I always thought the sparkling surface of the ocean reflecting the afternoon sun was really a million diamonds floating on the water.
And then, as the sun sunk into the horizon, the wild splash of colour across the sky were the diamonds taking their last breathe of life before nightfall.
At the Four Seasons Resort in the Seychelles, you can suspend disbelief for long enough to think that this might be true.
Well, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. And you probably would too as you sat sipping cinnamon and vanilla ice tea on the chaise lounge at The Spa.
From the view up there tropical greenery forms a perfect amphitheatre down to the crescent shaped white sand beach below.
The resort’s villas nest into the valley, most of them unseen, all with front row seats to the wide eyed wonder of the Indian Ocean.
I thought the words, “Leave your own world behind and take a slow, deep breath of inspiration in ours” was a figment of a travel brochures’ imagination, but as I sat in The Spa, that’s what happened to me.
Sure, the fusion massage and the sunset melting into the ocean helped the cause, but I’m part bohemian at heart, so hear me out.
I mean, really, where else can you lounge back beachside and have someone come to clean your sunglasses, offer frozen cubes of fruit, and then indulge you in a free 10-minute massage sessions, tempting you back up to The Spa.
The Four Seasons Resort puts the luxury back into travel and I was a willing dilettante.
There is enough privacy here that getting around was as easy as calling for your very own golf buggy to glide around the paved trails, each corner opening up another vista of sparkling aqua blue ocean and jade green rainforest.
Down by the beach at Kannel restaurant, the chef tempted me with Mediterranean, South East Asian, and Creole Inspired cuisine.
Fresh caught seafood was whisked away and grilled up before my eyes, and the lime infused crème brulee left me in a culinary coma.
I really wanted to take part in the diving tours, the gallery walks, the sunset golfing – complete with digestible-for-fish golf balls (I really did!), but I couldn’t shake the overwhelming feeling of relaxation dripping down my spine.
So I retreated to my Villa, sunk into the infinity pool, and let the cool water wash over me.
On the last, cloudy morning at the resort I finally mustered up the energy to walk to the highest point on the property with resident yogi, Vishal.
Rain clouds were looming all the way up the forest trek, but as I reached the top, panting and puffing, the dark clouds shifted and rays of sunshine reached down, lighting the beach cove in a crisp golden glow.
We take in the world through our senses, and we make sense of things with our feelings, so it stands to reason that our well-being is a reflection of the world around us.
And this could never be truer than at the Four Season Resort in the Seychelles.
With the sight of the beach cove in the morning light and with the breathing exercises from Vishal, I didn’t see diamonds sparkling on the water, but I did find something inside me that I’d forgotten…
Inner Peace.
