Tue, May 2: Mahe (Victoria), Seychelles

Today was pretty much nonstop sightseeing.  First stop was a short tour of the Botanical Gardens…

followed by a short visit to the Hindu Temple in Victoria…

followed by a walk through the Sir Selwyn Selwyn Clarke market.  It was fairly small but there was lots of fresh produce and fish, both fresh and dried.

We then headed out of town for a round the island drive where we saw many beautiful beaches…

and the reputed site of treasure buried by the Pirate Olivier Levasseur (aka The Buzzard), an 18th century pirate.  His lost treasure is estimated at around 4.5 billion euros.

We also saw a super-size yacht variously reported to be owned by Bill Gates and/or the second in command at Microsoft.  Regardless of who it belonged to…it was big.

We also stopped at the Mission Lodge (site of a boarding school for ex-slave children in the latter half of the 19^th century) where there were great views of the island.

Periodically the drive took us to the top of the mountains where we had great views of the beaches and nearby islands.

We also had a short stop at a coffee processing facility.

  
We stopped at a resort at Port Launay for lunch and swimming…

before heading back to town.  There were more spectacular beaches along the drive.

Along the way we stopped by Eden Island…a luxury housing development with lot of large yachts berthed along the piers.

We were back in plenty of time to catch the ship before it departed the Seychelles.