You have not been to Seychelles unless you have seen coco de mer. Those were words of Karen Pothin, an assistant information and tourism officer in Victoria, the capital city of the Seychelles, when I visited the archipelago recently. Coco de mer is a type of palm surrounded by all sorts of myths and is found only in the Seychelles. The Seychelles are made up of 115 islands scattered over some 650,000 square kilometres of ocean. They lie four degrees south of the equator in the Indian Ocean, about 1,670 kilometres from the East African coast. The islands enjoy a pleasant tropical climate throughout the year since they lie in an area that is rarely ever hit by cyclones. Between October and May, when the north-west trade winds blow, the sea is generally calm and the weather hot and humid. This is the best time for diving and other water sports. When the south-east trade winds blow, the weather is generally drier and cooler, with rougher seas, especially on the south-eastern coasts. In January and February, it usually rains. April is the hottest and most humid month, while August is the coolest and driest. The Seychelles have a population of about 800,000 - equivalent to that of the Kibera slums in Nairobi - a third of whom live in and around Victoria. The people are warm and friendly. It is claimed that people settled on the main islands of the archipelago Seychelles slightly more than 200 years ago. Prior to that, they were mainly used by sailors and pirates either as landing bases or hideouts. The history of the islands is interesting, particularly how they exchanged ownership from the French to the British. French explorers first claimed the islands in 1756 and named them the Seychelles. However, the British were also interested in them and a lengthy tug-of-war between them and the French followed, with the British winning and taking over as colonial masters in 1811. In 1976, the Seychelles gained independence from Britain and became a Republic. The country is now a member of the Commonwealth. Theresse Island is shaped like a giant tortoise, complete with head, tail and legs, while Rhone Island, which once suffered a leprosy epidemic, still bears the stigma of the dreaded disease. Another island houses only a prison. The inmates lead a quiet and comfortable life and consider it a holiday camp, my guide explains. Then there is Robinson island, which is privately-owned and named after its European owner. The man who owns it has no wife or children. But he is well prepared for the end and has dug his own grave. Although he lives alone of his island, he visits friends on other islands, whom he believes will bury him when he dies, giving an ironical twist to the saying: "No man is an island." One thing any visitor is sure to enjoy on the islands is security. The level of crime in the Seychelles is remarkably low, with the most common cases being petty thefts. The most serious crime is drug trafficking, but even then, not many cases are reported. The penalty for drug trafficking is harsh and offenders are given long prison sentences. Antisocial crimes like rape are virtually non-existent. In fact, last year went down in the islands' history as a very bad one: there were two murder cases. The Seychelles do not have any wild animals to talk about; in fact, one of their star attractions is a giant tortoise at Mahe Beach Resort. But the islands have a great deal to offer it terms of bird and plant species. There are several nature trails, a notable one being the Danzilles Anser Major trail, which has spectacular scenery and rare bird species. It is along this trail that you can see birds like the Seychelles bulbul and pigeon. | | Also notable is the Glacis Trois Freres trail which, at an altitude of 300 metres, offers a magnificent view of Victoria city. Here, you can see the famous carnivorous plant, or the pitcher plant. Then there is the Val Riche-Copolia nature trail, which graces the Morne Seychelles National Park, situated between 300 and 800 metres above sea level. Here, you have a chance to see plant species unique to the area. Val Riche-Copolia has an exceptionally high biodiversity, with a rich collection of endemic species. Mission Lodge is something of a showcase of the human and ecological history of Seychelles. The surrounding atmosphere is peacful, and is home to a large number of birds. As one might expect, there is a wide variety of water sports in the Seychelles, including scuba diving, snorkelling, sailing and deep sea fishing. There is a wide choice of places for all these sports. There are facilities for other sports, too, but these are fewer. One can play a round of golf at Lemuria Resort on Praslin Island, or tennis in the big hotels. The main languages spoken in the Seychelles are English and French, with Creole mainly used as a lingua franca. However, many Seychellois also speak Italian or German. The population is extremely diverse in terms of race, although when it comes to religion, the majority are Roman Catholic. But there are Anglican and Protestant churches on Mahe, Praslin and La Digue Islands, in addition to the Muslim, Hindu and Bah'ai communities in Mahe. As far as health is concerned, the islands are a true paradise, free from diseases like malaria, yellow fever and cholera. It is notable that visitors do not have to be immunised against these diseases, unless they are from affected areas, like East Africa. The islands have an effective social service, which entitles any person above the age of 63 to free medical attention, a pension, and free travel on the Seychelles' Public Transport Company (SPTC) buses. The staple foods in the Seychelles are, not surprisingly, fish and rice. However, a variety of foods are readily available, which enables the islands' hotels to offer a broad cuisine, catering for people from nearly all parts of the world. Tea is grown on the islands, but by a government board, and strictly for domestic consumption. The islands boast the unique breadfruit which, it is believed, has the effect of making any visitor who tastes it return to the Seychelles. It is either boiled or baked and eaten as a dessert with sugar and milk or made into chips. But the most fascinating thing on the island, as my guide rightly noted, is coco de mer, or sea nut, with its uniquely shaped lobes, which grows mainly on Praslin Island. The male palms grow to a height of about 30 metres while the females trees attain a maximum height of 24 metres. The female palm produces the largest seed in the world, weighing about 20 kilogrammes. The seed is inside the husk and the fruit takes between six and seven years to ripen. During germination, the shoot grows downwards, until it hits a hard surface, then it starts growing upwards. The trunk does not appear until the palm is about15 years. It reaches maturity between the ages of 20 and 40 years. Coco de mer trees are said to live for between 200 and 400 years. If you do not get the opportunity to sea a real coco de mer fruit, you can get cheap imitations that are sold as souvenirs. |
