Knocking on heaven’s gate – my return to the MAIA

 

KNOCKING ON HEAVEN’S GATES – A RETURN TO THE MAIA LUXURY RESORT

Very few resorts have captured my attention and admiration like the MAIA Luxury Resort which I was privileged to visit 15 months ago. Back then I said it was hospitality made in heaven and sent down to earth for us to enjoy, and during this recent visit to the Seychelles I dared to knock on heaven’s door and lo and behold, I was admitted through the front gate.

What immediately struck me was the way the gardens had matured even more since my last visit, undoubtedly aided by good rains and the extra special care of the Maia’s gardening team I met also last year and who showed me around the tropical paradise they had helped to create and shape by including much of the exotic vegetation they found on site before even commencing construction of the 25 villas spread across the 25 hectares of land.

Sadly my visit to the Maia was even briefer than the last one, but I nevertheless did manage to explore it some more and even got sand between my toes and my feet wet.

As every villa has a private and shielded infiniti pool outside the main bedroom, a dive into the refreshingly cool water came as a welcome change to the slightly humid afternoon, and restored this correspondent’s mettles in no time. A chilled fruit juice, just prepared, helped still the thirst and the lounger on the terrace then provided a perfect opportunity to put the tired feet up, take in the scenery across the Indian Ocean with all the catamarans and the Kir Royal moored below in the bay adding a scenic and adventurous backdrop.

The evening was dedicated to the sailors, champagne cocktails and all but ended all too soon as the competitors were heading back to their boats to sleep while those luck to be accommodated at the Maia counted their blessings and enjoyed a good night’s rest in a ‘luxurious cocoon’ aimed to take care of all creature comforts.

Even chronic insomniacs like this correspondent tend to sleep once in a while and a bed like this, when turned down by the villa’s own butler, on call 24/7, provides the incentive to actually do exactly that.

Breakfast at the Maia, either in the villa served at the appointed time or at the main restaurant by the beach and poolside, is thankfully ordered a la carte and not picked from a buffet, a ‘hint’ that in small and exclusive places silver service is also available for the first meal of the day and not just for dinner when it is expected as a matter of course. The menu for breakfast shows it can, and in fact should be a proper full scale meal and the Eggs Benedictine were again heavenly as were the crepes with  wild tropical fruit compote.

As ever, when one really wants to stay put, other pre-arranged meetings and visits took their toll, and in this case it was to board the Kir Royal for a last time, and as the last, having stretched the time at the Maia to the last second. When casting a last look back across the widening gap between the rapidly accelerating ‘Sea Legs’ and the resort I swore to myself that it will be ‘Kwaheri ya Kuonana’ rather than bye bye for ever.

The Seychelles are noted for both top end luxurious resorts, as the Maia or like North Island where the Royal Couple recently had their honeymoon, the larger properties of excellent value like Banyan Tree, Four Seasons, The Raffles Praslin or the Constance Hotels’ properties on Praslin and near Port Glaud on Mahe.

The other end of the market finds that they too can afford a holiday there, as airlines offer special fares and Bed and Breakfast’s and locally owned and managed Guest Houses, Holiday Villas and apartments offer a stay for much less and yet one is on the same islands as the rich and famous of this world.

‘Affordable Seychelles’ and ‘Seychelles – Another World’ both await visitors and the smiles of the Seychellois are for everyone walking past them.

Seychelles Regatta update – Watching the races on the Le Kir Royal

A DAY ON THE ‘KIR ROYAL’

www.lekirroyal.com

Few opportunities arise which are as tempting to accept as spending two days on an ocean going yacht and shadowing a catamaran ocean regatta from the closest possible positions.

An invitation by the Seychelles Tourist Board while on the archipelago to cover the presidential elections however did make this a reality and turned out to be the highlight of a recent visit to the islands.

Watching globally renowned top skippers in a battle of wits and experience to ‘slug it out’ against ocean currents and changing winds, treacherous swells and the cunning strategies of their opponents beats watching any sporting event from the homely armchair hands down.

Most of the invited guests on board the ‘Le Kir Royal’ over the two days I sailed with her, were knowledgeable sailors themselves and directional changes attracted immediate comments from them, eyeing every move of the field through binoculars to observe the skippers and crews in action.

The weeklong regatta, which will see 7 separate races being run around the main island and ‘across’ the sea to Praslin and La Digue to determine the overall winner, has attracted media interest not only from the local stations and papers but also the specialized sports news channels and from dedicated sailing magazines, which sent photojournalists to cover the event, which in turn is hoped to attract more up and coming new skippers measuring themselves against the ‘old masters’ at the helm of their catamarans.

In the old days the Seychelles used to be a supply stop for the informal but economically hugely important race from Hong Kong to the UK with the tea bearing ‘tall ships’ in use in those days and while discussing the regatta and related issues with the tourist board staff an idea came up to once again bring back those tall ships for a race ending in the Seychelles, or else alternatively starting from here. The beautiful weather and the backdrop of these magical islands would create a setting second to none for such an event and the remaining fleet of ‘tall ships’ would probably queue up to sign the registration forms. What a coup that would be for the ‘little island nation’ which has grown to be recognized around the world as ‘Brand Seychelles’ and not only reaffirmed its standing as an exotic paradise island get away in recent years but also made a new name for itself with the range of novel activities like the ‘carnival of carnivals’, aka the ‘Mother of all Carnivals’ which in 2012 will see its second editions coming up, larger and better still if that is possible at all.

Meanwhile did the yachtsmen set out today for their second leg, which will round part of Mahe from the Maia Luxury Resort to the Beau Vallon Bay for their second night stop, before heading across the ocean to Praslin and other islands for the longer races. The Le Kir Royal will be at hand to ‘see it all, close up and personal’, although this correspondent did this the late afternoon disembark in Beau Vallon Bay and left the rest of the invited guests to continue alongside the catamarans until they return on Saturday to Eden Island’s main marina outside Eden House for the prize giving ceremony.

The second leg of the regatta was notably won again by Hyundai, while the Maia’s own ‘Sealegs’ came a respectable third in their own catamaran, prompting some friendly  banter what had been put into the glasses of the other competitors the night before but all in the best of spirits of course as can be expected from the yachting fraternity.

The Le Kir Royal is a 30 metre ‘classic’ yacht with a crew of 6, sleeping a total of 8 passengers and offers plenty of comfort for trips around the inner islands on a day trip or for longer periods, able to safely take them to all the inner islands, cast anchor overnight in a secluded bay and give the travelers that extra bit of special treatment.

The yacht, which relocated from France’s Mediterranean coast line to the Seychelles via the Atlantic, can be booked via the MAIA Luxury Resort or by contacting them via the Kir Royal website as shown above.

Classy classy comes to mind, and a stay at for instance the MAIA combined with a little cruise surely appeals to the most discerning travelers. I           n closing, the MAIA’s chefs did the catering on board for the duration of the regatta, assuring us invited guests of meals fit for kings and queens and their courts. I should know I was there and am now spoilt forever – though some may disagree here and fire back ‘just spoilt some more’.

Reporting live from the Kir Royal, Beau Vallon Bay, Mahe, Seychelles – ‘Another World’.

 

PS: Sorry for the lack of pictures here but until WordPress makes life easier, i.e. makes it possible to copy / paste a word file with embedded pictures, the trouble to upload and position a picture is just too much …

Seychelles news update – International regatta now underway till weekend

SEYCHELLES REGATTA NOW UNDERWAY WITH 6 MORE RACES TO DETERMINE FINAL WINNER

 The official opening of the Tourist Board sponsored ‘Seychelles Regatta’ saw also the other sponsors, including and importantly Air Seychelles being recognized, before the skippers and their crews were introduced to the sizeable number of invited guests and international journalists.

Held at Eden House on Eden Island (www.edenisland.sc) with the participating yachts moored for all to see along the main jetty, this third edition of the 7 race regatta went underway on Monday morning proper. At 9 a.m. sharp the yachts cast off from the jetty and so did the race committee, accompanying boats and myself and other invited guests on the Le Kir Royal www.lekirroyal.com to have a leisurely cruise to the starting line a few miles offshore.

The race went underway in windy conditions and all but one of the catamarans did cross the starting line swiftly but one, which was caught out and kept trailing for the entire day.

The swell also made some of the invited guests a little uncomfortable, but not this correspondent whose ‘sea legs’ are kept trained on Lake Victoria as and when possible.

The course took the participants along the entire stretch of the coast from Victoria with fine views before eventually sailing into calmer conditions on the leeward side of Mahe. The resorts of Banyan Tree and Four Seasons were passed before eventually reaching the bay off the Maia Luxury Resort where we anchored to have some overdue lunch on board while awaiting the catamarans to catch up with us.

Cheers went up from the spectators when the first two in close contest became visible in the distance followed by the others trailing considerably and the day’s race was won by locally skippered ‘Hyundai’ to the prolonged applause by all Seychellois witnessing the accomplishment.

The Maia Luxury Resort hosted the opening evening for the crews and invited guests with a splendid ‘champagne only’ cocktail function and a mouthwatering dinner, but mindful of six more racing days ahead of them the crews soon called it a night under the star lit sky above. As mentioned previously some of Europe’s if not the world’s top sailors are participating in the Seychelles Regatta, which – sponsored by the Seychelles Tourist Board and Air Seychelles amongst others – promises to become another fixed point in the annual calendar of events for the archipelago, which has successfully re-invented itself over the past two years as one of the world’s most recognized island destinations offering visitors almost on a monthly basis now a key event to watch or even participate in.

Seychelles – truly ‘Another World’