Luxury Africa Travel’s Blog

The newly married Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have left the Seychelles following a 10 day honeymoon retreat on North Island.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Jean-Paul Adam, the CEO of the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB), Mr. Alain St Ange, and the Seychelles High Commissioner to Great Britain, Mr. Patrick Pillay, along with the British High Commissioner to Seychelles, Mr Matthew Forbes and his wife Lydia, were present to bid the Royal couple farewell yesterday afternoon at the Zil Air airport hangar.

“The people of Seychelles are truly honoured that Prince William and his wife chose to return to Seychelles for this special holiday and we are proud to have been able to offer them a peaceful and private getaway,” said the Minister,

“There has been much speculation as to the whereabouts of the couple, but we pride ourselves in being discreet and offering an unparalleled level of privacy, which is why we have refused to confirm the reports till now. We hope their stay was everything they had hoped for and we look forward to welcoming them back to our shores again in the future.”

Due to the media frenzy surrounding the Duke and Duchess, the Seychelles Coast Guard was on hand to assist the couple during their stay and ensure that they, along with the other guests of the island, were able to enjoy their holiday uninterrupted. During their last day, the Duke and Duchess took the time to invite the Coast Guard crew members to the island to personally thank them for their efforts.

The head of STB, Mr. St Ange said that this is the first time Seychelles has had this unprecedented level of attention but he was pleased that Seychelles had been able to offer them the level of seclusion they deserved for such an important occasion as their honeymoon.

“It was also pleasing to note that they left happy and clearly content with their stay,” added Mr. St Ange.

High Commissioner Pillay, who also attended the wedding ceremony in Westminster Abbey on the 29th April, said that: “In a world of so much turmoil they bring a welcome and much needed breathe of fresh air with their warmth and humility.”

Information with courtesy of the Seychelles Tourism Board.

Contact us to arrange your own royal honeymoon on North Island in Seychelles.

Romance on North Island, Seychelles

We are pleased and proud to announce that Cousine Island was voted as the World’s Leading Green Destination for 2010 at the 17th World Travel Awards held on Saturday 7th November in London.World Travel Awards is the most prestigious, comprehensive and sought after awards programme in the global travel and tourism industry. Votes are cast by 183,000 travel professionals, including travel agencies, tour and transport companies and tourism organizations in over 160 countries across the globe. Established 17 years ago, World Travel Awards is committed to raising the standards of customer service and overall business performance throughout the international industry.

Cousine Island came first amongst nominees such as Amazon Tur, Brazil; Bouma Natural Heritage Park Taveuni,Fiji; Jock Safari Lodge – South Africa; Kanha National Park – India; Machu Picchu – Peru and The New Forest – England. The award is a great honor for the Seychelles as a whole and reflects the pristine beauty of our environment. In 2007 Cousine Island was honored as Indian Ocean’s Leading Ecotourism Destination by World Travel Awards.

Cousine Island is an Exclusive 5-star nature sanctuary covering 25 hectares of land with 100% commitment to the conservation of the environment. In the effort to balance nature and development, Cousine Island also offers 4 luxurious French Colonial style villas with private pools. The villas are nestled within the lush vegetation and positioned on the beach with spectacular Indian Ocean views.

Cousine’s systematic rehabilitation programme has struck a unique and striking balance between nature and tourism making it one of the world’s most spectacular nature observatories. The vegetation consists of 95% endemic plants and the remaining 5% of vegetation is made up of indigenous fruit trees and vegetable plants.The Island also consists of established colonies of Seychelles endemic birds; home to more than 7 species of endemic land birds and 9 species of endemic seabirds. Thousands of migratory birds consider Cousine as their home during 6 months of the year. Hawksbill Turtles also come ashore to nest and Green Turtles, rare to the Seychelles, nest occasionally throughout the year. Visitors can experience firsthand these phenomenal and life transforming processes.

Learn more about Cousine Island here.

The Seychelles White-eyes have surprised us with yet another fledgling. This small fledgling, younger than the previous reported 3 (2 from the territory on the hill and 1 from the territory by the spa) raises the hope that some of the adult birds have split away from one of the two breeding groups to form a third breeding territory. This increases the potential of future chicks and will hopefully allow the population to grow even further from the current 19 birds.

The Seychelles Magpie Robins have also managed to increase their number by 1 to 34 birds with a new fledgling on the South Ridge. This fledgling is being reared by a single female on her own in the territory.

Skink on Cousine Island, Seychelles

With only Hawksbill Turtle nest remaining out of the original 113, 12553 hatchlings have been released to sea during the past breeding season.

Dolphins were also seen swimming and feeding in front of the Pavilion on the 1st of April.

Also on the marine side, with the lovely weather and calm seas nobody could resist grabbing a chance to go snorkeling. Great news is that numerous underwater boulders along the South point of the island is showing great coral re-growth with plenty of young corals being seen. Large schools of fish were also abundant.

Squeaker, the Seychelles fruit bat, has broken the 200 g mark, now weighing in at 212g. His weight has tripled since he was first found in December. He is becoming more and more nocturnal, opting to stay in bed in the mornings and only waking up at 17:00 in the afternoon for a bite to eat and something to drink before practising his flapping skills for the remainder of the night.

A wonderful surprise in the form of a Gardiner’s skink was found while planting trees during the last week. This species is nocturnal and borrows under the ground. It is not regularly seen and this occasion presented the first opportunity to get some photos of this interesting species on Cousine Island. A sucker-tailed gecko was also found on the hill two weeks ago, another not-so-regularly-seen species. Definitely been a great month for reptiles.

We say goodbye to Jock and Janine Henwood who have worked on Cousine for almost 8 years.  Jock who was responsible for managing the island, hotel and conservation has seen Cousine go from strength to strength, he played a key role in many of Cousine’s achievements over the years and has made a significant contribution to the island’s success on both the hotel and the conservation front.  Janine who was responsible for marketing and reservations as well as overall administration on the island also played an important role in the development of Cousine.

Des and Kim Nel from South Africa will be taking their place and will officially start on the 1st of May 2010.  Des will be managing the island and hotel while Kim will be responsible for island administration.  Kareema Jumai has been appointed as the new Sales and Marketing manager and will be performing this role from Mahe.

Sunseeker Seychelles is now offering clients the first and only private air charter from any destination in Europe to Seychelles at only 24 hours’ notice. This exclusive service is made possible in affiliation with one of the largest private aviation companies in Europe, Jetflite, which has over 20 years’ experience in the business.

Private Jet - Challenger 604

Jetflite offers the sleek and elegant Challenger 604/605 to carry up to 18 passengers for cost efficiency or 12 passengers more comfortably.

“We want to make Seychelles more accessible to the high-end clientele in the fastest, easiest and most hassle-free way,” said Christian Graefe, Sunseeker Seychelles’ managing director.

“We will soon offer private jet charters from South Africa as well.”

Sunseeker said a private jet flight offers fast relief from the aches and pains associated with commercial air travel, allowing the passenger to go straight from home or office to the plane.  The time requirement for take-off becomes the crew’s schedule, and the cabin is exclusively for the passengers to relax and enjoy the comfort of a private flight with world-class service.

Private Jet Challenger 604 Interior

Jetflite maintains the highest standards of safety and luxury, with the Challenger 604/605 jet plane having the latest technology in commercial aviation.  The recently opened office of Sunseeker Seychelles also offers a wide range of new and pre-owned Sunseeker yachts for sale.  And there are two new programmes for clients who wish to take away the responsibility and costs of sole ownership of a yacht yet still enjoy its luxury, comfort and style.

One is called the shared ownership programme, while another is run in affiliation with the five-star Zil Pasyon Resort. Flight reservations from any destination in Europe to Seychelles can be made by email at: vip@luxuryafricatravel.com

It has been an incredible experience working with Jock and Janine Henwood, a stunning management couple who are leaving Cousine Island after almost 8 years.

Ms Kareema Jumaye has been appointed as the new Sales & Marketing Manager for Cousine Island. Kareema previously worked at Banyan Tree Seychelles as Sales Manager and many of you will remember Kareema from her days at the Seychelles Tourism Board.

Kareema will officially take over as from 1st May 2010.