Mahe, Seychelles

January 12^th, 2025

If it is Sunday, it must be Victoria. Sure, enough when I opened the curtains, there was the port right in front of us. Another cargo port, but at least it was a prettier one this time.

We ate breakfast on the terrace outside of the Colonnade and watched a very strange ship, the Txori Gorri, come in to the port. I looked it up online, and it is a Kenyan commercial fishing vessel. It took them a long time to dock, and the engine was particularly noisy, so it didn’t make for a peaceful breakfast.

As we have 2 days in port we decided not to do a tour today, but just to go into town and see what’s going on.

Well, nothing was going on. It was Sunday and the museum was closed.

As was the market.

The church was open, and we heard some beautiful singing.

We wandered around the downtown area. The only shops that were open were a few souvenir stalls and a couple of convenience stores. That was it.

Still, we loved looking at the architecture,

And took a photo of the Victoria Clock Tower at the intersection of intersect of Francis Rachel Street, State House Avenue, Albert Street and Independence Avenue.

It was installed in April of 1903 in memory of Queen Victoria, who died in 1901. It is an exact replica of one which was installed at the entrance of Victoria Station on Vauxhall Bridge Road in London in 1892 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee.

It would appear that missing luggage is not just a new phenomenon. The clock tower was manufactured in England and then dismantled into nine cases and shipped to the Seychelles. On February 11^th, 1903, seven cases arrived, the other two having been mistakenly unloaded in Mauritius. Those arrived a month later.

We had been looking for a shop where we could purchase some water shoes to wear on our tour in Madagascar, seemingly among all sorts of other necessities, our water shoes had been left behind.

We failed in our mission, as everything was closed, so we took the shuttle bus back to the ship and sat at the back on the ship on deck 7 contemplating our next move, and watching the Txori Gorri unloading its fishy cargo.

Then Brian read that the was a Hypermarket a short walk from the ship and it was open until 2:00 on Sundays.

We finished our Cokes, and went ashore again. Although this is a cargo port, very conveniently there is a pedestrian walkway so you can walk out of the port without fear of somehow coming to grief on the busy port road.

We found the Hypermarket, but there wasn’t a shoe in sight. There were loads of groceries, some stationary, and kitchen wares, but not a single or even a pair of shoes.

Disappointed, we started our walk back to the ship. Then we noticed that there was a shop open in the building, and low and behold it sold water shoes! Yay! Except the water shoes were unbelievably expensive, so we ended up settling for a pair of flip flips each, for the price of what you would pay for good water shoes back home. Still we thought it was worth it.

To celebrate our new flip flops I called room service and ordered caviar. We thought of having the caviar on the balcony, but opted for the cooler interior instead. It was still very hot outside.

Seeing as we have an overnight stay in Victoria, we had originally thought it would be fun to find a great seafood restaurant for dinner. My search of restaurants turned up several possibilities, but they were all at least a 40-minute cab drive from the port. We checked out the menu for tonight, and the Japanese offerings at the Colonnade promised lobster and prawns so we chose to stay on board.

We sat by the railings on the terrace at the Colonnade and had our desired al fresco seafood feast. Romantic is was not.

Although the almost full moon looked lovely

The fishy ship had become noisier and noisier, and it was difficult to have a decent conversation.

Still, the lights of Victoria provided a sparkling backdrop, so that almost made up for the noise.

There was no show tonight, but there was a disco party on deck instead.

For many, it was the last night of their cruise. This was the perfect way to say goodbye to the folks we had met who would be leaving the ship tomorrow, and to dance the night away under the stars on a warm moonlit evening.

I am sooooooo glad that we are not leaving the ship. Captain Hamish calls the ship our home away from home, and it certainly feels like home now.