I think we found it. Paradise. It goes by another name – La Digue.

Yesterday we walked the two miles from our house to the ferry and took the boat 15 min across to the tiny island of La Digue. It’s about a quarter of the size of the island of Praslin where we are staying.

There are a few stores and hotels and bed and

Petit Anse

breakfasts. But then there is something else. Paradise found.

Grande Anse

Most people rent bikes (just a handful of motor vehicles on the island) when they step off the ferry. We however used the island as a training day for our Camino hike preparation. By the end of the day we put in 14 miles. And saw three of the worlds most beautiful, most pristine beaches.

We first hiked to Grand Anse (anse is French for

Grand Anse

cove) where once more I was flabbergasted by the color of the water. How is it possible the water is this color?  Spending my entire life surrounded by the grey black waters of the Puget Sound the turquoise seems unreal – other worldly. Mind boggling.

Petit Anse

We continued over a rocky cliff to Petit Anse – more white sand and stunning turquoise water. We had a picnic here and enjoyed fresh island juice from the

Served with a smile

Rastafarian serving up ice-cold concoctions. We wanted to swim here, but decided we needed to hike some more before we got wet.

We headed to another beach, about 3 miles away. This beach was called Anse

Anse Source d’Argent

Source d’Argent and was so unique. Cove after cove of white sand surrounded by gigantic granite boulders that seemed to be from another world.

Our secluded cove

And in fact they kind of are. All the Seychelles are made of solid granite. At first glance the islands look volcanic. But they are not.

Sculpted granite

Geologists believe these islands were once part of India which is now more than 3800km to the Northeast. The granite stones lie like ruins all around the island’s beaches like giant pink monuments.

Here we swam, in a private little cove we had (mostly) to ourselves.  Stunning sun, sand, sea and scenery.

Just the two of us.

If you are a fan of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition you might recognize

1979 SI Swimsuit coversome of this scenery.  The annual edition has been shot here three times, including in 1979 when Christie Brinkley graced the cover in this iconic photo.  What man who was a teenage boy in 1979 doesn’t remember this?  Women too!

La Digue. Paradise. I think we will go again.

Fabulous!