Seychelles - Eckart Mayer Photography

A colorful photography-based digital painting of La Digue beach

Seychelles tropical dream beach rock formations - Photo Painting

In the 1980'ies ago, this location was used for a TV- and cinema commercial by Bacardi Ron. The holiday feeling was accompanied by corresponding tropical music. Back then, few people knew about this place. Today, it is one of the most famous beaches in the world. The Anse Source d'Argent on La Digue Island, Seychelles still has the same "Wow" effect. To find it this empty, without tourists, once needs to go either early in the morning, or late in the afternoon. Since thousands of pictures of this spot have already been published, I created a digital photo painting. (La Digue, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-26)

Small island with red rocks and palm trees in the Indian Ocean

Palm tree pirate treasure island St. Pierre Seychelles

Do you enjoy reading pirate books, or did you when you were young? Then you might have the same association as me when I first spotted the tiny St. Pierre island. This image was only possible thanks to the catamaran captain. He took just the right course to align the islands' silhouette with the one of the Praslin mountains in the background. And so did the clouds, hanging over the mountain like a soft cover blanket. (St. Pierre Island, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-19)

Branch of coconut tree lying on a beautiful tropical beach

Natural art - Branch of a coconut palm tree on Seychelles beach

Just laying on the beach or at the hotel pool is not the kind of vacation I do enjoy. Instead, I rather like to explore new places at our holiday destination. This includes both nature as well as urban; ideally a mix of both. On the tropical island of La Digue (Seychelles), there is no city. During a walk, I found this highly decorative natural piece of art on one of the typical granite rock beaches. Whilst most people just walked by without paying much attention, I couldn’t resist to take a number of pictures of this branch of a coconut tree. (La Digue, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-17)

Closeup of yellow pitcher carnivorous plant with red dots

Seychelles Pitcher Carnivorous Plant

An endemic species to the Seychelles, found on Mahe Island during a long hike through the tropical forest. (Mahe, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-16)

Blue hour view of small touristic island with buildings and trees

Blue Hour Island View

No! I did not stay on this tiny island, just offshore the Northern part of Praslin. But I did enjoyed the view together with a nice meal at a beach restaurant (Praslin, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-10)

Teeth-shaped granite rocks on a tropical beach with catamaran

Dinosaur teeth - Seychelles granite rocks and catamaran

One of various highlights of our Seychelles vacation was a organized catamaran day trip from Praslin. One of the stops led us to the hidden Laraie Bay on Curieuse Island. This one is best accessed by boat. Apart from swimming, we had time for a walk on the picturesque beach with the typical granite boulders. And what a surprise it was to discover these uniquely shaped rocks. Not sure what your first association was? To me they look as if a giant predator dinosaur had lost its teeth. Looks like the perfect location for a honeymoon photo shooting! (Curieuse, Seychelles, June 2012 - ImageID: 201206-SC-08)

Seychelles green tree frog sitting at the edge of a swimming pool

Green Seychelles tree frog overlooking the swimming pool

Whilst this really isn't its natural habitat, this Seychelles tree frog clearly felt very comfortable both at and inside the swimming pool of our boutique hotel on La Digue. I was quite surprised, since the water obviously contained chlorine. We somehow fell in love with the little fellow, and our kids went looking for it first thing in the morning. This species is endemic to the Seychelles islands, and we spotted it on various occasions during our vacation. (La Digue, Seychelles, Juni 2012 - ImageID: 201206-SC-03)

A colorful digital painting of coconut branch on the beach

Branch of a coconut palm tree on a tropical beach (Photo Paintin

I found this highly decorative natural piece of art on one of the most famous tropical beaches in the world: “Anse Source d'Argent” on La Digue. Whilst most people just walked by without paying much attention, I couldn’t resist to take a number of pictures. (La Digue, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-25)

A photography-based digital painting of La Digue granite beach

Calm waters on a magic Seychelles beach - Photo Painting

Many years ago, this location was used for a TV- and cinema commercial by Bacardi Ron. The holiday and chill-out feeling was accompanied by corresponding tropical music. At that time, very few people knew about this place. Today, it probably is one of the most famous beaches in the world. The Anse Source d'Argent on La Digue Island, Seychelles still has the same "Wow" effect. Since thousands of pictures have already been published with this iconic dream spot, I decided to digitally convert the standard photo into something different. (La Digue, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-24)

Colorful digital painting of Seychelles granite rock beach

Seychelles Laraie beach granite rocks and catamaran - Photo Painting

One of various highlights of our Seychelles vacation was a organized catamaran day trip from Praslin. One of the stops led us to the hidden Laraie Bay on Curieuse Island. This one is best accessed by boat. Apart from swimming, we had time for a walk on the picturesque beach with the typical granite boulders. And what a surprise it was to discover these uniquely shaped rocks. Not sure what your first association was? To me they look as if a giant predator dinosaur had lost its teeth. Looks like the perfect location for a honeymoon photo shooting! And a photo painting... (Curieuse, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-22)

La Digue granite rock beach with palmtrees

DREAM BEACH rock formations

For good reasons, one of the most famous tropical beaches in the world: "Anse Source d'Argent", La Digue. Photo planning is important; either early in the morning, or late in the afternoon. (La Digue, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-18)

Green leaf with three raindrops lined up on its edge

Three raindrops resting on a green leaf

Rainy days offer unique photo opportunities: I found these three raindrops just outside the hotel in its' lush tropical garden. (Mahe Island, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-14)

Pink granite rock formations and palm trees on Seychelles La Digue

Late Afternoon at "Anse Source d'Argent"

Mystic afternoon light sculpturing the rocks of the famous "Anse Source d'Argent" Beach on La Digue. (La Digue, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-13)

Turquoise Seychelles water against granite beach with rainforest

Tropical Forest and Rocks on the Beach

Amazing natural "skyline", to be appreciated only by boat. The different shades of green nicely combine with the colour of the water and the rocks. (Curieuse, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-11)

Waves running ashore densely overgrown La Digue granite coast

Strong waves hitting rocky La Digue shores

Strong waves running onto the rocky shores of Petite Anse Beach on La Digue Island. (La Digue, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-09)

A small boat floating next to Indian Ocean island during blue hour

Romantic evening in Praslin: Island and Boat

Romantic evening on a beach on the North-Western shores of Praslin Island, overlooking a tiny island just a 100m away. (Praslin, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-07)

Close-up of green lizzard sitting on a green leaf

Green lizzard on a large green leaf

Here it is again, this time seen from above. Amazing different shades of green... (Vallee de Mai, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-06)

Two bend palm trees on a sandy tropical beach with hills

Coconut palm trees on a sandy Praslin island Seychelles beach

To find this gorgeous place on Praslin Island (Seychelles) so empty, you have to get up early. On such a morning walk, I found these two coconut palmtrees on a sandy beach. They somehow represent what most people associate with a dream vacation. Tourists want to enjoy a beautiful tropical island with perfect weather, lots of sunshine, delicious fresh food, and ideally not too many people. That's why one can find this kind of images in travel catalogues or webpages, creating this strong wanderlust for long-distance travel. (Praslin, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-05)

Shadow of lizzard seen from below through colorful leaf

Lizzard walking on a colourful transparent leaf

Whilst hiking in the "Vallee de Mai" Nature Reserve, I spotted a lizzard on this Autumn-coloured leaf. In order to do something different, I took the image from below against the sunlight. (Vallee de Mai, Seychelles, June 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-04)

Colorful assortment of fresh uncut tropical fruit

Now this is what I call a really fresh tropical fruit salad

In the colorful markets on the Seychelles, you will find a huge variety of tropical fruit. They are locally produced, absolutely fresh and delicious in taste. We actually found this nice collection during a bicycle trip at a street vendor's stand on Praslin island. Since we needed a snack anyhow, we bought a variety of cut fruit from him. It somehow felt nice to support this kind of small business rather than buying at a supermarket. (Praslin, Seychelles, Juni 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-02)

One orange beach towel lying on granite rock in tropical waters

Orange beach towel "on the rocks"

Admittedly not the most comfortable (because very hard!) place, but a fantastic sunbathing location with a view. (Praslin, Seychelles, Juni 2012 - Image ID: 201206-SC-01)

About this archive

The Seychelles archives contain all the photos that I took during a vacation trip to this archipelago of tropical islands back in 2012. Since my family and I lived in South Africa at that time, it was a rather short distance, compared to flying there from Europe.

Since my teenage years, I dreamt about holidays in the Seychelles. One of triggers was a very popular advertising campaign from the 1980'ies. Bacardi ron used the iconic beach of Anse Source d'Argent with its dramatic granite boulders for both TV-/movie theater and print advertising.

The risk of having such strong images in your mind is to be disappointed when you finally manage to visit in person. Thankfully, this was not the case. Our whole trip to Seychelles was fantastic, and all of the four islands we visited were as (or even more) beautiful than our imagination.

Upon arrival in Victoria on Mahe, we took a small plane connection to Praslin. We stayed there for a few days, included a catamaran day tour to nearby Curieuse. After that, we took a ferry connection to our 2nd destination, La Digue. This is where we saw (and photographed) the amazing tropical beach mentioned above. And we realized that Anse Source d'Argent is just one of many beauties on this island. Our final stay then was back on Mahe island, where we embarked for extended hikes in the forested mountain area.

As a personal recommendation: when you intend to travel to Seychelles, consider one of the small boutique hotels instead of the large resorts.

Please enjoy scrolling through my Seychelles archives.

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