Seychelles - part 2

Forbidden to dock, even with the small zodiac. To visit Cousin Island, tourists must wait on their boat to be picked up. Cousin is a sanctuary for a hundred species of land birds and there is no question of taking the slightest risk that a predator (mice or rats for example) is introduced on the island.

At ten o'clock, the young volunteers who work on the island go around the boats waiting to embark the visitors. At noon, everyone will have to leave so as not to disturb the life of the island's winged inhabitants too much. Between 500,000 and 800,000 winged individuals live on the island's 28 ha. Without any fear, the birds flutter around the visitors who follow the path in the company of a bird guide. The singing magpie, the straw tail, the slender-billed nodie or the Seychelles warbler which almost disappeared.

There, on a branch, a tiny ball of feather: it's a baby tern that stays quietly on its branch for at least 80 days! It is also on Cousin that the hawksbill turtles come to lay. This is a must visit for bird watchers and biologists and scientists from all over the world come to research the island! And if you meet Georges, get out of his way: at his age, over 100, he has priority! Georges, an impressive land turtle, is the mascot of the young researchers working on the island.

In the mangrove of Curieuse

A good half hour by boat further, the Curieuse Island is worth a short walk. Derek drops us off with the zodiac on the beach in Laraie Bay where everyone is ecstatic in front of the giant turtles who do not let themselves be disturbed by the cameras pointed at them.

They remain impassive in the face of the enthusiasm of tourists wanting at all costs to make them look up for the photo! Several hundred of Aldabra's giant tortoises live here in peace: since 1979, the island has been classified as a national marine park.

But it's time to put on the sneakers. Direction the path laid out in the mangroves to reach the other side of the island where the catamaran awaits us. Even at 9 a.m., it's hot and the water bottles are emptying way too quickly!

The primitive forest seems frozen in time. Between the tangled roots of mangroves, mollusks, crabs and fish thrive. There are even the famous Cocos de mer palm trees. A footbridge allows you to easily pass a few centimeters above the stagnant water, the ground dug with thousands of crab holes, and where the roots look like small heads of water. aliens emerging from the sand!

As soon as we stop walking, talking, the whole mangrove swamps: thousands of crabs are active, birds nest in the rotten trunks, innumerable mollusks drag their shells ... The path climbs and since then the "summit", the view of the translucent water allows you to see rays and small sharks evolving.

The path leads to Anse José, where the colonial house of the doctor tells the story of the discovery of the island and the sometimes inglorious episodes that followed it.

The red island, so called because of the red color of its land, was claimed in 1768 by the French. They then gave it the name of the schooner of the explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, La Curieuse. At that time, there was little respect for nature and in 1771, the sailors set the island on fire to more easily harvest sea coconuts ... A way of "working" that destroyed most of the forests on the islands ...

Then, Curieuse welcomed lepers and we can still distinguish some ruins covered by vegetation. The former residence of the last doctor has been transformed into a museum. After the walk through the mangroves, the beach of Anse José attracts us like a powerful magnet! Most of us also swim to the catamaran.

After a barbecue on board, head for Saint-Pierre islet to swim with the fish. The site is well known and many small boats stop there. Blue, yellow, striped fish ... It's a bit like swimming in a giant aquarium! Near the rocks, elegant lionfish, stone fish and even small sharks ...

Steve has fun throwing pieces of bread in the water, which causes a real outcry! Leaning on the edge of the catamaran, the fish come to eat in his hand and he takes the opportunity to get one out! No, this one will not enhance our dinner, Steve quickly puts it back in the water.

Coco buttocks

For more explanations on the "sea cocos", emblem of the Seychelles, head to Praslin Island and the Vallée de Mai nature reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983.

Guides lead through this impressive coco-de-mer forest. This palm tree produces the largest seed in the plant world. If the “seed”, which can weigh around 20 kilos, has an evocative shape (“coco-buttocks”), the male flower is just as surprising! The trunks of young palm trees are covered with thorns, so you don't touch! By the way, even the tallest coconut palms, we don't touch! If at the time, the inhabitants feasted on the jelly contained in the young fruits, it is today a ... forbidden fruit. While walking through the reserve, the guide details other varieties of palm, other plants such as wild vanilla or even jackfruit and invites us to make a wish by touching (with the left hand obviously, that of the heart) the trunk of the oldest palm tree in the reserve. It is “only” 200 years old, while palm trees can live up to 400 years.

With a little luck, you can also observe the famous (and rare) black parrot which only lives on Praslin and Curieuse, brown and fluorescent green geckos ... Several trails allow you to walk through this forest of sea coconut palms. whose fruits unfortunately make the fortune of poachers!

It is a fabulous natural heritage to be preserved and the price of admission to the various parks and reserves helps to better protect the flora and fauna.

Before leaving if you still have a little time, take a walk to the Victoria market and then treat yourself to a last meal of fish that has just been caught in Beauvallon.

Enjoy a last coconut cocktail!