Magical location with a wonderful peaceful setting and great energy and thoughtful, caring hosts who understand the high needs/standards of great customer-service - THANK YOU!


Praslin Island/Arrival:
If you can pre-book your taxi or transport as there are no regulated taxi prices/taxis and they are very expensive.

From the Airport expect to pay 150-200 Rupees (9-12 Euros) even though it's a couple of kms. From the Jetty/Ferry you may pay up to 400/500 Rupees - so always agree a price and pre-book via the Villas if you can.

The road up to the villas is very bumpy (just a short drive from the main road), however, not all the taxi drivers like this road so may not take you.


Villas:
There are 2 villas adjoined, but very private and with good soundproofing - each villa has an enormous self-catering space so you can cook and enjoy your food either indoors or or outdoors on the verandah with a sea view.

We had a wonderful welcome by Dagmar and Cinthia (the cook/help) and Dagmar gave lots of helpful tips on the surrounding area and for car hire/island trips. Dagmar also helped organise our island cruise/visits and nothing was too much at all. A native German, but lived in Seychelles for 33 years, Dagmar is a real character, who really understands and delivers excellent customer-service and care. We also had lots of laughs and fun with Dagmar, her 3 dogs, and cats, and little tortoise.

We are very fussy and were overjoyed at the cleanliness - we did have a few unwelcome visitors, in the form of a swarm of termites during a storm and a huge spider, but this is to be expected in the tropics and the villas are sprayed with repellent everyday to keep the insects out. There is ample room and the design is wonderful, with a huge high 'gallery' ceiling and with everything you need. The bedroom is well-designed with lots of storage - the only feature we didn't enjoy was that there is no door separating the bathroom - so there is a feeling of 'open plan' and no privacy.

Beach:
The beach is all for you - it is a beautiful sandy paradise and there are few guests to share with so it's isolated and private. The sea was quite rough whilst we were there (Dec 19-Jan 1, 2012) and there are a lot of stones to navigate so bring along 'jelly shoes' to protect your feet. There are some snorkelling/swimming areas close by, we were quite happy to paddle to cool off.

Tips: There are sand flies on all of the beaches and we were bitten everywhere we went, despite using insect repellent. This may have been due to the time of year and I know that the government sprays beaches regularly, so this may have been overdue.

Dining/Food:
There are 2 supermarkets close by (10 mins by foot) and you can stock up on your essentials as dining out every day can be expensive and there's not much on offer if you are vegetarian.

Lemuria Beach Restaurant: Next door to the Villas, but you have to reserve 24 hours in advance - you can have lunch for approx. 40 Euros. We did also book for an evening meal in their Restaurant and had a great meal - the vegetarian options were excellent.

Napoli Pizza/Delivery and Takeout: There is a small pizzeria that does excellent pizza and you can call and order to be delivered for an additional charge of about 50 rupees/3 Euros. We're not allowed to put the phone number on Trip Advisor, so you can ask Dagmar for the number, or contact me privately.

Cafe le Monde: We visited and didn't like this, so can't recommend the food here.

Trips:
- Angel Tours: Cousin Island/Curieuse/St.Pierre (book via Dagmar) - approx 110 Euros
- Angel Tours: Snorkelling Half Day: Ile Cocos/Felicitie (book via Dagmar) 75 Euros
- La Digue: Ferry/Boat
- Car Hire and drive round the island (50 Euros per day/car hire)
- National Park/Vallee de Mai (coco de mer trees)
- Cote D'Or/Anse Volbert
- Anse Lazio
- Raffles Hotel Viewing/Visit: Cappuccino/tea and cake at the pool

Highlights:
Due to the rough sea our crossing to the snorkelling area was not very pleasant, however, the only safe snorkelling area where you can visit at the moment is the Ille Coco where there is a reef and it's very shallow (1 metre). There is a great diversity of fish to see and it was very pleasant. Unfortunately the sea was so rough we couldn't do the 2nd snorkelling site, so the captain took us close to the island of Felicitie to see the marine turtles, swimming in the sea and hunting for food. We saw the yellow Hawksbill feeding on jellyfish and that was a real highlight of our holiday.

The primeval forest with the Coco de Mer and the Black Parrots was another highlight as you can look up and hear the wind blowing through the tree canopies and the trees are huge. We saw quite a few Black Parrots and enjoyed the quiet and calm of this park with the huge trees which was very humbling.

Tip: We bought a few souvenirs in the shop and were overcharged by 10 Euros due to 'adding up errors'. Try to pay in rupees rather than Euros it's easier!

Giant tortoises on Curieuse and Cousin Island and the endemic birds on the Cousin Island were a real highlight as well as witnessing a marine turtle coming ashore to lay eggs, although she got so scared of all the tourists she left without laying.

We were not so impressed with La Digue and did not enjoy the mass tourism as it was very busy over Christmas and when you are at the Villas du Voyaguer you are so spoilt with peace and quiet, that all you want to do when you leave is "go back home" as we kept saying! However, you should make up your own minds !

Note: There are safety nets now at the "Bacardi Beach" Anse Lazio due to the shark attack and also there is no snorkelling allowed at St.Pierre due to another shark attack. The ban on snorkelling may be lifted in February 2012.

Overall this was a fantastic holiday and we would definitely recommend staying at the Villas Du Voyageur.

We really enjoyed our stay at Villas Du Voyageur. The Villa itself is fantastic, very clean and well cared for. We have traveled extensively and I've never experienced a place like this. Natalie and Dagmar take really good care of you during your stay. They can assist you with booking excursions or a rental car. They checked in every day to make sure you had what you needed and see if you have any questions. It was the little touches that really impressed me (they brought us tea and honey for my husband's sore throat, cut up fresh coconut for us, brought us fresh eggs, and brought us coconut milk (served inside the coconut!) one day.). We borrowed their kayaks to explore the little beach out front!

The porch on our villa and the little cabana (?) by the ocean were my two favorite places to relax! The garden is just beautiful. The night sky was amazing -- I've never seen so many stars in my entire life!

We enjoyed some R&R at the villa, but also did a day tour of 3 islands and rented a car so that we could explore the island (Anse Lazio is not to be missed). Our stay was perfect.

We spent the last two weeks of February at Villas du Voyageur and we are enthusiast of our stay! The place is a truely hidden little gem in Praslin. Located at the end of Anse Kerlan (just next to Lemuria golf) Villas du Voyageur is a beautiful modern estate in a lush tropical garden. The little beach in front is also very nice and romantic at sunset. Tide can make it not suitable for swimming, but walking few steps south, will lead you to deeper sandy shores. The place is run by Natalie, Dagmar and Marcel which will make sure that you feel always cared, sharing all sorts of tips that will lead you to great discoveries in Praslin (we recommend the catamaran of Les Rocher charter!). Breakfast is always abundant and well served by Julita, which can also cook you delicious creole food. Also beach BBQs, prepared by Marcel, are highly recommended. Not to miss!