Have you been to the small but beautiful African country of Seychelles? If not, then I would strongly suggest that for your next vacation, you plan and make that trip to Seychelles.
Today we bring you to the amazingly beautiful island of La Digue in the Seychelles.
La Digue is the third most populated island of the Seychelles, and fourth largest by land area, lying east of Praslin and west of Felicite Island. In size, it is the fourth-largest granitic island of Seychelles after Mahé, Praslin, and Silhouette Island. It has a population of 2,800 people. Most of the inhabitants live in the west coast villages of La Passe (linked by ferry to Praslin and Mahé) and Anse Réunion. There is no airport on La Digue, so to get there from a foreign country, one must fly to Victoria and continue by ferry, usually via Praslin. It has an area of 10.08 km2, making it relatively easy to travel by bike or on foot.
La Digue is an island in the Seychelles, in the Indian Ocean off East Africa. It’s known for its beaches, like Anse Source d’Argent, dotted with granite boulders, on the west coast. To the south, isolated Anse Bonnet Carré Beach, with calm, shallow water, is accessible only on foot, as is Anse Cocos Beach, in a protected bay on the east coast. La Digue’s diverse wildlife can be seen in the Veuve Nature Reserve
The History of La Digue
La Digue was named after a ship in the fleet of French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, who visited Seychelles in 1768.
According to modern historians, the island La Digue was first sighted by the French navigator Lazare Picault in 1742, but it was not named until 1768. The first people settled on the island in 1789, when French colonists arrived with enslaved people from Africa. Most of them went back to France, but some people were left and some of today’s inhabitants carry their names. Later, more French deportees arrived, followed by a large number of liberated slaves and Asian immigrants. In 1854, the first Catholic chapel was built on La Digue by Father Theophile. Most inhabitants of the island are of the Catholic faith.[5] French colonists on La Digue manufactured coral lime, and they are believed to be responsible for the decline of the island’s coral reefs. They also made copra out of coconuts, and they planted vanilla on their plantations. This tradition has been continued.
Seychelles generally has warm temperatures throughout the year. They get frequent and sometimes heavy rainfall. On La Digue, rainfall can be very heavy, but it usually lasts for one hour or less. Daytime temperatures on La Digue normally range from 24 °C (75 °F) to 32 °C (90 °F); nighttime temperatures are slightly colder. The months with the heaviest rainfall are October to March, with monthly precipitation of 402.6 mm (15.85 inches) in January. The month with the least precipitation is July, with only 76.6 mm (3.02 inches) of rain.
About La Digue
The inhabitants of La Digue are called ‘Diguois’. The first inhabitants arrived in 1798, after being exiled from Île Bourbon (now named Réunion) for taking part in a political rebellion there. They were supposed to be sent to the East Indies but bribed the captain to ship them to Seychelles instead where many had relatives. The population of La Digue is mostly Catholic and the island’s feast day on 15 August is a national holiday.
There is no separate government of La Digue, so it follows the laws and legislation set by the government in Victoria. Seychelles has a president and the main political sides are the PP and SNP. The law system of Seychelles is modelled on European legal systems.
Today, the island’s main industry is tourism, and it is known for its beaches, especially Anse Source d’Argent and Grand Anse. La Digue, along with the rest of Seychelles, saw a major increase in tourism numbers in the late 20th century, which greatly impacted the economy of Seychelles. Before 1960, copra and vanilla production were the mainstays of the local economy, which are commemorated in the island’s museum.
The Veuve Nature Reserve, in the island’s interior, is home to the rare black paradise flycatcher, of which there are only about 100 in existence. La Digue’s tallest peak, Belle Vue (Eagle’s Nest Mountain), is in the central part of the island, with a summit more than 300 m (980 feet) above sea level. La Digue’s wide variety of underwater creatures including fish, sharks, and rays also attracts many tourists for diving trips. The island has plenty of accommodations and activities for tourists, including more than twenty guesthouses and hotels, restaurants, and a dive centre. One can go on a boat trip or a diving trip around La Digue for half or full days. Furthermore, the Veuve Reserve offers tourists hiking trips with guides.
The primary means of transportation is still the bicycle. It is possible to rent bicycles near the ferry pier. There are a few privately owned vehicles, but most cars and buses belong to hotel companies. Another method of transport on La Digue is the ox-cart, which has a slow pace suited to the island.
Since La Digue is an island inhabited by many ethnic groups, the local cuisine is a mix of differing cuisines, with a specific focus on fish. With abundant seafood, the Seychellois people have developed hundreds of recipes using a variety of fish. One can have fish curry, fish fillets, raw fish with lemon, grilled fish, steamed fish, cooked fish, and so on. The inhabitants of La Digue also make fried octopus, lobster with garlic and their biggest specialty – bat curry. A commonly used ingredient is ginger. The most popular alcoholic drink on La Digue is palm wine, which most Seychellois people like to make themselves by fermenting the inside of a coconut.
La Digue is the home to the critically endangered paradise flycatcher. However, other rare and endangered animals live on this island. Since Seychelles is detached from the rest of Africa, many of the species are endemic to La Digue. There is a significant population of giant tortoises that come from the island Aldabra. The subspecies that lived on La Digue is extinct. From the arthropod group there is, for example, the Seychelles coconut crab which likes to dig holes in the backyards of the Seychellois people. Among others, there are fodies, sunbirds, terns, fruit bats, sheath-tailed bats, and geckos.
The reefs and lagoons of La Digue offer a large amount of flora and fauna. Green sea turtles live on the very edges of the coral reefs, and they sometimes venture closer to the island. There are butterflyfish, eagle ray, moray eel and many other species of fish. Divers and snorkelers may be lucky enough to see blacktip reef sharks or even whale sharks, which come mainly in the winter but can be seen all year round.
Sadly, the animals that have traditionally lived on La Digue are threatened by animals that were brought there by the first inhabitants: rats, dogs, cats, etc. The rat population was probably the first animal that was brought to Seychelles. It quickly made many birds extinct by eating their eggs and threatening their nests. The dog and cat population is not nearly as much of a threat, but it still is something that the original species of Seychelles are not used to.
La Digue is the laid-back, sleepier sibling to larger Seychelles islands Mahé and Praslin. Nobody ever seems in a hurry on this (almost) motor-free island. Creole houses nestle under papaya trees, their window boxes and plant pots overflowing with flowers. Fishermen dawdle along the road carrying sticks hung with fish, while wooden pirogues glide across the water. This is where you’ll find bona fide Seychellois island life.
There’s no airport on this tiny island, just 5 km (3 miles) long and 3 km (2 miles) wide, so you’ll first meet La Digue from the water. It’s a 20-minute boat ride from nearby Praslin, and you approach to views across a seductive coastline of blonde beaches, fronds of palms and clusters of smoothed boulders.
La Digue doesn’t have a list of sights to tick off. Your time is best spent gently, wandering along palm-dappled paths and between beaches with turquoise waters. You can take the locals’ lead and get around by bicycle, following the one road that curves around three quarters of the island. Pack a snorkel and you can dip into the water along the way.
The temperature on La Digue rarely dips below 24°C (75°F) even at night, averaging a comfortable 28°C (82°F) in the daytime. It’s a year-round destination but, arguably, the best times to go are April to May and October to November. At these times, the water tends to be calmest, providing good visibility for snorkeling as well as a smooth ferry journey across to the island.
Continue past the neat rows of vanilla vines (which were introduced by French settlers) and you’ll come to La Digue’s calling card: Anse Source d’Argent. Roughly translated as silver stream, the island’s — and, arguably, the Seychelles’ — most revered beach is a shimmering stretch of photogenic sand. Aside from a tiny drinks stall tucked behind the palms, it’s an unspoiled slip of beach interspersed with granite boulders that blush pink in the sunset.
On a rise in the middle of the island is Belle Vue, a thatched-roof café that looks out across the wild, undeveloped east of the island, to the Indian Ocean below. You can cycle over for lunch, or the café will arrange to pick you up for a sunset dinner — we recommend the octopus salad.
Without a protective reef, the eastern coast is unsuitable for swimming, but you can walk along its rugged, near-deserted beaches.
To the southeast are Grand Anse and Petite Anse (although the latter seems larger), a pair of coves you reach by a hilly track from the back of La Reunion. A number of clearly marked walking trails run northward along the coastline, taking you to Pointe Petite Anse, a promontory with views over to Félicité Island and Ramos National Park.
I plan to be in Seychelles, for my next vacation at the end of the year, and I welcome you to come along…
Stay tuned to this space for more lovely African Destinations, Africa is truly beautiful.
