Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles (overnight) — 2024
On the morning of April 4 we docked in Victoria, the capital of the Seychelles, which is located on the island of Mahe. With a population in excess of 25,000 it is not, as sometimes claimed, the smallest national capital in the world (that would be in Palau). We had two sea days on the way to the Seychelles, though, and on both evenings we had sunsets worth looking at.
We have visited the Seychelles once before, in 2018, and at that time participated in a private excursion throughout this beautiful island: https://baderjournal.com/2018/08/08/victoria-mahe-seychelles-islands/. So this time we decided to just walk into town, only about an hour’s walk but rather taxing in the high heat and humidity.
We set out after breakfast, walking down the dock toward the bay, then through the covered walk that we think has been built since our last visit. The covered walk not only provides welcome protection from the sun but is lined with engaging wall paintings.
Victoria has a number of prominent wind turbines that can be seen from the port, although not all of them seemed to be working. Near the walkway were some colorful flowers as well, something that can be seen all over town.
At the end of the walkway was an information table where we were given a nice map of the city, and some people with a metal detector checking ID’s (and ship cards, we think, on the way back to the port). We emerged from the walkway into a large parking lot where several taxi drivers were offering tours but we wanted to walk through the city on our own. They accepted our “No thank you” politely and didn’t pursue us further (this is not always the case elsewhere).
We walked on toward town, seeing the Liberation Monument, erected in 1978 and moved in 2014 to the front of the ruling party’s headquarters. Known as “Zonm Lib” (Free Man), it does not commemorate the demise of slavery, as we thought looking at it, but a coup in 1977 that removed the Seychelles’ first president, causing three deaths. Apparently it is still pretty controversial. We also visited the National Library nearby. Its roots date back to a grant from the Carnegie foundation in 1910 and it became the National Library in 1978. It moved into this new building in 1979. The building was closed for several years because of a fungus infestation and apparently reopened less than 6 months before our visit. The library is large and spacious with a nice children’s room and a lot of room for its collection to grow, judging from the many empty shelves we saw.
Just beyond the library in an area away from the street and bordered by a rock walled canal we came upon the Carrefour des Arts, a gallery for Seychellois artists opened in 2005. This complex also included some art and craft stores. But the best thing was a walk outside the building displaying sculptures reflecting local traditions made of found materials (such as wire, wood, metal, plastic bags, etc). It was small but quite interesting and the canal was lined with nice flora.
As we continued toward the center of town we spotted down an alley the golden dome of the Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Mosque. It was built in 1982 by the family of the head of the United Arab Emirates, who also owns a mansion on the side of a mountain overlooking Victoria. We encountered the Jubilee Drinking Fountain sitting in front of the National History Museum. Created of porcelain by the Royal Daulton company of London, it was unveiled in 1900, three years after Queen Victoria’s actual Diamond Jubilee. It features a foot tall sculpture of Queen Victoria, which was moved for preservation purposes inside the museum in 1977. The fountain was restored and the statuette replaced with a replica donated by the British government in 1993. On the museum grounds we also came across sculptures of a crocodile and what looks like a manatee
In the middle of one of the central intersections in town sits the 25 foot tall Victoria Clock Tower. It was erected in 1903 in memory of Queen Victoria, after whom the city was named, who had died in 1901. Made of cast iron, the clock tower was painted silver in 1935. It is a model of Big Ben in London (actually it is a model of a model of Big Ben that sits near Victoria Station in London) and was originally supposed to chime. But the chime never worked until in 1999 its mechanism was replaced with a modern electronic one . . . by the same company that had manufactured the clock tower itself almost a century before.
We walked on to the Sir Selwyn Selwyn-Clarke Market, a large covered produce market housing many individual vendors. This is the central market of the city where you can buy not only produce, but also colorful spices, freshly caught fish, clothing, crafts and souvenirs. The market dates back to 1840 but it is named after the English governor of the Seychelles who served for 4 years after World War II. It has two stories with a roof covering many of the vendors and others in a courtyard with individual umbrellas to protect from the sun. The sides are open and this is a regular hangout for white egrets (on both of our visits an egret was sitting on top of a pillar by the entrance reviewing the visitors as they arrived). When we visited here in 2018 we had a very nice view from the market of the Hindu temple a few blocks away, but since then a blocky gray building has gone up right next to the market that entirely eliminates the view in that direction.
It was only a few blocks further to reach the Hindu temple, called Arul Mihu Mavasakthi Vinayagar. Constructed in 1992, it is the only HIndu temple in the Seychelles. It is dedicated to the Hindu deity Ganesh, who is also sometimes called Lord Vinayagar. Hindus account for about 2% of the population of the Seychelles. You have to remove your shoes to enter the temple; Mary did but Rick waited outside and took some pictures through the door. The temple looked similar to other Hindu temples we have visited (most recently in Colombo, Sri Lanka, less than a week earlier), but rather smaller. Still, with its multi-colored tower full of sculptures it made for a nice view with the green mountains behind it.
The walk back to the port seemed longer in the hot sun, but there were many nice flowers to enjoy on the way.
On April 9 we were still docked in Victoria. But it had been so hot the day before and we had seen and done what we most wanted to here. So we decided to spend the day on the ship. We did see what looked like a big fire not too far from the port, but perhaps it was something purposeful because we never saw any fire trucks. On the way out of the port we also saw the pilot boat. If you have never seen one, this boat pulls up alongside the ship, both moving at speed, after it leaves the harbor and the pilot jumps(!) from a doorway in the ship’s hull to the boat, which is outfitted with bars for him to grab so he won’t fall off the boat. Quite a show, but brief and not always visible from the deck. The seascapes were beautiful as the sun dropped lower while we put out to sea.
BADER JOURNAL 