THE SEYCHELLES!!

We just got back from the trip of a lifetime.  The Seychelles were absolutely incredible, so incredible that we took about 1,000 pictures because everything was too beautiful to believe.  If I wasn't lucky enough to vacation here, I would hate me right now, but please don't hate us.  We have had a reeeeeally hard time adjusting to life in Dubai away from all of our favorites, and this is just a little piece of happiness that comes with the whole package.  It's our trade off for constantly being homesick and missing our friends and family. :)

So without further adieu, here is our first of three posts about the glorious Seychelles.  We visited three main islands, so I'm splitting the posts in three.  We rented an apartment on Eden Island, a man-made island connected to the main island, Mahe, by a little bridge.  Here's a little tour of our apartment, which, by the way, is bigger than our apartment in Dubai...

Our view from the back porch.  Not too shabby.

 The kitchen we used for making toast and pouring champagne and beer :)

We had a hard time finding a nice, affordable hotel.  The hotels were either super fancy $1,000/night resorts or run-down places where you wouldn't want to spend a vacation.  Jordan found this place and it was absolutely perfect.  If you ever have the good fortune of visiting the Seychelles, I highly recommend it.  They're just called Eden Island Apartments.  The island is so small that cars aren't allowed, so everyone gets a golf cart with their apartment.  There are cute little boutiques on the island, 4 main restaurants, a mini grocery store, a smoothie shop, an ice cream shop, a GORGEOUS pool, 3 beaches and a marina filled with fancy boats.  What more could you need?

We were only able to stay 4 nights because my dad flew in from Dallas the day after we got back.  4 nights didn't seem like much when we were planning it, but it was actually perfect.  We had enough time to do everything we wanted to do and even had a little time left over for relaxation.

The first day we got there, we just explored Eden and Mahe.  It was a little stressful figuring everything out when we first got there.  Jordan arranged a rental car to share because taxis are insanely expensive.  We were supposed to have a little baby jeep called a Suzuki Jimny, but the rental car guy wasn't there when we got off the plane.  We waited an hour and finally got so annoyed that we went with a different company and smaller car.  Then we had to figure out how to drive on the left side of the road while shifting with our left hands.  Not too hard but not exactly easy peasy.  When we got to Eden, we couldn't find the rental office and then the rental guy wasn't there either because it was a national holiday, so we had to wait again.  I think everyone in the Seychelles is on island time, which we quickly adjusted to and loved after the first day.

Anyhoo, here are a few pics from our first day on Mahe.

Check out my cute beach bag EJ sent all the way from Texas!  It came exactly 1 day before our trip.  She's the best!

Even the clouds in the Seychelles are beautiful!

Our funny little rental car.

That pretty much concludes our first day.

The best, best, BEST thing we did on Mahe was a helicopter ride.  Remember our dinner cruise on the Seine?  That was Casey's Christmas present to me, and I almost got him the same thing but I had a little feeling that he might get me that so I held off.  Welp, I never actually got him anything and he's OBSESSED with flying, so I thought I'd splurge a little on an experience we'll remember for the rest of our lives.  The ride was 30 minutes around the island of Mahe, and it was so, so amazing.  I can't even describe it.  We were grinning ear to ear the ENTIRE ride and filled with adrenaline for hours after the ride.  It was one of the coolest things I've done in my entire life, and we made a pact to do it again someday.  The pilot said one of the best places to ride in a helicopter is in the Grand Canyon, which works out perfectly because we're planning a trip there when we move back :)

 

This is pretty much how we looked the entire flight.

 

Our amazing pilot, Ralph

 We admired this house the entire vacation and then our pilot told us it belongs to Sheikh Khalifa from Abu Dhabi.  He said he flies in on his airbus with all of his cars and helicopter and keeps the house running 24/7, just in case he decides to make a surprise appearance in the Seychelles.

This is Sheikh Khalifa's helipad, which he also keeps running 24/7.

This really made me appreciate Mahe's beauty even more.  It was more than spectacular and these pictures don't do it justice, but now you've pretty much been on a helicopter ride over Mahe.

More Mahe randoms...

 

 Best place to lay out ever.

Jordan and Jay!  They came 2 days after us and we had so much fun.

It's impossible not to feel ultra-relaxed here.