LA DIGUE SEYCHELLEN – DIE FAHRRAD-INSEL
The island of La Digue is part of the Seychelles. The Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 granite and coral islands in the Indian Ocean. The largest islands are the island of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue. The three islands are not far apart and are connected by ferries. These three largest
islands are also the destination of most tourists. The sights of the islands are the beautiful white sandy beaches with the granite rocks that are distinctive for the Seychelles and the tropical flora. Each island has its own special features. Mahé has been developed for tourism and is busier, Praslin is idyllic with beautiful dream beaches and the famous giant coconuts, the Coco de Mer and La Digue is a beach paradise for cyclists.
In this video of my Seychelles series, I introduce you to the island of La Digue. La Digue is only 5 km long and 3 km wide. About 3,000 people live on the almost 10 square kilometers. Most tourists arrive by plane on the main island of Mahé and take the ferry over an hour to the island of Praslin, 50 kilometers away, and from there about 15 minutes to the island of La Digue, about 6 kilometers away. On La Digue there is a road network of about 10 kilometers in length and there are hardly any motorized vehicles. The main means of transport for residents and visitors is the bicycle and it is sensationally nice to be on a bicycle on this island.
We were on La Digue for several days and the different bike stations almost always had bikes with quirks ready for us. The visits to La Digue were fun. Even if it was just malicious joy, if you had a bike yourself without any noticeable quirks, but your mate's bike snagged, rattled, or creaked. We went back and forth all over the island unscathed. Caution! Bikes also drive on the left here! As the first destination of our bike tour, we had chosen three dream beaches that can be reached by bike from across the island. They are the beaches of Grand Anse, Petite Anse and Anse Cocos.
On this first tour, the malicious joy was with my travel companion. At first, I noticed that the brakes squeaked really loudly, and everyone looked at me pityingly when I had to brake. After a while, however, I found that when the brakes squealed, the roosters in the island's courtyards answered me. Here and there I braked extra to return the kikeriki greetings from the island roosters. As soon as you drive out of the suburbs, it also goes uphill a bit. My bottom bracket didn't like that much and protested extensively.
My bike had loaded the complete entertainment program. But all this hardly distracts from the overwhelming tropical nature of the island. You cross the island through jungle-like landscapes and are fascinated by the tropical fauna.
At the end of the path, you come to one of the most beautiful bike parks in the world. From here you can walk on small paths to the three dream beaches. Important! It is recommended to take enough to drink for the long walk to the beaches and make sure you protect the skin from the sun. It can also rain heavily, but this does not lead to colds in the tropical temperatures.
There are also small stalls on the beaches, but they only have a limited range, but at least they offer decent rain protection. It is only a short walk to the first beach, Grand Anse. The beach is bordered by granite rocks. Important! The three beaches on this hike have no offshore reef
and the currents can be dangerous. So don't swim out too far. We continue marching towards the next beach, Petite Anse. Through a beautiful nature and over a steep cliff climb, it goes to the next bay. Petite Anse is also a dream beach with white sand, beautiful granite rocks and blue water. The climbing path to the next beach, Anse Cocos, is a bit rockier and more difficult, but also beautiful and the beach at the end rewards the effort.
Anse Cocos is unbelievably beautiful and thus another pearl among the dream beaches of this small island. As soon as we arrived it started raining heavily. The perfect moment for the CoCo Bar at the beginning of the beach. Quench your thirst and enjoy the rain break. The path behind the beach leads towards the end of the beach to the granite rocks. The coconut shells along the way are probably the namesake of Anse Cocos. And again a tropical rain catches us. Off to the shelter and a swim in the sea, we don't let the rain stop us. We'll get
wet anyway and even in the rain the sea water is beautifully turquoise. During the beach break it clears up again and we make our way back through the tropical forest along these dream beaches to our bikes. There is a rich culinary offer on La Digue. At the entrance to the village we first take a break at one of the many take-aways to quench our hunger and thirst. The take-aways are significantly cheaper than the restaurants and always have different, changing dishes on offer. The Indian and African influences on the kitchen recipes are
often unmistakable and the food is delicious. There are also fresh juices. Our next tour is the bike tour in an arc around the north side of the island. The cycle path is fantastic with an almost continuous view of the impressive coastal landscape.
The road then simply ends at Anse Fourmis on the east side of the island. But the bike path back is just as sensational as the way there. For me the most beautiful bike route I have ever ridden. On the way out I had seen the men out in the water on the coral rocks. Squid are caught there. Our next excursion takes us to the most famous beach of La Digue, Anse Source d'Argent. Various well-known advertising videos for Cocos chocolates and rums were filmed on this beach. We are curious.
To get to Anse Source d'Argent beach, you have to pay an entrance fee to the beach at the entrance of Union Estate Park. This is not nice, but this contribution is necessary and right for the preservation of the beautiful nature. The Union Estate Park also has its own attractions. The first stop is
an old pirate graveyard. At least that's what we were told. The next stop is at an enclosure for the famous large Seychelles tortoises. From our boat trip from Praslin to Curieuse Island, we already knew that these animals love to have their parchment-like necks scratched. The video about our experiences on Praslin can be found in my holiday islands playlist and is displayed at the end of this video. We continue through the vanilla plantations to the bicycle parking lot in front of the access to Anse Source d'Argent. The path to the beach alone is beautiful and right at the beginning is the perfect place for weddings, which are very often hosted here.
And again you are flashed by the white sand, the blue sea and the granite rock formations. Anyone who sees the spider webs of the not small palm spiders in the Seychelles for the first time will get a fright. Especially if, like me, you accidentally walk into one of those spider webs. The good news: the spiders are harmless and the surprising experience: the webs are extremely tear-resistant, but this doesn't really reduce the shock at first sight.
We spent the rest of the day at the beach. Snorkel, Snorkelling, swimming, and enjoying nature in one of the most beautiful places in the world. With a heavy heart we made our way back to the ferry. La Digue is hospitable, has a fantastic nature and you never want to leave here.
2022-03-09 10:04
