VICTORIA, MAHE –

SEYCHELLES

The Land of Perpetual Summer

Thursday, March 13, 2025, 6 AM, Temperature 82 Degrees, 78% Humidity, W – N @13mph

“Does this ship smell fishy to you?” As has been the case about half the time on the cruise, we are moored in a commercial port. We were next to a container ship unloading corn in Peru and a cement plant in Sri Lanka. Today, we were next to a fish processing plant, which became very evident when we stepped off the ship! That shouldn’t be a surprise; Victoria is a major fishing center with many large fishing boats in the harbor, their decks piled with nets. We opted for no excursion today; instead, we decided to take a very pleasant walk into town (more about that later), but by the time we returned to the ship about 3 hours later, the smell of fish had invaded the air condition system of the Zuiderdam. It seemed to be worse in some areas – corridors, and cabins, but not as much in the Dining Room. By this morning and out to sea, it had worked its way out of the system, and we had fresh, “non-fishy” air again.

Victoria is the capital of the 115-island archipelago known as the Republic of the Seychelles and is its largest city. It is located on Mahe, the main island. Mahe is the largest granite island in the Seychelles, and Victoria is its only port. There was a population of approx—120,000 in 2023. The Seychelles is the smallest and least populated African country. The Seychelles became an independent republic in 1976 and is a republic within the Commonwealth. Tourism is its largest industry.

The area was originally settled by French colonists in 1778 after they first claimed the island in 1756. The town was known as L’Etablissement until it was renamed by the British in 1841 in honor of Queen Victoria. The town still exhibits British, French, and Creole influences.

Whenever we first leave the ship in port, there is a contingent of ship staff to wave us off! There is always the Hotel Manager, Henk, who is retiring this year after 30+ years with HAL, and the Cruise Director, Kimberly (she’s like the energizer Bunny; she goes and goes). Often, there is a group of native dancers to welcome us as well. No native dancers here; although you can’t really tell from this photo, Kimberly made up for it by dancing to her own tune! Kimberly was a dancer on Broadway for 10+ years (no wonder she likes to move to the music, even if it is of her own making) and was a host on one of the TV shopping channels before she came to HAL. She was Cruise Director on our trip to the Panama Canal last Christmas on the Zuiderdam and continued 2024 World Cruise. She does many things around the ship; informational Port Talks, Coffee and Cocktail Chats; introduces evening entertainment and Noon Day talks over the PA with the Captain every day. She loves to travel when she’s not cruising and is athletic – she and the previous Captain climbed the Bridge when we were in Sydney earlier this cruise.

We were really impressed with Victoria, especially after the crowded, dark streets and narrow sidewalks of Columbo. It was approximately a mile walk into the city, but the sidewalks were wide, shaded, and in good repair.

John is used to our “regulars” on the ship (stewards, waiters, beverage folks) referring to him as “Sir, John” but his “Command Presence” obviously extends beyond the ship. While we were walking to town, a guy on the sidewalk snapped to attention, saluted and called him “El Presidente”! Does a “Sir” outrank a “President”?

 It was a clean, open city – very nice. We walked past the Bicentennial Monument celebrating the settlement in Victoria by the French in 1778. The three wings of the white statue represent Asia, Africa, and Europe, the roots of the population in Victoria. On our way to Victoria Clock Tower, a miniature copy of Big Ben, we passed the Natural Museum. Unfortunately, it was closed for lunch, but John got good pictures of two statues outside: a crocodile and something that looked much like a Florida Manatee. Unlike Male, Maldives, which is strictly a Muslim country, all religions were represented in Victoria. There were two Catholic Cathedrals in the city, and the amazing Temple to the Hindu God Vinayagar built in 1992, which serves approx—5,000 Hindus living there. There are also Protestant and Morman churches. We also passed a large, modern, glass-front, very impressive Public Library, and a new Japanese Embassy opened in 2019. The US reopened its Embassy in June 2023 for the first time since 1996. Overall, our impression of Victoria was great; we could really see it would be a good place to live!! It was clean, bright, and prosperous. Not many motorcycles but many newer cars. People in the downtown area seemed professionally dressed for work in the government buildings. The wide streets had well-marked crosswalks but no signals – drivers were good about stopping to let us cross (hitting a tourist is never a good thing). There was more to see, but it was hot, so after a quick Coca-Cola at a local café where we waited out a rain shower, we headed back to the Zuiderdam. It’s always nice to come “Home”!)