(This is part of a trip report, using United miles to fly business class for five flights, costing $86 and 160,000 miles, and the value of this trip was $11,758. I flew from the USA to Istanbul to Africa to Seychelles to Greece!)

Seychelles (pronounced “say SHELZ”) is a group of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, 932 miles from the east coast of Africa. Most of the islands are uninhabited and designated as nature preserves. We visited the two bigger islands, Praslin and Mahe.

In Praslin, we stayed at the Exotic Guest House – it was a nice place and included a kitchen area. We met friends that live on the island and spent the day with them. They took us all over the island, and it is amazingly beautiful, so I will let the pictures do the talking, and all photos are unedited and no filter…

One day we went to Vallee de Mai Nature Reserve, where we saw the coco de mer, the largest seed in the plant kingdom, and it only grows in the Seychelles. Our guided hike through the palm forest took us to the top with fantastic views!

We spent one afternoon on the beach, just lounging…and later, enjoying those beautiful sunsets! 

In Mahe we stayed at the Hilton Northolme, the smallest Hilton in the world, with just 56 villas, but one of the MOST picturesque! This was Ian Fleming’s haunt and the inspiration for his James Bond books. We used points for this stay and got upgraded to a king oceanfront villa, value of $692 per night!

We spent most of our time in Mahe with friends and enjoyed touring the island…

Island paradise in the Maldives is next…