Wills & Kate off to the Seychelles

I awoke this morning to the news that Prince William and his new bride Kate Middleton - better known in royal circles as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - have taken my advice and are reportedly en route to the Seychelles to enjoy their long-awaited honeymoon.

Last week the British press was reporting that an Indian Ocean location was in the cards for the honeymoon and I suggested the Seychelles, one of the most beautiful grouping of islands in the world and reportedly the original location for the Garden of Eden.

I spent a glorious week in the Seychelles a few years ago and can honestly say they and neighbouring the Maldives are my favourite islands in the world - I'm currently working on my Top 10 islands in the world list and will let you know when they are posted on travelife.ca.

In the meantime, since we now know the royal couple is reading this daily blog and taking my advice on where to honeymoon, let me give them some advice on what they should get out and see in the Seychelles.

Hey Wills (that's what the Prince likes his trusted friends like me to call him) take Kate to the local market in Victoria, named after your great, great, great grandmother Queen Victoria. There you can buy her some lovely hand made crafts made by decendants of slaves from Africa who first populated the once uninhabited Seychelles. The spices and fresh fish sold every day at the market are truly remarkable. The school kids in their uniforms are only too eager to stop and let you photograph them.

There's also a small shopping area in the downtown area of compact Victoria and don't miss the city's mini Big Ben clock.

Also, make sure you have someone take you to the cinnamon groves where you can taste the bark of the sweet tree that enhances your Starbucks cafe latte each day.

The food on the Seychelles, most of which was swimming in the Indian Ocean a few hours earlier, is spicy and sweet and a lot of it has an African flavour. There's also a big Asian community on the Seychelles and the Thai food is amazing. Just don't eat ther fruit bats - the massive wide-wing bats are what the early slaves relied on to survive and some people told me that the creatures still show up in local stews.

But the romantic sunsets and virgin beaches are what you'll really like best. The Seychelles setting brings out the romantic in all visitors so put the clock on this couple becuase this honeymoon may produce a heir to the throne of Great Britain.

Have fun Wills and Kate.