Geography
The Seychelles, or the Seychelles, are 115 islands of various sizes. They are located in the Indian Ocean, a little north of Madagascar, 1600 kilometers from the eastern part of the African continent. The archipelago itself stretches from south to north. See Seychelles abbreviations.
The sea area of the Seychelles covers 1,300,000 square kilometers. Land is much smaller – only 405 square kilometers, and excluding the area of the lagoons – generally 277 square kilometers.
The largest island is Mahe, its width is 8 kilometers and its length is 27 kilometers. It is on Mahe that the capital of this state is located – the city of Victoria. On the same island is the highest point of the entire archipelago – Mount Seychelles Morne with a height of 907 meters. In general, the height of the islands is very small – usually no more than 5 meters above sea level.
Other major islands in the archipelago are La Digue, Silhouette and Praslin.
The origin of the 83 islands of the archipelago is coral. 32 islands in the south of the Seychelles are of mountainous origin.
Of the 115 islands, only 20 are inhabited by people.
The Seychelles have nothing to do with volcanoes, unlike many other archipelagos and islands. Scientists suggest that the Seychelles is the top of a plateau that 65 million years ago detached from the modern Hindustan peninsula and then plunged deep into the ocean.
Climate
The climate in the Seychelles is maritime, subequatorial. Usually the year is divided into two seasons – hot and slightly cooler. In the hot season (December to May), the temperature rises to +29°C, and in the “cool” (June to November) – up to 24°C.
In the cool season, the Seychelles is dominated by a wind from the southeast, created by the summer Indian monsoon. Rains are rare at this time, and the humidity level is lower. The sea is quite rough, but in general the wind is never stronger than 6 points. The driest months are August and July.
In the hot season, the winds are mostly monsoonal northwest, bringing with them rainy weather. The level of humidity in the air is greatly increased. Most of the rain falls in January. There is especially a lot of precipitation in the more mountainous areas of the Seychelles – on the islands of Silhouette and Mahe. Tropical showers are frequent, they are very strong, but usually end quickly.
The total average annual humidity of the Seychelles is 80%.
The water temperature does not change all year round – it is about +27°C.
You can visit the islands all year round, but the most favorable months for recreation are October and May. The wind at this time is weak, showers are rare and usually very short. The ocean is quite calm, and the air temperature is not too high.
Capital: Victoria
Major cities: no
Beach resorts: Mahe Islands, Praslin, La Digue and Frigate
Seychelles Cuisine
The cuisine of the Seychelles was formed on the basis of the traditions of the islanders, however, the influence of French cuisine was quite large.
The main Seychellois dish is fish with rice “pwason ek diri”. Rice in general is very often used either as a side dish or as a component of a dish. Usually, pepper sauce, vegetable oil, lemon juice, or various vegetables are added to rice as a snack.
In general, vegetables in Seychelles cuisine play an important role. They are eaten not only raw, but also stewed and even pickled. Breadfruit is used in many dishes, round gourd puree – giramon, local patoli cucumbers, fried eggplant – bringel, fried and stewed bananas, of which there are more than 15 types, fried green papaya peel, Chinese cabbage, both pickled and fried, cassava, a broth made from young flowers, stems or sprouts of vegetables. Breadfruit is used to make salad and chips.
Thousands of species of fish live in the waters of the archipelago, so it is simply impossible to imagine Seychelles cuisine without fish. Especially popular fish dishes such as:
- Bourgeois baked fish
- Salted fish in sauce
- Little Trululu crabs
- Lobsters in lemon sauce
- Shatini from shark meat,
- Sinks “tek-tek” in various forms,
- Curry with octopus vegetables,
- Giraffe crab with coconut curry,
- As well as stewed, fried, smoked and marinated fish of all kinds.
When preparing each fish, its type is taken into account, as well as the quality of the meat – a manifestation of the influence of French cuisine.
Meat is much less common – the lack of land and the island location of the Seychelles do not contribute to cattle breeding. Local meat dishes are quite exotic: bat meat stew, pork fried in banana leaves, chicken curry, and kebabs with local fruit sauces.
For dessert, pancakes are served with completely different fillings – from fruits to fish. Since the Seychelles is a tropical country, there is an almost unlimited amount of fruits here. There are some that Europeans have never heard of.
Among non-alcoholic drinks, local black tea with vanilla is very popular. Also recently, coffee has become very popular, which is imported here from Yemen. Colombia and Ethiopia.
From alcoholic beverages, Saber beer is used, Kalu is a fermented coconut juice, a fairly strong tanka drink, prepared from fermented sugar cane juice, and also di zitronel, a tincture of lemon mint. The country imports a large number of good wines from South Africa and France, as well as various types of alcohol from around the world.
