20250114 Seabourn Sojourn Grand Africa Cruise Day 50/96 - Praslin, Seychelles

Grand Africa Cruise Trip Day 50/96 - Praslin, Seychelles

We woke up anchored in the middle of a slew of islands in the Seychelles' 115-island archipelago. Our stop today is Praslin, the country's second-largest island. Praslin (pronounced locally as PRAH-lin with a silent S) is a sleepy island known for its pristine beaches and quiet lifestyle.

We weren't in the mood for a beach day, so we decided to take a tender in and just explore the town. Well, that was the plan. After wandering in both directions from the ferry terminal, we realized there wasn't much of a town here. There were no tourist shops and not many local shops beyond a pizza place, a couple of markets, a used clothing store, a hair salon, and government offices.

We saw a few pretty flowers

This interesting sculpture was in the center of a round-a-bout

A sign in the government offices

This seafarer memorial was in the ferry terminal area

It was extremely hot walking around town, or more correctly, the lack of a city. After our stroll, we were both sweating and ready for some air conditioning. We made the 15-minute tender ride back to the ship and happily stepped into the cool.

After lunch, we went to Deck #5 aft and The Club where they conducted signups for Marina Day.

The Marina door was folded down and ready for use

Sojourn has a marina built into the back of the ship on Deck #2. Sailboats, stand-up paddleboards, peddle boats, a banana towable, a sofa towable, and kayaks for guest use. Crewmembers driving Zodiacs pulled the towable toys. We signed up and went down to Deck #2.

Our Captain Hamish, commanding a somewhat less-complicated vessel

We signed up for the first sofa ride. A sofa or couch towable is an inflatable raft for two to three people. It is towed behind a speedboat, or in this case, a Zodiac.

Suited up and ready for action

On our way

Bounce, bounce, bounce

We made a couple of long passes off the starboard side of Sojourn and then returned to the marina to let other guests have a turn

Arlona signed up for a banana boat ride with four other guests.

As you can see, they loaded the heaviest person in the middle, creating a somewhat nose-heavy weight distribution - this would be important in a few minutes...

Off for adventure

You can already see the nose-down attitude of the banana

Shortly after this splash, the nose caught a wave and there were five airborne sailors

It took about 15 minutes and an additional support boat to get everyone out of the water. 

The returning adventurers

Only three returned on the banana, the other two came back in the Zodiac

Remain seated until the vessel has reached the dock...notice the stand-up paddleboarder in the background, not having a good day either

After cooling down in the suite and showering off the day's coating, we went up to the Observation Bar for pre-dinner cocktails. The increase in guests is noticeable and the bar was crowded tonight. We had a stunning sunset and guests were all capturing memories.

Our awesome bartender, Djan

The Sun, getting ready to put on a show

Hiding behind the clouds, teasing us

Throwing some sunbeams

The wide view

More beams and cloud-edge lighting

Nice reflection

The final farewell

And just like that...

The Sun was gone

We enjoyed dinner and then went to tonight's show, magician Jamie Raven. He was funny and entertaining, even though his tricks and illusions were things we'd seen multiple times before. What really got us was the continuous pandering for applause and cheers. It was a shame as it detracted from what would have been a better show without it. Oh well.

We will be at sea for the next two days as we start our journey back westward so that means sea day activities.