotel (more on this later). Driving on Mahé is a bit of an adventure in itself. The steering wheel is on the right hand side of the car and you drive on the left side of the road. Also, the roads are extremely narrow and there are no curbs or guard rails – the road just drops off anywhere from 3’ to 30’, no room for error. And finally, our brakes didn’t work. After losing control on a downhill section, swerving around stopped traffic and nearly mowing down an elderly woman crossing the street, we had the rental car company come meet us and swap cars at our hotel.
Ahhhhhh our hotel…beachfront villa at the Hilton Resort complete with an infinity pool, delicious breakfasts, and couples massages.
Within minutes of landing we were on our way in a rental car in search of our hotel (more on this later). Driving on Mahé is a bit of an adventure in itself. The steering wheel is on the right hand side of the car and you drive on the left side of the road. Also, the roads are extremely narrow and there are no curbs or guard rails – the road just drops off anywhere from 3’ to 30’, no room for error. And finally, our brakes didn’t work. After losing control on a downhill section, swerving around stopped traffic and nearly mowing down an elderly woman crossing the street, we had the rental car company come meet us and swap cars at our hotel.
Ahhhhhh our hotel…beachfront villa at the Hilton Resort complete with an infinity pool, delicious breakfasts, and couples massages.
Before you start thinking Jenn’s budget boyfriend/frugal fiancé has gone soft in marriage, the room was free using Hilton Honors points collected from work trips. Jenn was so excited during check in she cried - guess she was expecting a mixed bed dorm room with a shared bathroom.
We spent the following few days driving our car on every paved/ gravel/ sand/ grassy road/path the island had to make sure we made it to every beach. I even convinced Jenn to hike over an hour to a couple of secluded beaches (uphill both ways of course).
We spent the following few days driving our car on every paved/ gravel/ sand/ grassy road/path the island had to make sure we made it to every beach. I even convinced Jenn to hike over an hour to a couple of secluded beaches (uphill both ways of course).
I think Jenn cried again when we had to check out of our hotel, but we had more islands and beaches to explore.
Jenn:
Exploring Mahé was incredible and having a plush room was so amazing. We/I thoroughly enjoyed the luxury. From Mahé we hopped a morning ferry to Praslin, the second largest island in the Seychelles. We only allotted a few hours on Praslin because we wanted to spend more time on a different island. Because of the short time frame, we rented a car and did a quick spin around the island.
Jenn:
Exploring Mahé was incredible and having a plush room was so amazing. We/I thoroughly enjoyed the luxury. From Mahé we hopped a morning ferry to Praslin, the second largest island in the Seychelles. We only allotted a few hours on Praslin because we wanted to spend more time on a different island. Because of the short time frame, we rented a car and did a quick spin around the island.
Upon arrival to the above pictured beaches we had a moment of panic when we realized our GoPro was missing. After turning the car upside down and no sign of the camera, we knew it had gotten left on the ferry. One thing we haven’t mentioned yet is that the people of the Seychelles were above and beyond friendly. We were never heckled and we never felt unsafe or threatened. So, long story short, we got in touch with the ferry company and we got the GoPro back the next morning, on a different island from a random passenger who brought it to us… Unbelievable.
Our final island was La Digue. This was our favorite. There are only a few cars on this island, so everyone gets around on bicycles. This in itself was really fun!
Our final island was La Digue. This was our favorite. There are only a few cars on this island, so everyone gets around on bicycles. This in itself was really fun!
We checked into our not so plush hotel, yet still $105 a night. These islands were crazy expensive but so worth it.
We made sure to get our money’s worth out of our bikes and explored the whole island.
We also did quite a bit of hiking as the paths got too rocky or dense for bikes. We hiked for about four hours along the coast just soaking in all the different beaches we came across. And for those of you wondering, I didn’t come out unscathed. We all know I am a graceful hiker… I got a pretty good scrape on my thigh from having an altercation with a boulder.
Luckily for the hike out we found a more forgiving trail and it only took about an hour to get back and no boulders attacked me.
I also got to feed the giant turtles that are native to the Seychelles!
I also got to feed the giant turtles that are native to the Seychelles!
We spent one of the days diving and another day doing a day long boat trip to some smaller islands for snorkeling, hiking, and lunch.
For our last night and day in paradise we ferried back to Mahé for our flight out. We spent our last night in a different Hilton resort on the other side of the island closer to the airport. The beaches in front of this resort were spectacular. Mmmmhmmm HHH is spoiling me…
So like I said in the beginning of this post…Beeeeest vacation everrrrrr!