Seychelles

Ah the Seychelles, where you always hear about rich people stashing their monies.  Fun fact: money on the islands go WAY back. Some rich French pirate who terrorized the Indian Ocean in the 18th century, who was eventually hanged for his crimes, is said to have buried a billion dollars somewhere in the Seychelles. Nobody has ever found it though. 

The Seychelles is 1,000 miles away from any coast. Out floating in the Indian Ocean, this tiny little African nation that wasn't even inhabited until the 18th century, is made up of 115 islands, many of them still uninhabited. 

It is a fusion of Indian and East Asian cultures. You'll find French, Indian, Chinese and Arab influences. The main languages here are English, French and Creole. 

If you're in Seychelles, you're there for the beaches. Many of them are untouched by man's influence and are refreshing uncrowded. Probably because you need to be rich to get there and stay there.  

So let's talk about some of those beaches. 

Anse Lazio was our landmark. It's located on Praslin Island and is known as the most beautiful beach in all of the Seychelles (it's by far the most photographed) and one of the prettiest in the world. The beach is long and broad with velvety sand, and shocking blue water. It's lined with swinging palm trees and is framed with giant granite boulders. 

On the Anse Source d'Argent Beach you'll find pink sand caused by the nearby colorful coral reefs. 

On the biggest island, Mahe, you'll find the capital city of Victoria  and about 85% of the population of the Seychelles. (There's only about 90,000 permanent residents). 

Beaches in the Seychelles are good for more than just lounging around in a gorgeous setting. You can often spot some interesting creatures (especially at low tides) like ghost crabs, leaping blennys, and flying fish. 

Bird Island is appropriately named, as 750,000 pairs of birds that flock to the island to breed every year. It's said that many birds are so loud, the sound is deafening. 

The world's largest coral atoll that encloses a huge tidal lagoon is the Aldabra Atoll. It's known as the 'crown jewel of the Indian Ocean', but it's also the home of 150,000 Aldabra  giant tortoises. These guys can grow up to four feet in the length! Out in the water you'll find your usual cast of characters with tiger sharks and manta rays. 

Apparently, I didn't take a picture of the flag, but you can see the colorful sunshine like rays in the boys postcards. 

Calib's had the flag in the background and included the island of Mahe with Victoria, along with an 'X' to mark the spot of pirate treasure, the bird island, and various animals out to see. 

Peyton included one island with the various animals, and a plane- since it is a tourist destination. 

Hayden went with a look from above. The coconut trees in Seychelles are grown from the largest seed in the world. The called the 'Cco de Mer' (double coconut) seed can weigh up to 50 pounds, and sort of famously looks like a butt (so, Hayden did totally nail the shape on his postcard).  

For Seychelles we didn't have a full meal. While we could have done a creole shrimp dish, we thought we'd just go with a quick dessert instead, so we had a Creamy Coconut & Banana Tart (though we did ours more like a pie).

This earned three spoons up. 

But this one wasn't super popular with everyone (I have some non-coconut fans in my house). I actually really enjoyed it. It was basically a banana cream pie, and Asa did an awesome job making it. (Shockingly enough, we bought the pie crust). 

Again, we noted this one was possible thanks to that mixer our awesome neighbor gifted us. Peyton said he wasn't a fan of the banana flavor, but he did appreciate that it was a nicely put together pie, and said we should try our hand at a lemon meringue pie. 

The Seychelles took the form of a couple of orange dots about 1000 miles off the coast of Tanzania and Kenya, to the north of Madagascar. (Those other islands out there are Comoros just off the coast of dark purple Mozambique, and Maldives off the coast of India). 

That's 176 down, ONLY 20 TO GO!!!! 

Next Up: Georgia (that country, not the state!)