Torty.. but nice
As BA launches a direct Dreamliner to the Seychelles, we find why it’s well worth shelling out for
If you were born when Queen Victoria was on the throne, then you might look a bit weary too
Theo is a big guy. He ambled up to say hello with ponderous but purposeful steps. His eyes looked tired, but if you were born when Queen Victoria was on the throne, you might look a bit weary too.
My new pal is an Aldabrachelys gigantea, a giant tortoise thought to be at least 120 years old, perhaps 130.
Should you pop him on the scales, he would probably send them groaning past 30st. Seriously, he’s a really big guy.
He’s the star reptilian resident on Fregate, which is a ridiculously gorgeous and nature-rich private island in the Seychelles.
There are about 2,000 giant tortoises thriving on the island but Theo is the one with real personality.
Yes, tortoises have personality, can and he’s a bit of a character.
I was part of a tour group preparing to go on an early morning (to avoid the heat of the day) nature hike.
He spotted us and, by giant tortoise standards, nipped over to say hello. In truth, he thought we were going to give him some free breakfast; he’s a very hungry old boy.
Our guide Richard Baxter (originally from Jersey, so used to islands) said Theo is easily the most sociable of the tortoises on the island and enjoys interacting with humans.
He was certainly more playful than his brothers and sisters, standing up tall to stick out his neck to get a rub. No doubt there’s a fair degree of cupboard love going on, but this was a first for all us humans and a special moment.
Mind you, this island and the rest of the astonishingly beautiful archipelago that makes up the jewel of the Indian Ocean is liberally laced with special moments.
Yes, many of those embrace the turquoise sea, the bluest of skies and the shimmering light that comes from being so close to the equator (just a little south of it and around 900 miles east of Kenya).
Then there are the beaches that look like the ones you see in holiday brochures and you think must be
Photoshopped, but really like are that. And there are the kind of hotels and resorts that meet with the approval of industrial titans, oligarchs and the Hollywood A-list. Truly a Paradise. With a capital P.
But scratch the surface and you’ll find there are riches of a different kind too, courtesy of Mother Nature.
Start with the uniqueness; many of the 115 islands are granite – the only oceanic ones in the world, and ancient too. Mountain peaks left when earth’s original continent of Gondwanaland split into Africa and Asia around 66 million years ago, they even pre-date Theo!
My group started to learn about this uniqueness on Felicite.
In the affable and encyclopaedic company of the Six Senses Zil Pasyon resort’s resident ecologist Steve Hill, our two-mile morning hike on a rough track in the island’s lush, hilly interior was an education, and a sweaty one too.
WILD
We learned how 18th and 19th century colonists from France and Britain cleared much of the natural rainforest and planted crops such as coconuts, cinnamon and vanilla.
Steve also explained how they used the ‘‘useless’’ cocoplum tree to stabilise land after deforestation and it has now run wild and become hugely invasive.
He is masterminding a five-year restoration project which has so far seen 40,000 endemic and indigenous trees planted and will see ongoing removal of damaging nonnative plants.
That good work has seen Steve – who really does cut the full Crocodile Dundee figure – trying to re-establish the ultra rare iron tree, which only has a few dozen mature examples in the world.
One of the highlights of the walk was seeing rare coco de mer trees with a giant female nut on one and a male catkin on the other.
The nut’s shape is all a bit “Ooh Matron” as you may detect from an old name – Lodoicea callipyge, which roughly translates as “palm with beautiful rump”.
On the subject of rumps, I was lucky not to end up on mine as we scrambled up and down the track. I had forgotten to pack trainers and my sandals were hugely inappropriate. Be warned.
Back at the exquisite Six Senses (see right), the eco-message continued, but with a more aquatic theme. In the company of resort sustainability manager Anna Zora, we learned how El Nino events in 1998 and 2015 warmed seas around the Seychelles by 1⁰C, damaging temperature-sensitive coral. But Six Senses has established a coral ‘nursery’ where coral is grown on underwater ropes. On a snorkelling trip, Anna said it was growing well and hopefully will replace some of what was destroyed. Spotting a turtle on the swim back to shore was a bonus – and for some guests that night there was the magical moment of seeing one of the island’s 51 turtle nests come alive with dozens of little hatchlings trying to make their way to the ocean. Sadly, only a handful will reach maturity. While the island is full of such treasures, resident ecologist Steve is surely one of its greatest.
He is also the link to Fregate, the second island we stayed on, as he worked there for 10 years, restoring the rainforest to its original state.
The resort here, Fregate Island Private, is truly world-class with accommodation in sumptuous villas dotted around the estate (again, see below for more info).
General manager Wayne Kafcsak has the same enthusiasm for the flora and fauna as Steve and explained how guests could get close to nature like being on a
safari, but all the wildlife here is harmless and there are unique species, such as the Fregate beetle.
Conservation efforts have also seen success in saving the local magpie-robin. Its population was down to around 20 but is now back to 250 or so.
On a nature walk with Wayne, on one of the seven miles of trails, we gazed southeast over the ocean from a lookout point (next stop Australia, 6,000 miles) and saw the ruins of a fort built by the 17th century French pirate La Buse (The Buzzard), executed for plundering a Papal ship.
The treasure is reputed to be worth $1billion today but was never found. There are rumours it’s somewhere on Fregate, with odd pieces being found. The pirate – born Olivier Levasseur – left a cryptogram which, if solved, would supposedly show the location. Many have tried, but nobody’s cracked the code.
Wayne also explained that in the Seychelles a cross in the ground has three meanings: a safe place to land a boat, this island is inhabited and the usual one, a church.
In the broiling heat I’d hoped one of them pointed the way to an ice cream van.
The final part of our hike took us on a path created entirely by tortoises – a natural highway worn away by Theo and his thousands of mates.
Nobody knows why they like this route, they just do. But when you’re 130 years old and live in paradise, I guess you can do whatever you want.