The top of La Digue and other Seychelles Off The Beaten Path Tips

To get to the top of La Digue, "Eagle's Nest" and the "Pavillion" at 333 meters above the sea level, is a breeze, albeit a sweaty one. However, neither the tourist office nor guidebooks are good at explaining the route.
From the populated western side of La Digue, near the top end of the bird preserve (road goes up slightly north of there) you proceed up the hillside called Belle Vue dotted with family houses along the paved road. The road curves to the left in its upper part, and comes to a shrine. Here the road splits and you can choose either, as the roads, soon becoming trails meet higher up, but say, take the paved road right. At the end of the road is a family house. Continue straight up past a shed and you will see the trail commencing, curving left, and then shortly to the right and up. Continue along this trail (it doesn't branch) for about 15-20 minutes uphill, and you should find yourself on the top ridge, a saddle, the spine of La Digue. Go to the left and look around from a beautiful clearing with interesting vegetation and views of Felicite and Marianne Islands. Turn around and proceed south on the saddle, and you will soon find yourself at the highest spot, with a peak marker. Here you have a wide view of the west coast of La Digue and the La Passe, Praslin, Mahe and islands south of La Digue. The jungle obscures the view of Anse Coco, Petit Anse and Grand Anse. From the ridge, trails branch off toward the north, east and south-west of the island. If you left your bike at Belle Vue, it's probably best to return down via the saddle where you came from. Without a bike, a traverse of the island would be a good idea.

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Other Contact: Tourist office, La Passe

There are plenty of trails on the Seychelles islands, but to find them is a challenge. The hand-out tourist maps are inaccurate when it comes to trails and foot paths. Better get the topo maps of the Geographical Survey (see my shopping tip on this), they have accurate maps that show fairly well the trails, too. Normally the trails go to some view point or traverses a ridge or end up at some nature phenomenon, water fall, shrine or plantation.
The walks are hot, so bring water. A delightful way of spending a day out as an alternative to the beach.

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