An Island Republic
The Seychelles is divided into Inner and Outer Islands. Mahé
is the largest of the Inner Island group, and lies to the
south of its nearest neighbours, Silhouette, Praslin and La
Digue. The Outer Islands are strung out to the southeast.
Every island in the archipelago boasts stunning beaches, though
not all are safe for swimming, and there are numerous opportunities
for sporting types, bird-watchers, hikers, bikers and pure
ultra-violet hedonists to indulge their particular passions.
Most islands are linked by swift ferry and air services. However,
chartering a yacht and pottering about the archipelago - in
the manner if not the style of explorers of long ago - is
perhaps the most idyllic way to take in this Indian Ocean
utopia.
Main islands : Mahé
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| Photo Hansueli Krapf
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Mahé is the largest and most populous of the
Seychelles, some eight kilometres wide by 27 long, and home
to more than 70,000 souls. Its mountains rise to 900 metres,
and parts of its lush tropical forest have yet to be properly
explored. Ringed by dozens of beaches, Mahé is also
the site of the international airport and the unassuming,
laid-back capital, Victoria.
Built around the harbour, and originally known as L'Établissement,
the city was renamed Victoria in 1841 in honour of the Queen
of England. Indeed, there is a strong air of times past and
a small-market-town feel to the nation's capital, where cheery
greetings, an amiable pace of life and traditional wooden
shuttered shops are the norm.
Despite modern development, there is little in the way of
high-rise buildings. The streets are clean and tidy, traffic
jams are rare and parking spaces plentiful. The centre can
be explored in a day or so, and hiring a car is probably the
easiest way to get around the rest of the island, which has
the largest selection of shops, restaurants and places to
see in the entire archipelago.
Praslin
Praslin - named after the 18th century French soldier,
diplomat and statesman César Gabriel de Choiseul, Duc
de Praslin - lies a couple of hours' ferry ride or 15 minutes
by air from Mahé, and is the second-largest of the
Seychelles.
Its 5,000 or so inhabitants make their living from farming,
fishing or tourism. Praslin's chief attraction is the exotic
Vallée de Mai, a World Heritage Site and home to the
Seychelles' iconic coco de mer nuts. Naturally, there are
plenty of beaches around Praslin too.
The coco de mer's rumoured aphrodisiac properties once made
it worth its weight in gold (the 13th-century Hapsburg emperor
Rudolph II offered 4,000 florins for a single nut) and legends
continue to circulate of the trees uprooting themselves and
mating during especially stormy nights. Joining a guided tour
of the Vallée de Mai is money very well spent.
La Digue
The Digueois, as the inhabitants of La Digue are known, are
regarded as rustics by their more sophisticated cousins on
Mahé. In turn, the Digueois pity Mahé's residents
for having to endure the rat race, and rarely leave home.
This lovely, gentle island, with few roads and less traffic,
is quintessential Seychelles, a step back in time amidst bounteous
Nature. La Digue is 30 minutes' ferry ride from Praslin.
The oldest attraction on this island is the enormous Granite
Boulder, a designated national monument that covers half a
hectare of land at Anse L'Union, on the west coast. It was
formed during the Precambrian era, around 750 million years
ago, by the slow cooling of molten rocks deep within the earth's
crust which endowed it with its especially large crystals.
Long exposure to the sculpting forces of wind and waves have
granted the monolith its spectacular shape.
Nearby, Union Estate features both the cemetery of the original
settlers of La Digue and one of the most pristine beaches
in the Seychelles - the legendary Source d'Argent. The estate
itself, which houses a traditional copra mill and kiln, and
a clutch of giant land tortoises, is centred around the majestic
Plantation House which in turn is framed by lovely landscaped
gardens. The house - originally owned by the Hossen family
who emigrated here from Mauritius in the 19th century - was
built in French colonial style, with the ground floor made
of timber boarding laid on floor joists. The thatched roof
is supported by ridge-poles and rafters probably of capucin
or takamaka hard wood. The flights of steps on all four sides
are an essential feature of residences of this period. Plantation
House was used as a location in the seminal 1977 movie Good-bye
Emmanuelle starring the 25-year-old Sylvia Kristel.
Embracing a rather different style, another national monument
- Eustache Sarde's house, at Anse Reunion - was built predominantly
from timber, and is one of the few remaining examples of its
kind in the Seychelles, with the whole design allowing natural
ventilation. Dating from the early 20th century, it was constructed
with almost geometrical precision and refinement. The house
once stood on large masonry pillars, but now rests on a concrete
basement. It features a façade veranda, and decorative
mansards which provide adequate and habitable attic space.
Silhouette Island
The third largest of the Seychelles, Silhouette was
once a pirates' lair, notably that of the French corsair,
Jean Hodul, whose treasure is rumoured to be buried somewhere
on the island. What is indisputable, however, is that Silhouette
is the site of the least disturbed forests in the archipelago,
and Mont Plaisir (751 metres) is covered with Seychelles Sandalwood
and Bois de Natte.
Two buildings on the island are highly evocative of days
gone by in the Seychelles. The old plantation house at La
Passe is a graceful and dignified example of Creole architectural
style, which always included a spacious veranda extending
right around the building, and a flight of steps on each of
the four sides, affording more than one entrance or exit.
The house was built in the 1860s and was the family home of
Henri Dauban, who owned the island and employed around 250
labourers on his 800-hectare estate, producing copra, cinnamon
oil and vanilla. The outhouses are somewhat dilapidated, though
a bell that was used to summon the labourers to work still
hangs from a wooden structure in the centre of the yard.
An indication of the Dauban family's prosperity is found
in the other building, the family mausoleum, which occupies
a serene spot surrounded by coconut groves, fronted by six
massive columns in Greco-Roman style.
Silhouette is about 20 kilometres north of Mahé and
can be seen clearly from Beau Vallon Beach.
Aride Island
Aride is one of the world's most important nature
reserves, the breeding ground for more than one million seabirds.
It is also home to a variety of other endemic bird species,
including the Magpie Robin, the Fodie, the Brush Warbler and
the Blue Pigeon. Plants such as Wright's Gardenia grow in
profusion, turtles nest on the beaches and the waters offshore
are rich with marine life. Aride was bought in 1973 by chocolate
baron Christopher Cadbury, and today is managed by the Island
Conservation Society. Only the reserve's vessels are allowed
to land here, and visitors have to transfer onto the island's
boats before coming ashore.
Curieuse Island
The leper colony that was once the chief feature of Curieuse
is now in almost total ruins, and the chief attraction here
is the dramatic bare red earth of the hillsides which intermingles
with the unique green flora peppered with coco de mer trees.
Visitors disembarking at Baie Laraie are greeted by the sight
of multitudes of giant hump-head parrotfish, and giant tortoises
lazing near the rangers' headquarters. A trail through thick
mangrove forest - one of the most breathtaking sights on the
island - winds its way over to Anse José, where The
Doctor's House, a neat example of Creole colonial architecture,
has been turned into a museum. Sea turtles swim up to the
nearby beach to lay their eggs.
Desroches
Desroches is a long, narrow, sandy cay, named for
an 18th-century French governor, and best known for being
neatly placed on the edge of a circular submerged reef that
could have been tailor-made for watersports, diving and fishing
enthusiasts. It takes about 40 minutes to fly from Mahé
to Desroches.
Frégate Island
Frégate Island is privately owned and has a resort
(Fregate
Island Private), but is not open to day visitors. A vigorous
conservation programme ensures that the exceptionally tame
Seychelles Magpie Robin and many other fauna flourish on the
island.
You don't have to be an ornithologist to visit Frégate
Island, about 110 kilometres north of Mahé; the spectacle
of several million sooty terns nesting on the northeast of
the island between May and October, with numbers peaking in
mid July, is guaranteed to astound anyone. Turtles lumber
ashore in October to lay eggs, and at any time of year it's
superb for big game fishing, as the sea drops to a depth of
1,000 fathoms (1,800 meters) just offshore. Two other islands
with notable bird populations are Aride and Cousin.
Bird Island
You don't have to be an ornithologist to visit Bird Island,
about 110 kilometres north of Mahé; the spectacle of
several million sooty terns nesting on the northeast of the
island between May and October, with numbers peaking in mid
July, is guaranteed to astound anyone. Turtles lumber ashore
in October to lay eggs, and at any time of year it's superb
for big game fishing, as the sea drops to a depth of 1,000
fathoms (1,800 meters) just offshore. Bird is also the home
of Esmeralda, who at 304 kilos is the world's heaviest land
tortoise living in the wild. Two other islands with notable
bird populations are Aride and Cousin.
Cerf, Moyenne, Round and other Islands
Other islands of interest within the archipelago include
Cerf, which is a popular weekend picnic spot just off
Mahé, and Moyenne and Round, which both
make for a good day-trip; Denis is privately owned but renowned
for the angling in the surrounding waters; Isle du Nord (North
Island) starred in the 2004 movie Thunderbirds; and Isle
Thérese is distinguished by the Petite Escalier,
a rock formation resembling a staircase. Further afield, the
outer islands are clustered into four groups - Amirantes,
Farquar, Coetivy and Aldabra.
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